diff --git a/src/cli/channel-options.test.ts b/src/cli/channel-options.test.ts
index 6e538402d31..bb7ca02835b 100644
--- a/src/cli/channel-options.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/channel-options.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { __testing, resolveCliChannelOptions } from "./channel-options.js";
+import { __testing as startupMetadataTesting } from "./startup-metadata.js";
 
 const readFileSyncMock = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn());
 
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ vi.mock("../channels/ids.js", () => ({
 describe("resolveCliChannelOptions", () => {
   afterEach(() => {
     __testing.resetPrecomputedChannelOptionsForTests();
+    startupMetadataTesting.clearStartupMetadataCache();
     vi.clearAllMocks();
   });
 
diff --git a/src/commands/doctor/shared/legacy-config-runtime-migrate.ts b/src/commands/doctor/shared/legacy-config-runtime-migrate.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index c4028ae8ec8..00000000000
--- a/src/commands/doctor/shared/legacy-config-runtime-migrate.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../../config/types.openclaw.js";
-import { normalizeBaseCompatibilityConfigValues } from "./legacy-config-compatibility-base.js";
-
-export function normalizeRuntimeCompatibilityConfigValues(cfg: OpenClawConfig): {
-  config: OpenClawConfig;
-  changes: string[];
-} {
-  const changes: string[] = [];
-  const next = normalizeBaseCompatibilityConfigValues(cfg, changes);
-  return { config: next, changes };
-}
diff --git a/src/commands/doctor/shared/runtime-compat-api.ts b/src/commands/doctor/shared/runtime-compat-api.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 3860125bf88..00000000000
--- a/src/commands/doctor/shared/runtime-compat-api.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-import { isDeepStrictEqual } from "node:util";
-import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../../config/types.openclaw.js";
-import { applyLegacyDoctorMigrations } from "./legacy-config-compat.js";
-import { normalizeRuntimeCompatibilityConfigValues } from "./legacy-config-runtime-migrate.js";
-
-export function applyRuntimeLegacyConfigMigrations(raw: unknown): {
-  next: Record<string, unknown> | null;
-  changes: string[];
-} {
-  if (!raw || typeof raw !== "object") {
-    return { next: null, changes: [] };
-  }
-
-  const original = raw as Record<string, unknown>;
-  const migrated = applyLegacyDoctorMigrations(original);
-  const base = (migrated.next ?? original) as OpenClawConfig;
-  const normalized = normalizeRuntimeCompatibilityConfigValues(base);
-  const next = normalized.config as OpenClawConfig & Record<string, unknown>;
-  const changes = [...migrated.changes, ...normalized.changes];
-
-  if (changes.length === 0 || isDeepStrictEqual(next, original)) {
-    return { next: null, changes: [] };
-  }
-  return { next, changes };
-}
diff --git a/src/config/config-misc.test.ts b/src/config/config-misc.test.ts
index 75d8ddc26a1..b8daa3bf362 100644
--- a/src/config/config-misc.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/config-misc.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { applyRuntimeLegacyConfigMigrations } from "../commands/doctor/shared/runtime-compat-api.js";
 import {
   getConfigValueAtPath,
   parseConfigPath,
@@ -940,7 +939,7 @@ describe("config strict validation", () => {
     });
   });
 
-  it("accepts legacy messages.tts provider keys via auto-migration and reports legacyIssues", async () => {
+  it("reports legacy messages.tts provider keys without read-time auto-migration", async () => {
     const raw = {
       messages: {
         tts: {
@@ -953,29 +952,13 @@ describe("config strict validation", () => {
       },
     };
     const issues = findLegacyConfigIssues(raw);
-    const migrated = applyRuntimeLegacyConfigMigrations(raw);
 
     expect(issues.some((issue) => issue.path === "messages.tts")).toBe(true);
-    expect(migrated.next).not.toBeNull();
-
-    const next = migrated.next as {
-      messages?: {
-        tts?: {
-          providers?: {
-            elevenlabs?: {
-              apiKey?: string;
-              voiceId?: string;
-            };
-          };
-          elevenlabs?: unknown;
-        };
-      };
-    } | null;
-    expect(next?.messages?.tts?.providers?.elevenlabs).toEqual({
+    expect(raw.messages.tts.elevenlabs).toEqual({
       apiKey: "test-key",
       voiceId: "voice-1",
     });
-    expect(next?.messages?.tts?.elevenlabs).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(raw.messages.tts).not.toHaveProperty("providers");
   });
 
   it("rejects legacy sandbox perSession without read-time auto-migration", async () => {
diff --git a/src/config/io.compat.test.ts b/src/config/io.compat.test.ts
index e75f9135f4c..a0f2891d902 100644
--- a/src/config/io.compat.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/io.compat.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
-import { applyRuntimeLegacyConfigMigrations } from "../commands/doctor/shared/runtime-compat-api.js";
+import { normalizeCompatibilityConfigValues } from "../commands/doctor-legacy-config.js";
 import { createConfigIO } from "./io.js";
 import { normalizeExecSafeBinProfilesInConfig } from "./normalize-exec-safe-bin.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "./types.openclaw.js";
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ describe("config io paths", () => {
   });
 
   it("moves WhatsApp shared access defaults into accounts.default during runtime compat", () => {
-    const migrated = applyRuntimeLegacyConfigMigrations({
+    const migrated = normalizeCompatibilityConfigValues({
       channels: {
         whatsapp: {
           enabled: true,
@@ -171,9 +171,8 @@ describe("config io paths", () => {
           },
         },
       },
-    });
-    const next = migrated.next as OpenClawConfig | null;
-    expect(next?.channels?.whatsapp?.accounts?.default).toMatchObject({
+    } as OpenClawConfig);
+    expect(migrated.config.channels?.whatsapp?.accounts?.default).toMatchObject({
       dmPolicy: "allowlist",
       allowFrom: ["+15550001111"],
       groupPolicy: "open",