diff --git a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.test.ts b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.test.ts
index 2408dcf8b73..016ce7dd421 100644
--- a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.test.ts
+++ b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/embeddings.test.ts
@@ -264,6 +264,8 @@ describe("embedding provider remote overrides", () => {
   });
 
   it("fails fast when Gemini remote apiKey is an unresolved SecretRef", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GEMINI_API_KEY", "");
+
     await expect(
       createEmbeddingProvider({
         config: {} as never,
diff --git a/src/infra/vitest-e2e-config.test.ts b/src/infra/vitest-e2e-config.test.ts
index 9d8a81b425a..c490e8ba592 100644
--- a/src/infra/vitest-e2e-config.test.ts
+++ b/src/infra/vitest-e2e-config.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+  normalizeConfigPath,
+  normalizeConfigPaths,
+} from "../../test/helpers/vitest-config-paths.js";
 import { BUNDLED_PLUGIN_E2E_TEST_GLOB } from "../../test/vitest/vitest.bundled-plugin-paths.ts";
 import e2eConfig from "../../test/vitest/vitest.e2e.config.ts";
 
@@ -18,7 +22,9 @@ describe("e2e vitest config", () => {
     ]);
     expect(e2eConfig.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
     expect(e2eConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
-    expect(e2eConfig.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
-    expect(e2eConfig.test?.setupFiles).toContain("test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPath(e2eConfig.test?.runner)).toBe("test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(e2eConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toContain(
+      "test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts",
+    );
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/infra/vitest-live-config.test.ts b/src/infra/vitest-live-config.test.ts
index d7bf0ba746b..f697ebd99ee 100644
--- a/src/infra/vitest-live-config.test.ts
+++ b/src/infra/vitest-live-config.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+  normalizeConfigPath,
+  normalizeConfigPaths,
+} from "../../test/helpers/vitest-config-paths.js";
 import { BUNDLED_PLUGIN_LIVE_TEST_GLOB } from "../../test/vitest/vitest.bundled-plugin-paths.ts";
 import liveConfig from "../../test/vitest/vitest.live.config.ts";
 
@@ -10,7 +14,7 @@ describe("live vitest config", () => {
   it("keeps live tests on thread workers with the non-isolated runner", () => {
     expect(liveConfig.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
     expect(liveConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
-    expect(liveConfig.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPath(liveConfig.test?.runner)).toBe("test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
   });
 
   it("includes live test globs and runtime setup", () => {
@@ -19,6 +23,8 @@ describe("live vitest config", () => {
       "test/**/*.live.test.ts",
       BUNDLED_PLUGIN_LIVE_TEST_GLOB,
     ]);
-    expect(liveConfig.test?.setupFiles).toContain("test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(liveConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toContain(
+      "test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts",
+    );
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/memory-host-sdk/host/embeddings.test.ts b/src/memory-host-sdk/host/embeddings.test.ts
index 6d573e28ed1..317a6ff498c 100644
--- a/src/memory-host-sdk/host/embeddings.test.ts
+++ b/src/memory-host-sdk/host/embeddings.test.ts
@@ -240,6 +240,8 @@ describe("embedding provider remote overrides", () => {
   });
 
   it("fails fast when Gemini remote apiKey is an unresolved SecretRef", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("GEMINI_API_KEY", "");
+
     await expect(
       createEmbeddingProvider({
         config: {} as never,
diff --git a/test/helpers/vitest-config-paths.ts b/test/helpers/vitest-config-paths.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1acdcebf91b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/helpers/vitest-config-paths.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import path from "node:path";
+
+export function normalizeConfigPath(value: unknown): unknown {
+  if (typeof value !== "string" || !path.isAbsolute(value)) {
+    return value;
+  }
+  return path.relative(process.cwd(), value).split(path.sep).join("/");
+}
+
+export function normalizeConfigPaths(
+  values: readonly unknown[] | string | undefined,
+): unknown[] | undefined {
+  if (values === undefined) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  if (!Array.isArray(values)) {
+    return [normalizeConfigPath(values)];
+  }
+  return values.map((value) => normalizeConfigPath(value));
+}
diff --git a/test/vitest-boundary-config.test.ts b/test/vitest-boundary-config.test.ts
index 5f4b7ef238a..149bb04ef55 100644
--- a/test/vitest-boundary-config.test.ts
+++ b/test/vitest-boundary-config.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { normalizeConfigPath, normalizeConfigPaths } from "./helpers/vitest-config-paths.js";
 import {
   createBoundaryVitestConfig,
   loadBoundaryIncludePatternsFromEnv,
@@ -16,9 +17,9 @@ describe("boundary vitest config", () => {
     const config = createBoundaryVitestConfig({});
 
     expect(config.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
-    expect(config.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPath(config.test?.runner)).toBe("test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
     expect(config.test?.include).toEqual(boundaryTestFiles);
-    expect(config.test?.setupFiles).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(config.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
   });
 
   it("narrows boundary includes to matching CLI file filters", () => {
diff --git a/test/vitest-projects-config.test.ts b/test/vitest-projects-config.test.ts
index 83d7bd4783e..d4907631525 100644
--- a/test/vitest-projects-config.test.ts
+++ b/test/vitest-projects-config.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { normalizeConfigPath, normalizeConfigPaths } from "./helpers/vitest-config-paths.js";
 import { createAgentsVitestConfig } from "./vitest/vitest.agents.config.ts";
 import bundledConfig from "./vitest/vitest.bundled.config.ts";
 import { createCommandsLightVitestConfig } from "./vitest/vitest.commands-light.config.ts";
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ describe("projects vitest config", () => {
   it("keeps the contracts lane on the non-isolated runner by default", () => {
     const config = createContractsVitestConfig();
     expect(config.test.isolate).toBe(false);
-    expect(config.test.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPath(config.test.runner)).toBe("test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
   });
 
   it("keeps the root ui lane aligned with the isolated jsdom setup", () => {
@@ -37,15 +38,16 @@ describe("projects vitest config", () => {
     expect(config.test.environment).toBe("jsdom");
     expect(config.test.isolate).toBe(true);
     expect(config.test.runner).toBeUndefined();
-    expect(config.test.setupFiles).not.toContain("test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts");
-    expect(config.test.setupFiles).toContain("ui/src/test-helpers/lit-warnings.setup.ts");
+    const setupFiles = normalizeConfigPaths(config.test.setupFiles);
+    expect(setupFiles).not.toContain("test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts");
+    expect(setupFiles).toContain("ui/src/test-helpers/lit-warnings.setup.ts");
     expect(config.test.deps?.optimizer?.web?.enabled).toBe(true);
   });
 
   it("keeps the unit lane on the non-isolated runner by default", () => {
     const config = createUnitVitestConfig();
     expect(config.test.isolate).toBe(false);
-    expect(config.test.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPath(config.test.runner)).toBe("test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
   });
 
   it("keeps the unit-fast lane on shared workers without the reset-heavy runner", () => {
@@ -57,6 +59,6 @@ describe("projects vitest config", () => {
   it("keeps the bundled lane on thread workers with the non-isolated runner", () => {
     expect(bundledConfig.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
     expect(bundledConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
-    expect(bundledConfig.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPath(bundledConfig.test?.runner)).toBe("test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/vitest-scoped-config.test.ts b/test/vitest-scoped-config.test.ts
index c0b74c0d085..a3bb92877a2 100644
--- a/test/vitest-scoped-config.test.ts
+++ b/test/vitest-scoped-config.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { BUNDLED_PLUGIN_TEST_GLOB, bundledPluginFile } from "./helpers/bundled-plugin-paths.js";
 import { cleanupTempDirs, makeTempDir } from "./helpers/temp-dir.js";
+import { normalizeConfigPath, normalizeConfigPaths } from "./helpers/vitest-config-paths.js";
 import { createAcpVitestConfig } from "./vitest/vitest.acp.config.ts";
 import { createAgentsVitestConfig } from "./vitest/vitest.agents.config.ts";
 import { createAutoReplyCoreVitestConfig } from "./vitest/vitest.auto-reply-core.config.ts";
@@ -93,8 +94,11 @@ describe("createScopedVitestConfig", () => {
   it("applies the non-isolated runner by default", () => {
     const config = createScopedVitestConfig(["src/example.test.ts"], { env: {} });
     expect(config.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
-    expect(config.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
-    expect(config.test?.setupFiles).toEqual(["test/setup.ts", "test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts"]);
+    expect(normalizeConfigPath(config.test?.runner)).toBe("test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(config.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual([
+      "test/setup.ts",
+      "test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts",
+    ]);
   });
 
