diff --git a/gcp/lib/common.sh b/gcp/lib/common.sh
index ef4e5213..08578cd9 100644
--- a/gcp/lib/common.sh
+++ b/gcp/lib/common.sh
@@ -94,101 +94,55 @@ _gcp_check_auth() {
 # Interactive pickers for GCP project, zone, and machine type
 # ============================================================
 
-# Curated list of popular GCP machine types (value\tLabel\tHint)
+# Curated list of popular GCP machine types (id|detail)
 _gcp_machine_type_options() {
     printf '%s\n' \
-        "e2-micro	e2-micro	Shared CPU · 2 vCPU · 1 GB RAM   (~\$7/mo)" \
-        "e2-small	e2-small	Shared CPU · 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM   (~\$14/mo)" \
-        "e2-medium	e2-medium	Shared CPU · 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM   (~\$28/mo)  ← default" \
-        "e2-standard-2	e2-standard-2	2 vCPU · 8 GB RAM                (~\$49/mo)" \
-        "e2-standard-4	e2-standard-4	4 vCPU · 16 GB RAM               (~\$98/mo)" \
-        "n2-standard-2	n2-standard-2	2 vCPU · 8 GB RAM, higher perf   (~\$72/mo)" \
-        "n2-standard-4	n2-standard-4	4 vCPU · 16 GB RAM, higher perf  (~\$144/mo)" \
-        "c4-standard-2	c4-standard-2	2 vCPU · 8 GB RAM, latest gen    (~\$82/mo)"
+        "e2-micro|Shared CPU · 2 vCPU · 1 GB RAM (~\$7/mo)" \
+        "e2-small|Shared CPU · 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM (~\$14/mo)" \
+        "e2-medium|Shared CPU · 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM (~\$28/mo)" \
+        "e2-standard-2|2 vCPU · 8 GB RAM (~\$49/mo)" \
+        "e2-standard-4|4 vCPU · 16 GB RAM (~\$98/mo)" \
+        "n2-standard-2|2 vCPU · 8 GB RAM, higher perf (~\$72/mo)" \
+        "n2-standard-4|4 vCPU · 16 GB RAM, higher perf (~\$144/mo)" \
+        "c4-standard-2|2 vCPU · 8 GB RAM, latest gen (~\$82/mo)"
 }
 
-# Curated list of popular GCP zones (value\tLabel\tHint)
+# Curated list of popular GCP zones (id|location)
 _gcp_zone_options() {
     printf '%s\n' \
-        "us-central1-a	us-central1-a	Iowa, US        ← default" \
-        "us-east1-b	us-east1-b	South Carolina, US" \
-        "us-east4-a	us-east4-a	N. Virginia, US" \
-        "us-west1-a	us-west1-a	Oregon, US" \
-        "us-west2-a	us-west2-a	Los Angeles, US" \
-        "northamerica-northeast1-a	northamerica-northeast1-a	Montreal, Canada" \
-        "europe-west1-b	europe-west1-b	Belgium" \
-        "europe-west4-a	europe-west4-a	Netherlands" \
-        "europe-west6-a	europe-west6-a	Zurich, Switzerland" \
-        "asia-east1-a	asia-east1-a	Taiwan" \
-        "asia-southeast1-a	asia-southeast1-a	Singapore" \
-        "australia-southeast1-a	australia-southeast1-a	Sydney, Australia"
+        "us-central1-a|Iowa, US" \
+        "us-east1-b|South Carolina, US" \
+        "us-east4-a|N. Virginia, US" \
+        "us-west1-a|Oregon, US" \
+        "us-west2-a|Los Angeles, US" \
+        "northamerica-northeast1-a|Montreal, Canada" \
+        "europe-west1-b|Belgium" \
+        "europe-west4-a|Netherlands" \
+        "europe-west6-a|Zurich, Switzerland" \
+        "asia-east1-a|Taiwan" \
+        "asia-southeast1-a|Singapore" \
+        "australia-southeast1-a|Sydney, Australia"
 }
 
