diff --git a/src/channels/status/account-state.test.ts b/src/channels/status/account-state.test.ts
index 662ecc8faf21..2db7556242f8 100644
--- a/src/channels/status/account-state.test.ts
+++ b/src/channels/status/account-state.test.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ describe("resolveChannelAccountState", () => {
       { runtime: { running: true, connected: true, lastError: "not linked" } },
       { kind: "running", linked: true, connected: true, failure: "not linked" },
     ],
+    [
+      "running keeps connectivity absent when the transport publishes none",
+      { runtime: { running: true } },
+      { kind: "running", linked: true, connected: undefined, failure: null },
+    ],
     [
       "stopped owns linkage, connectivity, and failure",
       {},
@@ -120,6 +125,13 @@ describe("projectChannelAccountState", () => {
       { kind: "running", linked: true, connected: false, failure: null },
       { configured: true, linked: true, running: true, connected: false, lastError: null },
     ],
+    [
+      // Socketless channels never publish connectivity; a manufactured
+      // `connected: false` here reads as a transport disconnect and makes the
+      // gateway health monitor restart them every cooldown window.
+      { kind: "running", linked: true, failure: null },
+      { configured: true, linked: true, running: true, lastError: null },
+    ],
     [
       { kind: "stopped", connected: true, failure: "transport failed" },
       { configured: true, running: false, connected: true, lastError: "transport failed" },
diff --git a/src/channels/status/account-state.ts b/src/channels/status/account-state.ts
index cdee6bad2b29..082b5a15d6e8 100644
--- a/src/channels/status/account-state.ts
+++ b/src/channels/status/account-state.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ type ChannelAccountState =
     }
   | { kind: "unconfigured"; reason: string; failure: string | null }
   | { kind: "unlinked"; reason: string; failure: string | null }
-  | { kind: "running"; linked?: true; connected: boolean; failure: string | null }
+  | { kind: "running"; linked?: true; connected?: boolean; failure: string | null }
   | { kind: "stopped"; linked?: true; connected?: boolean; failure: string | null };
 
 type ChannelAccountStateInput = {
@@ -59,7 +59,11 @@ export function resolveChannelAccountState(input: ChannelAccountStateInput): Cha
     return {
       kind: "running",
       linked: input.linked,
-      connected: input.runtime.connected ?? false,
+      // Connectivity is tri-state: absent means the transport publishes none at
+      // all (imessage, signal, sms, ...), which is not a reported disconnect.
+      // Defaulting to false makes `evaluateChannelHealth` return "disconnected"
+      // and the health monitor restart every socketless channel per cooldown.
+      connected: input.runtime.connected,
       failure,
     };
   }
@@ -115,7 +119,7 @@ function projectChannelAccountState(state: ChannelAccountState): {
         configured: true,
         ...(state.linked ? { linked: true } : {}),
         running: true,
-        connected: state.connected,
+        ...(typeof state.connected === "boolean" ? { connected: state.connected } : {}),
         lastError: state.failure,
       };
     case "stopped":
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-channels.test.ts b/src/gateway/server-channels.test.ts
index c24d4929d71f..d888a1078872 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-channels.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-channels.test.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import {
   listActiveDegradedSecretOwners,
   setActiveDegradedSecretOwners,
 } from "../secrets/runtime-degraded-state.js";
+import { evaluateChannelHealth } from "./channel-health-policy.js";
 import { createChannelManager, type ChannelManager } from "./server-channels.js";
 
 const hoisted = vi.hoisted(() => {
@@ -483,6 +484,35 @@ describe("server-channels auto restart", () => {
     expect(account?.lastError).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  it("keeps a running channel without transport reporting free of a synthetic disconnect", async () => {
+    // Socketless channels (imessage, signal, sms, ...) never publish `connected`.
+    // Projecting a synthetic `false` made the health monitor read them as
+    // disconnected and restart them once per cooldown window forever.
+    const startAccount = vi.fn(async (ctx: ChannelGatewayContext<TestAccount>) => {
+      ctx.setStatus({ accountId: DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID, running: true });
+      await new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+        ctx.abortSignal.addEventListener("abort", () => resolve(), { once: true });
+      });
+    });
+    installTestRegistry(createTestPlugin({ startAccount }));
+    const manager = createManager();
+
+    await manager.startChannels();
+    await flushMicrotasks();
+
+    const account = manager.getRuntimeSnapshot().channelAccounts.discord?.[DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID];
+    expect(account?.running).toBe(true);
+    expect(account).not.toHaveProperty("connected");
+    expect(
+      evaluateChannelHealth(account ?? {}, {
+        channelId: "discord",
+        now: Date.now() + 60 * 60_000,
+        channelConnectGraceMs: 120_000,
+        staleEventThresholdMs: 30 * 60_000,
+      }),
+    ).toEqual({ healthy: true, reason: "healthy" });
+  });
+
   it("settles every account before surfacing a stop hook failure", async () => {
     const accountIds = ["broken", "healthy"];
     const taskReleases = new Map(accountIds.map((accountId) => [accountId, createDeferred()]));