diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5a3586fd181..31a02ff6245 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 ### Changes
 
 ### Fixes
+- Tests: make startup memory and startup bench smoke scripts build CLI startup artifacts when run from a fresh source checkout.
 - iMessage: mark authorized slash-command turns as text-sourced commands so `/status`, `/new`, and `/restart` acknowledgements return to the source conversation. (#82642) thanks @homer-byte.
 - Crabbox: install Corepack shims into the writable hydration `PNPM_HOME` so local AWS runner hydration no longer tries to overwrite `/usr/local/bin/pnpm`.
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 2ae8ddf10ac..b273c045da1 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1753,11 +1753,11 @@
     "test:startup:bench": "node --import tsx scripts/bench-cli-startup.ts",
     "test:startup:bench:check": "node scripts/test-cli-startup-bench-budget.mjs",
     "test:startup:bench:save": "node --import tsx scripts/bench-cli-startup.ts --preset all --runs 5 --warmup 1 --output .artifacts/cli-startup-bench-all.json",
-    "test:startup:bench:smoke": "node --import tsx scripts/bench-cli-startup.ts --preset real --case gatewayStatusJson --runs 1 --warmup 0 --output .artifacts/cli-startup-bench-smoke.json",
+    "test:startup:bench:smoke": "node scripts/ensure-cli-startup-build.mjs && node --import tsx scripts/bench-cli-startup.ts --preset real --case gatewayStatusJson --runs 1 --warmup 0 --output .artifacts/cli-startup-bench-smoke.json",
     "test:startup:bench:update": "node scripts/test-update-cli-startup-bench.mjs",
     "test:startup:gateway": "node --import tsx scripts/bench-gateway-startup.ts",
     "test:restart:gateway": "node --import tsx scripts/bench-gateway-restart.ts",
-    "test:startup:memory": "node scripts/check-cli-startup-memory.mjs",
+    "test:startup:memory": "node scripts/ensure-cli-startup-build.mjs && node scripts/check-cli-startup-memory.mjs",
     "test:ui": "pnpm ui:i18n:check && pnpm lint:ui:no-raw-window-open && pnpm --dir ui test",
     "test:ui:e2e": "node scripts/run-vitest.mjs run --config test/vitest/vitest.ui-e2e.config.ts --configLoader runner",
     "test:unit": "pnpm test:unit:fast && node scripts/run-vitest.mjs run --config test/vitest/vitest.unit.config.ts",
diff --git a/scripts/ensure-cli-startup-build.mjs b/scripts/ensure-cli-startup-build.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9ee2083b671
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/ensure-cli-startup-build.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
+
+const repoRoot = path.resolve(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), "..");
+const entryCandidates = ["dist/entry.js", "dist/entry.mjs"];
+
+export function hasCliStartupBuild(params = {}) {
+  const rootDir = params.rootDir ?? repoRoot;
+  const exists = params.existsSync ?? existsSync;
+  return entryCandidates.some((relativePath) => exists(path.join(rootDir, relativePath)));
+}
+
+export function ensureCliStartupBuild(params = {}) {
+  const rootDir = params.rootDir ?? repoRoot;
+  if (hasCliStartupBuild({ rootDir, existsSync: params.existsSync })) {
+    return { built: false };
+  }
+
+  const nodeExecPath = params.nodeExecPath ?? process.execPath;
+  const spawn = params.spawnSync ?? spawnSync;
+  const buildScript = path.join(rootDir, "scripts", "build-all.mjs");
+
+  console.error("[cli-startup-build] dist/entry missing; running cliStartup build profile");
+  const result = spawn(nodeExecPath, [buildScript, "cliStartup"], {
+    cwd: rootDir,
+    env: params.env ?? process.env,
+    stdio: params.stdio ?? "inherit",
+  });
+  const status = result.status ?? (result.signal ? 1 : 0);
+  if (status !== 0) {
+    throw new Error(`cliStartup build profile failed with exit code ${status}`);
+  }
+  return { built: true };
+}
+
+if (process.argv[1] && import.meta.url === pathToFileURL(process.argv[1]).href) {
+  try {
+    ensureCliStartupBuild();
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error));
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/scripts/ensure-cli-startup-build.test.ts b/test/scripts/ensure-cli-startup-build.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9e81027e9a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/scripts/ensure-cli-startup-build.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+  ensureCliStartupBuild,
+  hasCliStartupBuild,
+} from "../../scripts/ensure-cli-startup-build.mjs";
+
+const tempRoots: string[] = [];
+
+function makeTempRoot(): string {
+  const root = mkdtempSync(path.join(tmpdir(), "openclaw-cli-startup-build-"));
+  tempRoots.push(root);
+  mkdirSync(path.join(root, "scripts"), { recursive: true });
+  writeFileSync(path.join(root, "scripts", "build-all.mjs"), "", "utf8");
+  return root;
+}
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  for (const root of tempRoots.splice(0)) {
+    rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+describe("ensure-cli-startup-build", () => {
+  it("detects an existing CLI startup build", () => {
+    const root = makeTempRoot();
+    mkdirSync(path.join(root, "dist"), { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(path.join(root, "dist", "entry.js"), "export {};\n", "utf8");
+
+    expect(hasCliStartupBuild({ rootDir: root })).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("skips the build profile when dist entry output already exists", () => {
+    const root = makeTempRoot();
+    mkdirSync(path.join(root, "dist"), { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(path.join(root, "dist", "entry.mjs"), "export {};\n", "utf8");
+
+    const result = ensureCliStartupBuild({
+      rootDir: root,
+      spawnSync: () => {
+        throw new Error("unexpected build");
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ built: false });
+  });
+
+  it("runs the cliStartup build profile when dist entry output is missing", () => {
+    const root = makeTempRoot();
+    const calls: unknown[] = [];
+
+    const result = ensureCliStartupBuild({
+      rootDir: root,
+      nodeExecPath: "/node",
+      spawnSync: (command, args, options) => {
+        calls.push({ command, args, options });
+        return { status: 0 };
+      },
+      stdio: "pipe",
+    });
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ built: true });
+    expect(calls).toEqual([
+      {
+        command: "/node",
+        args: [path.join(root, "scripts", "build-all.mjs"), "cliStartup"],
+        options: expect.objectContaining({
+          cwd: root,
+          stdio: "pipe",
+        }),
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("fails when the cliStartup build profile fails", () => {
+    const root = makeTempRoot();
+
+    expect(() =>
+      ensureCliStartupBuild({
+        rootDir: root,
+        spawnSync: () => ({ status: 1 }),
+        stdio: "pipe",
+      }),
+    ).toThrow("cliStartup build profile failed with exit code 1");
+  });
+});