-# Fetch active GCP projects accessible to the authenticated user (value\tLabel\tHint)
+# Fetch active GCP projects accessible to the authenticated user (id|name)
 _gcp_project_options() {
     gcloud projects list \
         --filter="lifecycleState=ACTIVE" \
         --format="value(projectId,name)" \
         2>/dev/null | \
-    awk -F'\t' '{ print $1 "\t" $1 "\t" $2 }'
-}
-
-# Generic GCP interactive picker.
-# Respects the named env var (skip picker if already set).
-# Tries `spawn pick` for a nice arrow-key UI, falls back to a numbered list.
-#
-# Usage: _gcp_interactive_pick DISPLAY_NAME ENV_VAR_NAME DEFAULT OPTIONS_FN
-# Outputs the selected value on stdout.
-_gcp_interactive_pick() {
-    local display="${1}"     # e.g. "GCP machine type"
-    local env_var="${2}"     # e.g. "GCP_MACHINE_TYPE"
-    local default_val="${3}" # e.g. "e2-medium"
-    local options_fn="${4}"  # function name that prints "value\tLabel\tHint" lines
-
-    # Honour an explicit env var override — no prompt needed
-    local current_val
-    current_val="${!env_var:-}"
-    if [[ -n "${current_val}" ]]; then
-        echo "${current_val}"
-        return
-    fi
-
-    # Fetch available options
-    local options_text
-    options_text=$("${options_fn}")
-    if [[ -z "${options_text}" ]]; then
-        log_warn "Could not list ${display} options — using default: ${default_val}"
-        echo "${default_val}"
-        return
-    fi
-
-    # Try `spawn pick` for a nicer arrow-key UI (available when user ran `spawn`)
-    if command -v spawn >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        local picked
-        picked=$(printf '%s\n' "${options_text}" | \
-            spawn pick --prompt "Select ${display}" --default "${default_val}") && {
-            echo "${picked}"
-            return
-        }
-    fi
-
-    # Fallback: shared/common.sh numbered-list selector
-    # Convert "value\tLabel\tHint" → "value|Label" for _display_and_select
-    local items
-    items=$(printf '%s\n' "${options_text}" | awk -F'\t' '{ print $1 "|" $2 }')
-    _display_and_select "${display}" "${default_val}" "${default_val}" <<< "${items}"
+    awk -F'\t' '{ print $1 "|" $2 }'
 }
 
 _gcp_pick_machine_type() {
-    _gcp_interactive_pick "GCP machine type" "GCP_MACHINE_TYPE" "e2-medium" "_gcp_machine_type_options"
+    interactive_pick "GCP_MACHINE_TYPE" "e2-medium" "GCP machine types" _gcp_machine_type_options "e2-medium"
 }
 
 _gcp_pick_zone() {
-    _gcp_interactive_pick "GCP zone" "GCP_ZONE" "us-central1-a" "_gcp_zone_options"
+    interactive_pick "GCP_ZONE" "us-central1-a" "GCP zones" _gcp_zone_options "us-central1-a"
 }
 
 _gcp_pick_project() {
-    _gcp_interactive_pick "GCP project" "GCP_PROJECT" "" "_gcp_project_options"
+    interactive_pick "GCP_PROJECT" "" "GCP projects" _gcp_project_options
 }
 
 # Resolve and export GCP_PROJECT — prompt interactively if not already set
diff --git a/shared/common.sh b/shared/common.sh
index 645fbe31..905fecc7 100644
--- a/shared/common.sh
+++ b/shared/common.sh
@@ -3459,7 +3459,26 @@ _display_and_select() {
         return
     fi
 
-    # Fallback to numbered list when fzf is not available
+    # Try spawn pick for an arrow-key UI (available when the user ran `spawn`)
+    if command -v spawn >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        # Convert pipe-delimited "id|label|extra..." → "id\tid\tlabel · extra · ..."
+        # so spawn pick shows the id as label and all detail fields as hint.
+        local spawn_input
+        spawn_input=$(printf '%s\n' "${items_array[@]}" | awk -F'|' '{
+            val=$1; hint="";
+            for (i=2; i<=NF; i++) { hint = hint (hint ? " \xc2\xb7 " : "") $i }
+            printf "%s\t%s\t%s\n", val, val, hint
+        }')
+        local picked
+        local spawn_default="${default_id:-${default_value}}"
+        picked=$(printf '%s\n' "${spawn_input}" | \
+            spawn pick --prompt "Select ${prompt_text}" --default "${spawn_default}") && {
+            echo "${picked}"
+            return
+        }
+    fi
+
+    # Fallback to numbered list when neither fzf nor spawn pick is available
     _numbered_list_select "${prompt_text}" "${default_value}" "${default_id}" "${items_array[@]}"
 }