diff --git a/.github/workflows/stale.yml b/.github/workflows/stale.yml
index 1551cb927a0..e6feef90e6b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/stale.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/stale.yml
@@ -22,11 +22,13 @@ jobs:
           private-key: ${{ secrets.GH_APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}
       - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@d72941d797fd3113feb6b93fd0dec494b13a2547 # v1
         id: app-token-fallback
-        if: steps.app-token.outcome == 'failure'
+        continue-on-error: true
         with:
           app-id: "2971289"
           private-key: ${{ secrets.GH_APP_PRIVATE_KEY_FALLBACK }}
-      - name: Mark stale issues and pull requests
+      - name: Mark stale issues and pull requests (primary)
+        id: stale-primary
+        continue-on-error: true
         uses: actions/stale@v9
         with:
           repo-token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token || steps.app-token-fallback.outputs.token }}
@@ -57,6 +59,62 @@ jobs:
             Closing due to inactivity.
             If you believe this PR should be revived, post in #pr-thunderdome-dangerzone on Discord to talk to a maintainer.
             That channel is the escape hatch for high-quality PRs that get auto-closed.
+      - name: Check stale state cache
+        id: stale-state
+        if: always()
+        uses: actions/github-script@f28e40c7f34bde8b3046d885e986cb6290c5673b # v7
+        with:
+          github-token: ${{ steps.app-token-fallback.outputs.token || steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
+          script: |
+            const cacheKey = "_state";
+            const { owner, repo } = context.repo;
+
+            try {
+              const { data } = await github.rest.actions.getActionsCacheList({
+                owner,
+                repo,
+                key: cacheKey,
+              });
+              const caches = data.actions_caches ?? [];
+              const hasState = caches.some(cache => cache.key === cacheKey);
+              core.setOutput("has_state", hasState ? "true" : "false");
+            } catch (error) {
+              const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
+              core.warning(`Failed to check stale state cache: ${message}`);
+              core.setOutput("has_state", "false");
+            }
+      - name: Mark stale issues and pull requests (fallback)
+        if: (steps.stale-primary.outcome == 'failure' || steps.stale-state.outputs.has_state == 'true') && steps.app-token-fallback.outputs.token != ''
+        uses: actions/stale@v9
+        with:
+          repo-token: ${{ steps.app-token-fallback.outputs.token }}
+          days-before-issue-stale: 7
+          days-before-issue-close: 5
+          days-before-pr-stale: 5
+          days-before-pr-close: 3
+          stale-issue-label: stale
+          stale-pr-label: stale
+          exempt-issue-labels: enhancement,maintainer,pinned,security,no-stale
+          exempt-pr-labels: maintainer,no-stale
+          operations-per-run: 2000
+          ascending: true
+          exempt-all-assignees: true
+          remove-stale-when-updated: true
+          stale-issue-message: |
+            This issue has been automatically marked as stale due to inactivity.
+            Please add updates or it will be closed.
+          stale-pr-message: |
+            This pull request has been automatically marked as stale due to inactivity.
+            Please add updates or it will be closed.
+          close-issue-message: |
+            Closing due to inactivity.
+            If this is still an issue, please retry on the latest OpenClaw release and share updated details.
+            If you are absolutely sure it still happens on the latest release, open a new issue with fresh repro steps.
+          close-issue-reason: not_planned
+          close-pr-message: |
+            Closing due to inactivity.
+            If you believe this PR should be revived, post in #pr-thunderdome-dangerzone on Discord to talk to a maintainer.
+            That channel is the escape hatch for high-quality PRs that get auto-closed.
 
   lock-closed-issues:
     permissions: