Custom Fields Text Broken By Recent Update!!!!!😡😡😡 Wrike Needs A New Custom Field Data Type!!

We use custom fields to store email addresses as text for our projects.  We run a number of automated scripts that work with those fields to generate project related emails.  On December 22nd 2023 we learned that our emails were not being sent out because wrike's backend now automatically reformats any text custom field that contains an email address, from plain text to to a domain link. 

So if you enter:  "example_email@wrike.com" in a text field via the UI, it is automatically reformatted to: "example_email@ wrike.com"  in the UI. 

What's worse is the value you get back from the API is: "example_email@<a rel=\"no follow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://wrike.com\" > wrike.com</a>" 

instead of: "example_email@wrike.com"

This reformatting makes the "value" unusable when trying to make automated calls with the API.  The value should at minimum contain a "mailto" with the email address intact.  I'm bringing this up because it points to a larger issue when developing custom integrations with Wrike.  This issue sets a precedent that Wrike can update their backend to cause a breaking change with no notice & therefore code cannot be written in a way that trusts the integrity of the value returned.  This makes it much more difficult to develop automations with Wrike and, in my opinion, should be taken very seriously.  My team has been working with Lisa K. since 12/28/23 to resolve this issue and, while I appreciate responses that the issue is being looked at,  so far no meaningful solution has been offered & the status of my support request is "on hold".  I'm writing this because I can't believe I'm the only one negatively impacted by this and I'm looking for support to have this issue solved with a sense of urgency.  It seems to me that another data type may be needed for this issue to be fully resolved.  Text is text!  and should not be automatically reformatted by Wrike backend!

Rant over! lol