diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 020abdd..9816ad7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -64,7 +64,12 @@ file via a native Save dialog — this closes out the full original panel set (R
 Episodes/Subtitles/SFV/Filter/List); see "List" below. Real media-file probing (real
 resolution, frame rate, duration, and codecs read straight from a video file's own
 container header, not guessed from its filename) is wired into the Rename panel's
-"Match" step — see "Real media-file probing" below. See "Porting roadmap" below.
+"Match" step — see "Real media-file probing" below. The naming-expression engine's Rhai
+scripting layer also gained a batch of FileBot-style string helpers — `.pad()`,
+`.sort_name()`/`.sort_initial()`, `.upper_initial()`/`.lower_initial()`, `.acronym()`,
+`.validate_file_name()`, `.space()`/`.space_with()`, `.colon()`/`.colon_with()` — callable
+inside any `{ }` naming-scheme expression, e.g. `{n.sort_name()}/S{s.pad(2)}E{e.pad(2)}`;
+see "Porting roadmap" below.
 
 The naming scheme is fully user-editable from the app (the "Naming Scheme" button next
 to the New Names list) — the default is `{show name} - {season number}x{episode
@@ -593,9 +598,18 @@ ported from, for anyone picking this up:
    wiring probed bindings into the List/Filter panels (currently Rename-panel-only).
 2. **String/expression helper methods** — `net.filebot.format.ExpressionFormatMethods`
    (636 lines): FileBot-specific Groovy string extensions like `.pad()`, `.sortName()`.
-   Only a small subset (`any`, `all_of`, `concat`) is ported so far
-   (`crates/aurora-curator-core/src/format/functions.rs`); Rhai's built-ins cover some of the
-   rest already.
+   Ported so far (`crates/aurora-curator-core/src/format/functions.rs`): `any`, `all_of`,
+   `concat`, plus a newer batch of naming/scripting helpers — `pad`/`pad_with`
+   (left-pad, non-mutating; note this is a deliberately different name collision-avoidance
+   from Rhai's own built-in `pad(length, char)`, which right-pads and mutates in place —
+   not a fit for FileBot's zero-padded season/episode numbers), `sort_name`/`sort_initial`
+   (moves a leading "The"/"A"/"An" article to the end, e.g. `{n.sort_name()}` turns
+   `"The Office"` into `"Office, The"`), `upper_initial`/`lower_initial`, `acronym`,
+   `validate_file_name` (strips characters illegal in filenames, collapses whitespace,
+   trims trailing dots), and `space`/`space_with`/`colon`/`colon_with` (separator/colon
+   normalization). Rhai's built-ins cover some of the rest already. Still not ported:
+   FileBot's CSV/file-reading and shell-quoting helpers (`csv`, `read_lines`,
+   `quote_bash`, `quote_powershell`, etc.).
 3. **Matching/similarity engine** — `net.filebot.similarity.*`. Local filename-based
    season/episode detection is done (`crates/aurora-curator-core/src/matching`, ported from the
    pattern-matching half of `SeasonEpisodeMatcher.java`, adapted to Rust's `regex` crate
diff --git a/crates/aurora-curator-core/src/format/functions.rs b/crates/aurora-curator-core/src/format/functions.rs
index 610633c..6a14fbc 100644
--- a/crates/aurora-curator-core/src/format/functions.rs
+++ b/crates/aurora-curator-core/src/format/functions.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,18 @@
 //! Global helper functions available inside every `{ }` expression, e.g. `{any([x, y])}`.
 //!
 //! Starter subset ported from FileBot's `ExpressionFormatFunctions.java`. Rhai already
-//! provides `to_upper`, `to_lower`, `trim`, `sub_string`, `len`, `contains`, `pad` and
-//! friends as built-in string methods, so this module only adds the FileBot-specific
-//! helpers that don't already have a Rhai equivalent. More helpers (csv/read_lines/
-//! quote_bash/quote_powershell, etc.) are tracked in the porting backlog.
+//! provides `to_upper`, `to_lower`, `trim`, `sub_string`, `len`, `contains` and friends as
+//! built-in string methods, so this module only adds the FileBot-specific helpers that
+//! don't already have a Rhai equivalent. More helpers (csv/read_lines/quote_bash/
+//! quote_powershell, etc.) are tracked in the porting backlog.
+//!
+//! **`pad` note**: Rhai *does* register a built-in `pad(length, char)`, but it mutates
+//! the string in place and pads on the RIGHT (`"5".pad(3, "0")` -> `"500"`). FileBot's
+//! naming-scheme `.pad(n)` zero-pads a short number on the LEFT and returns a new value
+//! (`"5".pad(2)` -> `"05"`, for e.g. `{s.pad(2)}` season numbers) - different enough that
+//! it's re-implemented here under the same name; Rhai resolves by argument
+//! count/type, so this doesn't collide with the built-in as long as call sites use the
+//! arities registered below.
 
 use rhai::{Array, Dynamic, Engine};
 
@@ -44,9 +52,270 @@ fn concat(parts: Array) -> String {
         .join("")
 }
 
+/// Left-pads `value`'s string form with `'0'` up to `width` characters. A value already
+/// at or past `width` is returned unchanged (never truncated).
+fn pad(value: Dynamic, width: i64) -> String {
+    pad_with(value, width, "0".to_string())
+}
+
+/// Same as [`pad`], but with a caller-chosen pad character (only its first `char` is
+/// used; an empty string falls back to `'0'`).
+fn pad_with(value: Dynamic, width: i64, pad_char: String) -> String {
+    let s = value.to_string();
+    let pad_char = pad_char.chars().next().unwrap_or('0');
+    let width = width.max(0) as usize;
+    let len = s.chars().count();
+    if len >= width {
+        return s;
+    }
+    let mut result: String = std::iter::repeat(pad_char).take(width - len).collect();
+    result.push_str(&s);
+    result
+}
+
+/// The three English articles FileBot's `sortName`/`sortInitial` recognize and move to
+/// the end for alphabetical sorting purposes.
+const LEADING_ARTICLES: [&str; 3] = ["The", "An", "A"];
+
+/// If `s` starts with one of [`LEADING_ARTICLES`] (case-insensitively) followed by a
+/// space, returns `(article-as-written-in-s, rest-of-string)`. `"An"` is checked before
+/// `"A"` so `"An Officer"` doesn't wrongly match just the leading `"A"`.
+fn split_leading_article(s: &str) -> Option<(&str, &str)> {
+    for article in LEADING_ARTICLES {
+        if s.len() > article.len() {
+            let (head, tail) = s.split_at(article.len());
+            if head.eq_ignore_ascii_case(article) && tail.starts_with(' ') {
+                return Some((head, &tail[1..]));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    None
+}
+
+/// Moves a leading "The"/"A"/"An" to the end as `", <Article>"`, e.g. `"The Office"` ->
+/// `"Office, The"`. A title with no leading article is returned unchanged.
+fn sort_name(value: Dynamic) -> String {
+    let s = value.to_string();
+    match split_leading_article(&s) {
+        Some((article, rest)) => format!("{rest}, {article}"),
+        None => s,
+    }
+}
+
+/// The single uppercase character `sort_name` would alphabetize this title under, i.e.
+/// the first letter of the string with any leading article stripped first.
+fn sort_initial(value: Dynamic) -> String {
+    let s = value.to_string();
+    let base = split_leading_article(&s).map(|(_, rest)| rest).unwrap_or(&s);
+    base.chars().next().map(|c| c.to_uppercase().to_string()).unwrap_or_default()
+}
+
+/// Uppercases just the first character; the rest of the string is untouched.
+fn upper_initial(value: Dynamic) -> String {
+    let s = value.to_string();
+    let mut chars = s.chars();
+    match chars.next() {
+        Some(first) => first.to_uppercase().collect::<String>() + chars.as_str(),
+        None => s,
+    }
+}
+
+/// Lowercases just the first character; the rest of the string is untouched.
+fn lower_initial(value: Dynamic) -> String {
+    let s = value.to_string();
+    let mut chars = s.chars();
+    match chars.next() {
+        Some(first) => first.to_lowercase().collect::<String>() + chars.as_str(),
+        None => s,
+    }
+}
+
+/// Builds an acronym from the first alphanumeric character of each whitespace-separated
+/// word, uppercased, e.g. `"Attack on Titan"` -> `"AOT"`. A simplified reading of
+/// FileBot's original (which preserves the case of minor words in some cases) - Aurora
+/// Curator always uppercases the whole acronym, which is the more common naming-scheme
+/// use case and avoids depending on an English stop-word list.
