diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index df4c46920e8..d1e542b11d8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Browser/plugins: load `playwright-core` through the browser runtime shim so packaged installs can run Playwright actions from staged plugin runtime deps after doctor/startup repair. Fixes #72168; supersedes #72238. Thanks @zdg1110 and @yetval.
 - Plugins/install: stage bundled plugin runtime dependencies before Gateway startup, drain update restarts, and materialize plugin-owned root chunks in external mirrors so staged deps resolve under native ESM. Fixes #72058; supersedes #72084. Thanks @amnesia106 and @drvoss.
 - TTS/SecretRef: resolve `messages.tts.providers.*.apiKey` from the active runtime snapshot so SecretRef-backed MiniMax and other TTS provider keys work in runtime reply/audio paths. Fixes #68690. Thanks @joshavant.
-- Gateway/install: surface systemd user-bus recovery hints during Linux service activation and retry via the machine user scope when `systemctl --user` reports no-medium bus failures. Fixes #39673; refs #44417 and #63561. Thanks @Arbor4, @myrsu, and @mssteuer.
+- Gateway/install: surface systemd user-bus recovery hints during Linux service activation and retry via the target user scope when `systemctl --user` reports no-medium bus failures, without letting stale `SUDO_USER` override `sudo -u` installs. Fixes #39673; refs #44417 and #63561. Thanks @Arbor4, @myrsu, @mssteuer, and @boyuaner.
 - CLI/startup: read generated startup metadata from the bundled `dist` layout before falling back to live help rendering, so root/browser help and channel-option bootstrap stay on the fast path. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - CLI/help: treat positional `help` invocations like `openclaw channels help` as help paths for startup gating, avoiding model/auth warmup while preserving positional arguments such as `openclaw docs help`. Thanks @gumadeiras.
 - Web search: route plugin-scoped web_search SecretRefs through the active runtime config snapshot so provider execution receives resolved credentials across app/runtime paths, including `plugins.entries.brave.config.webSearch.apiKey`. Fixes #68690. Thanks @VACInc.
diff --git a/src/agents/harness/types.ts b/src/agents/harness/types.ts
index 9a8f797e181..247a93c18fd 100644
--- a/src/agents/harness/types.ts
+++ b/src/agents/harness/types.ts
@@ -1,25 +1,21 @@
-import type { CompactEmbeddedPiSessionParams } from "../pi-embedded-runner/compact.types.js";
-import type {
-  EmbeddedRunAttemptParams,
-  EmbeddedRunAttemptResult,
-} from "../pi-embedded-runner/run/types.js";
-import type { EmbeddedAgentRuntime } from "../pi-embedded-runner/runtime.js";
-import type { EmbeddedPiCompactResult } from "../pi-embedded-runner/types.js";
-
 export type AgentHarnessSupportContext = {
   provider: string;
   modelId?: string;
-  requestedRuntime: EmbeddedAgentRuntime;
+  requestedRuntime: import("../pi-embedded-runner/runtime.js").EmbeddedAgentRuntime;
 };
 
 export type AgentHarnessSupport =
   | { supported: true; priority?: number; reason?: string }
   | { supported: false; reason?: string };
 
-export type AgentHarnessAttemptParams = EmbeddedRunAttemptParams;
-export type AgentHarnessAttemptResult = EmbeddedRunAttemptResult;
-export type AgentHarnessCompactParams = CompactEmbeddedPiSessionParams;
-export type AgentHarnessCompactResult = EmbeddedPiCompactResult;
+export type AgentHarnessAttemptParams =
+  import("../pi-embedded-runner/run/types.js").EmbeddedRunAttemptParams;
+export type AgentHarnessAttemptResult =
+  import("../pi-embedded-runner/run/types.js").EmbeddedRunAttemptResult;
+export type AgentHarnessCompactParams =
+  import("../pi-embedded-runner/compact.types.js").CompactEmbeddedPiSessionParams;
+export type AgentHarnessCompactResult =
+  import("../pi-embedded-runner/types.js").EmbeddedPiCompactResult;
 export type AgentHarnessResetParams = {
   sessionId?: string;
   sessionKey?: string;
@@ -29,7 +25,7 @@ export type AgentHarnessResetParams = {
 
 export type AgentHarnessResultClassification =
   | "ok"
-  | NonNullable<EmbeddedRunAttemptResult["agentHarnessResultClassification"]>;
+  | NonNullable<AgentHarnessAttemptResult["agentHarnessResultClassification"]>;
 
 export type AgentHarness = {
   id: string;
diff --git a/src/daemon/systemd-hints.test.ts b/src/daemon/systemd-hints.test.ts
index 02fa7c1cdad..8191caba78c 100644
--- a/src/daemon/systemd-hints.test.ts
+++ b/src/daemon/systemd-hints.test.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ describe("isSystemdUnavailableDetail", () => {
       isSystemdUnavailableDetail("systemctl --user unavailable: Failed to connect to bus"),
     ).toBe(true);
     expect(isSystemdUnavailableDetail("systemctl --user unavailable: ENOMEDIUM")).toBe(true);
+    expect(
+      isSystemdUnavailableDetail(
+        "systemctl --user unavailable: Failed to connect to bus: Permission denied",
+      ),
+    ).toBe(true);
     expect(
       isSystemdUnavailableDetail(
         "systemctl not available; systemd user services are required on Linux.",
diff --git a/src/daemon/systemd-unavailable.test.ts b/src/daemon/systemd-unavailable.test.ts
index c94eed281f8..e245dae9436 100644
--- a/src/daemon/systemd-unavailable.test.ts
+++ b/src/daemon/systemd-unavailable.test.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ describe("classifySystemdUnavailableDetail", () => {
         "systemctl --user unavailable: Failed to connect to bus: No medium found",
       ),
     ).toBe("user_bus_unavailable");
+    expect(
+      classifySystemdUnavailableDetail(
+        "systemctl --user unavailable: Failed to connect to bus: Permission denied",
+      ),
+    ).toBe("user_bus_unavailable");
   });
 
   it("classifies generic systemd-unavailable details", () => {
diff --git a/src/daemon/systemd.test.ts b/src/daemon/systemd.test.ts
index 110da192f60..0bace19ca6e 100644
--- a/src/daemon/systemd.test.ts
+++ b/src/daemon/systemd.test.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@ function assertMachineUserSystemctlArgs(args: string[], user: string, ...command
   expect(args).toEqual(["--machine", `${user}@`, "--user", ...command]);
 }
 
+function mockEffectiveUid(uid: number) {
+  vi.spyOn(process, "geteuid").mockReturnValue(uid);
+}
+
 async function readManagedServiceEnabled(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = { HOME: TEST_MANAGED_HOME }) {
   vi.spyOn(fs, "access").mockResolvedValue(undefined);
   return isSystemdServiceEnabled({ env });
@@ -190,6 +194,7 @@ describe("systemd availability", () => {
   });
 
   it("does not fall back to direct --user when machine scope fails under sudo", async () => {
+    mockEffectiveUid(0);
     execFileMock.mockImplementationOnce((_cmd, args, _opts, cb) => {
       assertMachineUserSystemctlArgs(args, "ai", "status");
       cb(
@@ -205,6 +210,36 @@ describe("systemd availability", () => {
     await expect(isSystemdUserServiceAvailable({ SUDO_USER: "ai" })).resolves.toBe(false);
     expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
+
+  it("does not let preserved USER suppress sudo-to-root machine scope", async () => {
+    mockEffectiveUid(0);
+    execFileMock.mockImplementationOnce((_cmd, args, _opts, cb) => {
+      assertMachineUserSystemctlArgs(args, "debian", "status");
+      cb(null, "", "");
+    });
+
+    await expect(
+      isSystemdUserServiceAvailable({
+        SUDO_USER: "debian",
+        USER: "root-env-stale",
+        LOGNAME: "root-env-stale",
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toBe(true);
+    expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it("does not let stale SUDO_USER override a sudo-u target user scope", async () => {
+    mockEffectiveUid(1000);
+    execFileMock.mockImplementationOnce((_cmd, args, _opts, cb) => {
+      assertUserSystemctlArgs(args, "status");
+      cb(null, "", "");
+    });
+
+    await expect(
+      isSystemdUserServiceAvailable({ USER: "openclaw", SUDO_USER: "admin" }),
+    ).resolves.toBe(true);
+    expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
 });
 
 describe("isSystemdServiceEnabled", () => {
@@ -907,6 +942,51 @@ describe("systemd service install and uninstall", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("uses the sudo-u target user for install activation machine-scope retry", async () => {
+    await withNodeSystemdFixture(async ({ env }) => {
+      const installEnv = { ...env, USER: "openclaw", SUDO_USER: "admin" };
+      execFileMock
+        .mockImplementationOnce((_cmd, args, _opts, cb) => {
+          assertUserSystemctlArgs(args, "status");
+          cb(null, "", "");
+        })
+        .mockImplementationOnce((_cmd, args, _opts, cb) => {
+          assertUserSystemctlArgs(args, "daemon-reload");
+          cb(null, "", "");
+        })
+        .mockImplementationOnce((_cmd, args, _opts, cb) => {
+          assertUserSystemctlArgs(args, "enable", NODE_SERVICE);
+          cb(
+            createExecFileError("Failed to connect to bus: No medium found", {
+              stderr: "Failed to connect to bus: No medium found",
+            }),
+            "",
+            "",
+          );
+        })
+        .mockImplementationOnce((_cmd, args, _opts, cb) => {
+          assertMachineUserSystemctlArgs(args, "openclaw", "enable", NODE_SERVICE);
+          cb(null, "", "");
+        })
+        .mockImplementationOnce((_cmd, args, _opts, cb) => {
+          assertUserSystemctlArgs(args, "restart", NODE_SERVICE);
+          cb(null, "", "");
+        });
+
+      await installSystemdService({
+        env: installEnv,
+        stdout: { write: vi.fn() } as unknown as NodeJS.WritableStream,
+        programArguments: ["/usr/bin/openclaw", "node", "run"],
+        workingDirectory: "/tmp",
+        environment: {
+          OPENCLAW_SYSTEMD_UNIT: "openclaw-node",
+        },
+      });
+
+      expect(execFileMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(5);
+    });
+  });
+
   it("surfaces install activation user-bus failures as systemd unavailable errors", async () => {
     await withNodeSystemdFixture(async ({ env }) => {
       vi.spyOn(os, "userInfo").mockImplementation(() => {
@@ -1066,6 +1146,7 @@ describe("systemd service control", () => {
   });
 
   it("targets the sudo caller's user scope when SUDO_USER is set", async () => {
+    mockEffectiveUid(0);
     execFileMock
       .mockImplementationOnce((_cmd, args, _opts, cb) => {
         assertMachineUserSystemctlArgs(args, "debian", "status");
diff --git a/src/daemon/systemd.ts b/src/daemon/systemd.ts
index 26edba280e2..f68abcba5fe 100644
--- a/src/daemon/systemd.ts
+++ b/src/daemon/systemd.ts
@@ -342,15 +342,11 @@ function resolveSystemctlDirectUserScopeArgs(): string[] {
   return ["--user"];
 }
 
-function resolveSystemctlMachineScopeUser(env: GatewayServiceEnv): string | null {
-  const sudoUser = env.SUDO_USER?.trim();
-  if (sudoUser && sudoUser !== "root") {
-    return sudoUser;
-  }
-  const fromEnv = env.USER?.trim() || env.LOGNAME?.trim();
-  if (fromEnv) {
-    return fromEnv;
-  }
+function readSystemctlEnvUser(env: GatewayServiceEnv): string | null {
+  return env.USER?.trim() || env.LOGNAME?.trim() || null;
+}
+
+function readSystemctlEffectiveUser(): string | null {
   try {
     return os.userInfo().username;
   } catch {
@@ -358,6 +354,44 @@ function resolveSystemctlMachineScopeUser(env: GatewayServiceEnv): string | null
   }
 }
 
+function readSystemctlEffectiveUid(): number | null {
+  if (typeof process.geteuid !== "function") {
+    return null;
+  }
+  try {
+    return process.geteuid();
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+function isNonRootUser(user: string | null): user is string {
+  return Boolean(user && user !== "root");
+}
+
+function resolveSystemctlUserScope(env: GatewayServiceEnv): {
+  machineUser: string | null;
+  preferMachineScope: boolean;
+} {
+  const sudoUser = env.SUDO_USER?.trim() || null;
+  const envUser = readSystemctlEnvUser(env);
+  const effectiveUid = readSystemctlEffectiveUid();
+  const effectiveUser = readSystemctlEffectiveUser();
+  const isEffectiveRoot = effectiveUid === null ? effectiveUser === "root" : effectiveUid === 0;
+  const isSudoToRoot = isEffectiveRoot && isNonRootUser(sudoUser);
+  const machineUser = isSudoToRoot
+    ? sudoUser
+    : isNonRootUser(envUser)
+      ? envUser
+      : isNonRootUser(sudoUser)
+        ? sudoUser
+        : effectiveUser || envUser || sudoUser || null;
+  return {
+    machineUser,
+    preferMachineScope: isSudoToRoot,
+  };
+}
+
 function resolveSystemctlMachineUserScopeArgs(user: string): string[] {
   const trimmedUser = user.trim();
   if (!trimmedUser) {
@@ -380,11 +414,10 @@ async function execSystemctlUser(
   env: GatewayServiceEnv,
   args: string[],
 ): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string; code: number }> {
-  const machineUser = resolveSystemctlMachineScopeUser(env);
-  const sudoUser = env.SUDO_USER?.trim();
+  const { machineUser, preferMachineScope } = resolveSystemctlUserScope(env);
 
-  // Under sudo, prefer the invoking non-root user's scope directly via machine scope.
-  if (sudoUser && sudoUser !== "root" && machineUser) {
+  // Under sudo-to-root, prefer the invoking non-root user's scope directly via machine scope.
+  if (preferMachineScope && machineUser) {
     const machineScopeArgs = resolveSystemctlMachineUserScopeArgs(machineUser);
     if (machineScopeArgs.length > 0) {
       // Do not fall through to bare --user: under sudo that can target root's user manager.
diff --git a/src/plugins/bundle-commands.test.ts b/src/plugins/bundle-commands.test.ts
index 5897b8cb356..6701df97681 100644
--- a/src/plugins/bundle-commands.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/bundle-commands.test.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ vi.mock("./config-state.js", () => ({
   }) => ({
     activated: params.config?.entries?.[params.id]?.enabled !== false,
   }),
+  resolveEffectiveEnableState: (params: {
+    config?: { entries?: Record<string, { enabled?: boolean }> };
+    id: string;
+  }) => ({
+    enabled: params.config?.entries?.[params.id]?.enabled !== false,
+  }),
 }));
 
 const { loadEnabledClaudeBundleCommands } = await import("./bundle-commands.js");
diff --git a/src/plugins/runtime/types-core.ts b/src/plugins/runtime/types-core.ts
index 703f8c5e9e1..e493e84b625 100644
--- a/src/plugins/runtime/types-core.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/runtime/types-core.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,3 @@
-import type {
-  RunEmbeddedAgentFn,
-  RunEmbeddedPiAgentFn,
-} from "../../agents/pi-embedded-runtime.types.js";
 import type { HeartbeatRunResult } from "../../infra/heartbeat-wake.js";
 import type { LogLevel } from "../../logging/levels.js";
 import type { MediaUnderstandingRuntime } from "../../media-understanding/runtime-types.js";
@@ -60,8 +56,8 @@ export type PluginRuntimeCore = {
       model: string;
       catalog?: import("../../agents/model-catalog.types.js").ModelCatalogEntry[];
     }) => import("../../auto-reply/thinking.js").ThinkLevel;
-    runEmbeddedAgent: RunEmbeddedAgentFn;
-    runEmbeddedPiAgent: RunEmbeddedPiAgentFn;
+    runEmbeddedAgent: import("../../agents/pi-embedded-runtime.types.js").RunEmbeddedAgentFn;
+    runEmbeddedPiAgent: import("../../agents/pi-embedded-runtime.types.js").RunEmbeddedPiAgentFn;
     resolveAgentTimeoutMs: typeof import("../../agents/timeout.js").resolveAgentTimeoutMs;
     ensureAgentWorkspace: typeof import("../../agents/workspace.js").ensureAgentWorkspace;
     session: {
diff --git a/src/plugins/types.ts b/src/plugins/types.ts
index dbcefa6142f..4bce34f90b7 100644
--- a/src/plugins/types.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/types.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import type {
 import type { AgentHarness } from "../agents/harness/types.js";
 import type { ModelCatalogEntry } from "../agents/model-catalog.types.js";
 import type { FailoverReason } from "../agents/pi-embedded-helpers/types.js";
-import type { ModelProviderRequestTransportOverrides } from "../agents/provider-request-config.js";
 import type { ProviderSystemPromptContribution } from "../agents/system-prompt-contribution.js";
 import type { PromptMode } from "../agents/system-prompt.types.js";
 import type { AnyAgentTool } from "../agents/tools/common.js";
@@ -137,6 +136,9 @@ import type {
 } from "./tool-types.js";
 import type { WebFetchProviderPlugin, WebSearchProviderPlugin } from "./web-provider-types.js";
 
+type ModelProviderRequestTransportOverrides =
+  import("../agents/provider-request-config.js").ModelProviderRequestTransportOverrides;
+
 export type { PluginRuntime } from "./runtime/types.js";
 export type { PluginOrigin } from "./plugin-origin.types.js";
 export type {