diff --git a/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.test.ts b/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.test.ts
index b81c6a90fa9..687253e59b2 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.test.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ const loadGatewayStartupPlugins = vi.hoisted(() =>
 );
 const prepareBundledPluginRuntimeLoadRoot = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn((params: unknown) => params));
 const registerBundledRuntimeDependencyJitiAliases = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn());
+const isSourceCheckoutRoot = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn((_packageRoot: string) => false));
 const pruneUnknownBundledRuntimeDepsRoots = vi.hoisted(() =>
   vi.fn((_params: unknown) => ({ scanned: 0, removed: 0, skippedLocked: 0 })),
 );
@@ -138,6 +139,7 @@ vi.mock("../plugins/bundled-runtime-deps.js", () => ({
 }));
 
 vi.mock("../plugins/bundled-runtime-deps-roots.js", () => ({
+  isSourceCheckoutRoot: (packageRoot: string) => isSourceCheckoutRoot(packageRoot),
   pruneUnknownBundledRuntimeDepsRoots: (params: unknown) =>
     pruneUnknownBundledRuntimeDepsRoots(params),
 }));
@@ -197,6 +199,7 @@ describe("prepareGatewayPluginBootstrap runtime-deps staging", () => {
     loadGatewayStartupPlugins.mockClear();
     prepareBundledPluginRuntimeLoadRoot.mockReset().mockImplementation((params: unknown) => params);
     registerBundledRuntimeDependencyJitiAliases.mockClear();
+    isSourceCheckoutRoot.mockClear().mockReturnValue(false);
     pruneUnknownBundledRuntimeDepsRoots.mockClear().mockReturnValue({
       scanned: 0,
       removed: 0,
@@ -325,6 +328,35 @@ describe("prepareGatewayPluginBootstrap runtime-deps staging", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("repairs source-checkout startup plugin deps before verify-only load", async () => {
+    repairBundledRuntimeDepsPackagePlanAsync.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      repairedSpecs: [],
+    });
+    isSourceCheckoutRoot.mockReturnValueOnce(true);
+    const log = createLog();
+    const { prepareGatewayPluginBootstrap } = await import("./server-startup-plugins.js");
+
+    await prepareGatewayPluginBootstrap({
+      cfgAtStart: {},
+      startupRuntimeConfig: {},
+      minimalTestGateway: false,
+      log,
+    });
+
+    expect(isSourceCheckoutRoot).toHaveBeenCalledWith("/package");
+    expect(prepareBundledPluginRuntimeLoadRoot).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        pluginId: "telegram",
+        installMissingDeps: true,
+        memoizePreparedRoot: true,
+        logInstalled: expect.any(Function),
+      }),
+    );
+    expect(loadGatewayStartupPlugins).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({ installBundledRuntimeDeps: false }),
+    );
+  });
+
   it("can defer runtime-deps staging and startup plugin loading until after HTTP bind", async () => {
     const log = createLog();
     const { prepareGatewayPluginBootstrap } = await import("./server-startup-plugins.js");
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.ts b/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.ts
index 93ab7da7aca..1250298d501 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-startup-plugins.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,10 @@ import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";
 import { measureDiagnosticsTimelineSpan } from "../infra/diagnostics-timeline.js";
 import { resolveOpenClawPackageRootSync } from "../infra/openclaw-root.js";
 import { registerBundledRuntimeDependencyJitiAliases } from "../plugins/bundled-runtime-deps-jiti-aliases.js";
-import { pruneUnknownBundledRuntimeDepsRoots } from "../plugins/bundled-runtime-deps-roots.js";
+import {
+  isSourceCheckoutRoot,
+  pruneUnknownBundledRuntimeDepsRoots,
+} from "../plugins/bundled-runtime-deps-roots.js";
 import { repairBundledRuntimeDepsPackagePlanAsync } from "../plugins/bundled-runtime-deps.js";
 import { prepareBundledPluginRuntimeLoadRoot } from "../plugins/bundled-runtime-root.js";
 import type { PluginManifestRegistry } from "../plugins/manifest-registry.js";
@@ -106,6 +109,7 @@ async function prestageGatewayBundledRuntimeDepsImpl(params: {
   }
   prestageGatewayBundledRuntimeMirrors({
     ...params,
+    ...(packageRoot ? { packageRoot } : {}),
     previousRepairError: repairError,
   });
   return repairError === undefined ? {} : { repairError };
@@ -116,9 +120,14 @@ function prestageGatewayBundledRuntimeMirrors(params: {
   manifestRegistry: PluginManifestRegistry;
   pluginIds: readonly string[];
   log: GatewayPluginBootstrapLog;
+  packageRoot?: string;
   previousRepairError?: unknown;
 }): void {
   const pluginIdSet = new Set(params.pluginIds);
+  const allowSourceCheckoutRepair =
+    params.previousRepairError === undefined &&
+    typeof params.packageRoot === "string" &&
+    isSourceCheckoutRoot(params.packageRoot);
   const startedAt = Date.now();
   const preparedPluginIds: string[] = [];
   for (const record of params.manifestRegistry.plugins) {
@@ -133,10 +142,15 @@ function prestageGatewayBundledRuntimeMirrors(params: {
         ...(record.setupSource ? { setupModulePath: record.setupSource } : {}),
         env: process.env,
         config: params.cfg,
-        installMissingDeps: false,
+        installMissingDeps: allowSourceCheckoutRepair,
         previousRepairError: params.previousRepairError,
         memoizePreparedRoot: true,
         registerRuntimeAliasRoot: registerBundledRuntimeDependencyJitiAliases,
+        logInstalled: (installedSpecs) => {
+          params.log.info(
+            `[plugins] ${record.id} installed bundled runtime deps in source checkout pre-stage: ${installedSpecs.join(", ")}`,
+          );
+        },
       });
       preparedPluginIds.push(record.id);
     } catch (error) {