+fn acronym(value: Dynamic) -> String {
+    value
+        .to_string()
+        .split_whitespace()
+        .filter_map(|word| word.chars().find(|c| c.is_alphanumeric()))
+        .map(|c| c.to_ascii_uppercase())
+        .collect()
+}
+
+/// True for a character illegal (or reserved) in a filename on at least one of
+/// Windows/macOS/Linux: the Windows-reserved set plus the NUL/control range and the
+/// path separators. Doesn't reject `/` on its own here - callers that need a full *path*
+/// rather than a single filename component should not route through this function.
+fn is_illegal_filename_char(c: char) -> bool {
+    matches!(c, '\\' | '/' | ':' | '*' | '?' | '"' | '<' | '>' | '|') || (c as u32) < 0x20
+}
+
+/// Makes `value`'s string form safe to use as a filename: illegal characters (see
+/// [`is_illegal_filename_char`]) become a space, runs of whitespace collapse to one
+/// space, and the result is trimmed - including trailing dots, which Windows silently
+/// strips from filenames (so leaving them in would make the planned name and the
+/// actually-written name disagree).
+fn validate_file_name(value: Dynamic) -> String {
+    let replaced: String =
+        value.to_string().chars().map(|c| if is_illegal_filename_char(c) { ' ' } else { c }).collect();
+    replaced.split_whitespace().collect::<Vec<_>>().join(" ").trim_end_matches('.').to_string()
+}
+
+/// True for a character FileBot's `.space()` treats as a normalizable word separator.
+fn is_separator_char(c: char) -> bool {
+    c.is_whitespace() || c == '.' || c == '_'
+}
+
+/// Normalizes every run of separator characters (whitespace, `.`, `_`) to a single
+/// space, then trims. Equivalent to `space_with(value, " ")`.
+fn space(value: Dynamic) -> String {
+    space_with(value, " ".to_string())
+}
+
+/// Same as [`space`], but replacing each separator run with `replacement` (only its
+/// first `char` is used; an empty string falls back to a space) instead of a literal
+/// space - e.g. `{n.space_with(".")}` turns `"Breaking Bad"` into `"Breaking.Bad"`.
+fn space_with(value: Dynamic, replacement: String) -> String {
+    let replacement = replacement.chars().next().unwrap_or(' ');
+    let s = value.to_string();
+    let mut result = String::new();
+    let mut last_was_sep = false;
+    for c in s.chars() {
+        if is_separator_char(c) {
+            if !last_was_sep {
+                result.push(replacement);
+            }
+            last_was_sep = true;
+        } else {
+            result.push(c);
+            last_was_sep = false;
+        }
+    }
+    result.trim_matches(replacement).to_string()
+}
+
+/// Replaces every `:` with `" -"` - colons are illegal in Windows filenames but common
+/// in TV/movie titles (`"Show: Subtitle"`).
+fn colon(value: Dynamic) -> String {
+    colon_with(value, " -".to_string())
+}
+
+/// Same as [`colon`], but replacing `:` with a caller-chosen string instead of `" -"`.
+fn colon_with(value: Dynamic, replacement: String) -> String {
+    value.to_string().replace(':', &replacement)
+}
+
 pub fn register(engine: &mut Engine) {
     engine.register_fn("is_empty_value", is_empty_value);
     engine.register_fn("any", any_of);
     engine.register_fn("all_of", all_of);
     engine.register_fn("concat", concat);
+    engine.register_fn("pad", pad);
+    engine.register_fn("pad_with", pad_with);
+    engine.register_fn("sort_name", sort_name);
+    engine.register_fn("sort_initial", sort_initial);
+    engine.register_fn("upper_initial", upper_initial);
+    engine.register_fn("lower_initial", lower_initial);
+    engine.register_fn("acronym", acronym);
+    engine.register_fn("validate_file_name", validate_file_name);
+    engine.register_fn("space", space);
+    engine.register_fn("space_with", space_with);
+    engine.register_fn("colon", colon);
+    engine.register_fn("colon_with", colon_with);
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    fn eval(expr: &str) -> String {
+        let mut engine = Engine::new();
+        register(&mut engine);
+        engine.eval::<Dynamic>(expr).unwrap().to_string()
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pad_left_pads_with_zero_by_default() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""5".pad(2)"#), "05");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""5".pad(3)"#), "005");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pad_does_not_truncate_a_value_already_at_or_past_width() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""123".pad(2)"#), "123");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""12".pad(2)"#), "12");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn pad_accepts_a_custom_pad_character() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""7".pad_with(3, "-")"#), "--7");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn sort_name_moves_a_leading_article_to_the_end() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""The Office".sort_name()"#), "Office, The");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""A Beautiful Mind".sort_name()"#), "Beautiful Mind, A");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""An Officer and a Gentleman".sort_name()"#), "Officer and a Gentleman, An");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn sort_name_leaves_a_title_with_no_leading_article_unchanged() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Deadpool".sort_name()"#), "Deadpool");
+        // "A-Team" is not "A " + rest - no space after the article, so it doesn't match.
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""A-Team".sort_name()"#), "A-Team");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn sort_initial_strips_the_article_before_taking_the_first_letter() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""The Office".sort_initial()"#), "O");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Deadpool".sort_initial()"#), "D");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn upper_and_lower_initial_only_touch_the_first_character() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""breaking Bad".upper_initial()"#), "Breaking Bad");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Breaking Bad".lower_initial()"#), "breaking Bad");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn acronym_takes_the_first_letter_of_each_word_uppercased() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Attack on Titan".acronym()"#), "AOT");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood".acronym()"#), "FMAB");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn validate_file_name_replaces_illegal_characters_with_a_space() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Who Framed Roger Rabbit?".validate_file_name()"#), "Who Framed Roger Rabbit");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Aliens: Special Edition".validate_file_name()"#), "Aliens Special Edition");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn validate_file_name_collapses_whitespace_and_strips_trailing_dots() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Weird:  /Path\\Bits*".validate_file_name()"#), "Weird Path Bits");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Trailing dot.".validate_file_name()"#), "Trailing dot");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn space_normalizes_separator_runs_to_a_single_space() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Breaking___Bad".space()"#), "Breaking Bad");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Breaking.Bad.2008".space()"#), "Breaking Bad 2008");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn space_with_uses_a_custom_replacement_character() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Breaking Bad".space_with(".")"#), "Breaking.Bad");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn colon_replaces_with_a_dash_by_default() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Aliens: Special Edition".colon()"#), "Aliens - Special Edition");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn colon_with_uses_a_custom_replacement() {
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Aliens: Special Edition".colon_with(" -")"#), "Aliens - Special Edition");
+        assert_eq!(eval(r#""Aliens:Special".colon_with("")"#), "AliensSpecial");
+    }
 }
diff --git a/crates/aurora-curator-core/tests/expression_format.rs b/crates/aurora-curator-core/tests/expression_format.rs
index c7e5d9b..45c6769 100644
--- a/crates/aurora-curator-core/tests/expression_format.rs
+++ b/crates/aurora-curator-core/tests/expression_format.rs
@@ -97,3 +97,32 @@ fn genuinely_invalid_syntax_with_spaces_still_errors() {
     let err = ExpressionFormat::compile("{show name (}").unwrap_err();
     assert!(err.to_string().contains("syntax error"), "message was: {err}");
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn scripting_helpers_pad_and_sort_name_work_in_a_naming_scheme() {
+    // A realistic naming scheme leaning on the newly-ported scripting/naming helpers:
+    // zero-padded season/episode numbers plus a sort-friendly show name for a "by title"
+    // library layout.
+    let fmt = ExpressionFormat::compile("{n.sort_name()}/S{s.pad(2)}E{e.pad(2)} - {t}").unwrap();
+    let bindings = string_bindings([
+        ("n", "The Office"),
+        ("s", "5"),
+        ("e", "14"),
+        ("t", "Stress Relief"),
+    ]);
+    assert_eq!(fmt.format(&bindings).unwrap(), "Office, The/S05E14 - Stress Relief");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn scripting_helper_validate_file_name_sanitizes_a_title_with_illegal_characters() {
+    let fmt = ExpressionFormat::compile("{t.colon().validate_file_name()}").unwrap();
+    let bindings = string_bindings([("t", "Aliens: Special Edition?")]);
+    assert_eq!(fmt.format(&bindings).unwrap(), "Aliens - Special Edition");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn scripting_helper_acronym_and_space_with_combine_in_an_expression() {
+    let fmt = ExpressionFormat::compile(r#"{n.acronym()}_{n.space_with("_")}"#).unwrap();
+    let bindings = string_bindings([("n", "Attack on Titan")]);
+    assert_eq!(fmt.format(&bindings).unwrap(), "AOT_Attack_on_Titan");
+}