diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 3ef9421b589..6b147441e5e 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -118,6 +118,12 @@ COPY --from=build --chown=node:node /app/extensions ./extensions
 COPY --from=build --chown=node:node /app/skills ./skills
 COPY --from=build --chown=node:node /app/docs ./docs
 
+# Docker live-test runners invoke `pnpm` inside the runtime image.
+# Activate the exact pinned package manager now so the container does not
+# rely on a first-run network fetch or missing shims under the non-root user.
+RUN corepack enable && \
+    corepack prepare "$(node -p "require('./package.json').packageManager")" --activate
+
 # Install additional system packages needed by your skills or extensions.
 # Example: docker build --build-arg OPENCLAW_DOCKER_APT_PACKAGES="python3 wget" .
 ARG OPENCLAW_DOCKER_APT_PACKAGES=""
diff --git a/docs/help/testing.md b/docs/help/testing.md
index ff1da245025..9e965b4c769 100644
--- a/docs/help/testing.md
+++ b/docs/help/testing.md
@@ -353,6 +353,10 @@ These run `pnpm test:live` inside the repo Docker image, mounting your local con
 - Gateway networking (two containers, WS auth + health): `pnpm test:docker:gateway-network` (script: `scripts/e2e/gateway-network-docker.sh`)
 - Plugins (custom extension load + registry smoke): `pnpm test:docker:plugins` (script: `scripts/e2e/plugins-docker.sh`)
 
+The live-model Docker runners also bind-mount the current checkout read-only and
+stage it into a temporary workdir inside the container. This keeps the runtime
+image slim while still running Vitest against your exact local source/config.
+
 Manual ACP plain-language thread smoke (not CI):
 
 - `bun scripts/dev/discord-acp-plain-language-smoke.ts --channel <discord-channel-id> ...`
diff --git a/scripts/test-live-gateway-models-docker.sh b/scripts/test-live-gateway-models-docker.sh
index 3cc5ed2bf0b..92ddb905ed5 100755
--- a/scripts/test-live-gateway-models-docker.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-live-gateway-models-docker.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,27 @@ if [[ -f "$PROFILE_FILE" ]]; then
   PROFILE_MOUNT=(-v "$PROFILE_FILE":/home/node/.profile:ro)
 fi
 
+read -r -d '' LIVE_TEST_CMD <<'EOF' || true
+set -euo pipefail
+[ -f "$HOME/.profile" ] && source "$HOME/.profile" || true
+tmp_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
+cleanup() {
+  rm -rf "$tmp_dir"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+tar -C /src \
+  --exclude=.git \
+  --exclude=node_modules \
+  --exclude=dist \
+  --exclude=ui/dist \
+  --exclude=ui/node_modules \
+  -cf - . | tar -C "$tmp_dir" -xf -
+ln -s /app/node_modules "$tmp_dir/node_modules"
+ln -s /app/dist "$tmp_dir/dist"
+cd "$tmp_dir"
+pnpm test:live
+EOF
+
 echo "==> Build image: $IMAGE_NAME"
 docker build -t "$IMAGE_NAME" -f "$ROOT_DIR/Dockerfile" "$ROOT_DIR"
 
@@ -26,8 +47,9 @@ docker run --rm -t \
   -e OPENCLAW_LIVE_GATEWAY_PROVIDERS="${OPENCLAW_LIVE_GATEWAY_PROVIDERS:-${CLAWDBOT_LIVE_GATEWAY_PROVIDERS:-}}" \
   -e OPENCLAW_LIVE_GATEWAY_MAX_MODELS="${OPENCLAW_LIVE_GATEWAY_MAX_MODELS:-${CLAWDBOT_LIVE_GATEWAY_MAX_MODELS:-24}}" \
   -e OPENCLAW_LIVE_GATEWAY_MODEL_TIMEOUT_MS="${OPENCLAW_LIVE_GATEWAY_MODEL_TIMEOUT_MS:-${CLAWDBOT_LIVE_GATEWAY_MODEL_TIMEOUT_MS:-}}" \
+  -v "$ROOT_DIR":/src:ro \
   -v "$CONFIG_DIR":/home/node/.openclaw \
   -v "$WORKSPACE_DIR":/home/node/.openclaw/workspace \
   "${PROFILE_MOUNT[@]}" \
   "$IMAGE_NAME" \
-  -lc "set -euo pipefail; [ -f \"$HOME/.profile\" ] && source \"$HOME/.profile\" || true; cd /app && pnpm test:live"
+  -lc "$LIVE_TEST_CMD"
diff --git a/scripts/test-live-models-docker.sh b/scripts/test-live-models-docker.sh
index f3aecc0049a..5e3e1d0a311 100755
--- a/scripts/test-live-models-docker.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-live-models-docker.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,27 @@ if [[ -f "$PROFILE_FILE" ]]; then
   PROFILE_MOUNT=(-v "$PROFILE_FILE":/home/node/.profile:ro)
 fi
 
+read -r -d '' LIVE_TEST_CMD <<'EOF' || true
+set -euo pipefail
+[ -f "$HOME/.profile" ] && source "$HOME/.profile" || true
+tmp_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
+cleanup() {
+  rm -rf "$tmp_dir"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+tar -C /src \
+  --exclude=.git \
+  --exclude=node_modules \
+  --exclude=dist \
+  --exclude=ui/dist \
+  --exclude=ui/node_modules \
+  -cf - . | tar -C "$tmp_dir" -xf -
+ln -s /app/node_modules "$tmp_dir/node_modules"
+ln -s /app/dist "$tmp_dir/dist"
+cd "$tmp_dir"
+pnpm test:live
+EOF
+
 echo "==> Build image: $IMAGE_NAME"
 docker build -t "$IMAGE_NAME" -f "$ROOT_DIR/Dockerfile" "$ROOT_DIR"
 
@@ -27,8 +48,9 @@ docker run --rm -t \
   -e OPENCLAW_LIVE_MAX_MODELS="${OPENCLAW_LIVE_MAX_MODELS:-${CLAWDBOT_LIVE_MAX_MODELS:-48}}" \
   -e OPENCLAW_LIVE_MODEL_TIMEOUT_MS="${OPENCLAW_LIVE_MODEL_TIMEOUT_MS:-${CLAWDBOT_LIVE_MODEL_TIMEOUT_MS:-}}" \
   -e OPENCLAW_LIVE_REQUIRE_PROFILE_KEYS="${OPENCLAW_LIVE_REQUIRE_PROFILE_KEYS:-${CLAWDBOT_LIVE_REQUIRE_PROFILE_KEYS:-}}" \
+  -v "$ROOT_DIR":/src:ro \
   -v "$CONFIG_DIR":/home/node/.openclaw \
   -v "$WORKSPACE_DIR":/home/node/.openclaw/workspace \
   "${PROFILE_MOUNT[@]}" \
   "$IMAGE_NAME" \
-  -lc "set -euo pipefail; [ -f \"$HOME/.profile\" ] && source \"$HOME/.profile\" || true; cd /app && pnpm test:live"
+  -lc "$LIVE_TEST_CMD"