diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a34e5ff14bf..1cd6f3189ba 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 - Providers/Z.AI: map OpenClaw thinking controls to Z.AI's `thinking` payload and add opt-in preserved thinking replay via `params.preserveThinking`, so GLM 5.x can keep prior `reasoning_content` when requested. Fixes #58680. Thanks @xuanmingguo.
 - Channels/status: keep read-only channel lists on manifest and package metadata by default, loading setup runtime only for explicit fallback callers. Thanks @shakkernerd.
+- Plugins/onboarding: defer onboarding install-record index writes until the guarded config commit so setup failures cannot leave the plugin index ahead of `openclaw.json`. Thanks @shakkernerd.
 - Plugins/registry: resolve web provider ownership from the installed plugin index instead of broad manifest scans on secret, tool, and pricing paths. Thanks @shakkernerd.
 - TTS: strip model-emitted TTS directives from streamed block text before channel
   delivery, including directives split across adjacent blocks, while preserving
diff --git a/src/commands/channel-setup/plugin-install.ts b/src/commands/channel-setup/plugin-install.ts
index ed78318b5be..293441a4fee 100644
--- a/src/commands/channel-setup/plugin-install.ts
+++ b/src/commands/channel-setup/plugin-install.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ export async function ensureChannelSetupPluginInstalled(params: {
     cfg: params.cfg,
     entry: toOnboardingPluginInstallEntry(params.entry),
     prompter: params.prompter,
-    refreshRegistry: false,
     runtime: params.runtime,
     workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
   });
diff --git a/src/commands/onboarding-plugin-install.test.ts b/src/commands/onboarding-plugin-install.test.ts
index 4105c870e0c..8df2d4a2a28 100644
--- a/src/commands/onboarding-plugin-install.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/onboarding-plugin-install.test.ts
@@ -147,12 +147,7 @@ describe("ensureOnboardingPluginInstalled", () => {
         spec: "@wecom/wecom-openclaw-plugin@1.2.3",
       }),
     });
-    expect(refreshPluginRegistryAfterConfigMutation).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      expect.objectContaining({
-        config: result.cfg,
-        reason: "source-changed",
-      }),
-    );
+    expect(refreshPluginRegistryAfterConfigMutation).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
   it("returns a timed out status and notes the retry path when npm install hangs", async () => {
diff --git a/src/commands/onboarding-plugin-install.ts b/src/commands/onboarding-plugin-install.ts
index 82f90bbd967..d273fef3cf1 100644
--- a/src/commands/onboarding-plugin-install.ts
+++ b/src/commands/onboarding-plugin-install.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { resolveBundledInstallPlanForCatalogEntry } from "../cli/plugin-install-plan.js";
-import { refreshPluginRegistryAfterConfigMutation } from "../cli/plugins-registry-refresh.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";
 import { parseRegistryNpmSpec } from "../infra/npm-registry-spec.js";
 import {
@@ -136,23 +135,6 @@ function formatPortableLocalPath(localPath: string, workspaceDir?: string): stri
   return undefined;
 }
 
-async function refreshRegistryAfterOnboardingPluginInstall(params: {
-  cfg: OpenClawConfig;
-  refreshRegistry?: boolean;
-  runtime: RuntimeEnv;
-  workspaceDir?: string;
-}) {
-  if (params.refreshRegistry === false) {
-    return;
-  }
-  await refreshPluginRegistryAfterConfigMutation({
-    config: params.cfg,
-    reason: "source-changed",
-    ...(params.workspaceDir ? { workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir } : {}),
-    logger: { warn: (message) => params.runtime.log(message) },
-  });
-}
-
 async function recordLocalPluginInstall(params: {
   cfg: OpenClawConfig;
   entry: OnboardingPluginInstallEntry;
@@ -438,7 +420,6 @@ export async function ensureOnboardingPluginInstalled(params: {
   cfg: OpenClawConfig;
   entry: OnboardingPluginInstallEntry;
   prompter: WizardPrompter;
-  refreshRegistry?: boolean;
   runtime: RuntimeEnv;
   workspaceDir?: string;
 }): Promise<OnboardingPluginInstallResult> {
@@ -495,12 +476,6 @@ export async function ensureOnboardingPluginInstalled(params: {
     }
     next = addPluginLoadPath(enableResult.config, localPath);
     next = await recordLocalPluginInstall({ cfg: next, entry, localPath, npmSpec, workspaceDir });
-    await refreshRegistryAfterOnboardingPluginInstall({
-      cfg: next,
-      refreshRegistry: params.refreshRegistry,
-      runtime,
-      workspaceDir,
-    });
     return {
       cfg: next,
       installed: true,
@@ -579,12 +554,6 @@ export async function ensureOnboardingPluginInstalled(params: {
       ...buildNpmResolutionInstallFields(result.npmResolution),
     } as const;
     next = recordPluginInstall(next, install);
-    await refreshRegistryAfterOnboardingPluginInstall({
-      cfg: next,
-      refreshRegistry: params.refreshRegistry,
-      runtime,
-      workspaceDir,
-    });
     return {
       cfg: next,
       installed: true,
@@ -624,12 +593,6 @@ export async function ensureOnboardingPluginInstalled(params: {
       }
       next = addPluginLoadPath(enableResult.config, localPath);
       next = await recordLocalPluginInstall({ cfg: next, entry, localPath, npmSpec, workspaceDir });
-      await refreshRegistryAfterOnboardingPluginInstall({
-        cfg: next,
-        refreshRegistry: params.refreshRegistry,
-        runtime,
-        workspaceDir,
-      });
       return {
         cfg: next,
         installed: true,