   it("passes through a scoped root dir when provided", () => {
@@ -153,7 +157,7 @@ describe("createScopedVitestConfig", () => {
       setupFiles: ["test/setup.extensions.ts"],
     });
 
-    expect(config.test?.setupFiles).toEqual([
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(config.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual([
       "test/setup.ts",
       "test/setup.extensions.ts",
       "test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts",
@@ -236,13 +240,13 @@ describe("scoped vitest configs", () => {
     ]) {
       expect(config.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
       expect(config.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
-      expect(config.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+      expect(normalizeConfigPath(config.test?.runner)).toBe("test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
     }
 
     for (const config of [defaultGatewayConfig, defaultCommandsConfig, defaultAgentsConfig]) {
       expect(config.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
       expect(config.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
-      expect(config.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+      expect(normalizeConfigPath(config.test?.runner)).toBe("test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
     }
 
     expect(defaultUiConfig.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
@@ -251,9 +255,9 @@ describe("scoped vitest configs", () => {
   });
 
   it("keeps the process lane off the openclaw runtime setup", () => {
-    expect(defaultProcessConfig.test?.setupFiles).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
-    expect(defaultRuntimeConfig.test?.setupFiles).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
-    expect(defaultPluginSdkConfig.test?.setupFiles).toEqual([
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(defaultProcessConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(defaultRuntimeConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(defaultPluginSdkConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual([
       "test/setup.ts",
       "test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts",
     ]);
@@ -269,14 +273,20 @@ describe("scoped vitest configs", () => {
   });
 
   it("keeps selected plugin-sdk and commands light lanes off the openclaw runtime setup", () => {
-    expect(defaultPluginSdkLightConfig.test?.setupFiles).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
-    expect(defaultCommandsLightConfig.test?.setupFiles).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(defaultPluginSdkLightConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual([
+      "test/setup.ts",
+    ]);
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(defaultCommandsLightConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual([
+      "test/setup.ts",
+    ]);
   });
 
   it("defaults channel tests to threads with the non-isolated runner", () => {
     expect(defaultChannelsConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
     expect(defaultChannelsConfig.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
-    expect(defaultChannelsConfig.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPath(defaultChannelsConfig.test?.runner)).toBe(
+      "test/non-isolated-runner.ts",
+    );
   });
 
   it("keeps the core channel lane limited to non-extension roots", () => {
@@ -314,7 +324,9 @@ describe("scoped vitest configs", () => {
   it("defaults extension tests to threads with the non-isolated runner", () => {
     expect(defaultExtensionsConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
     expect(defaultExtensionsConfig.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
-    expect(defaultExtensionsConfig.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPath(defaultExtensionsConfig.test?.runner)).toBe(
+      "test/non-isolated-runner.ts",
+    );
   });
 
   it("normalizes extension channel include patterns relative to the scoped dir", () => {
@@ -434,12 +446,12 @@ describe("scoped vitest configs", () => {
     expect(defaultChannelsConfig.test?.exclude).not.toContain(
       bundledPluginFile("telegram", "src/fetch.test.ts"),
     );
-    expect(defaultExtensionsConfig.test?.setupFiles).toEqual([
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(defaultExtensionsConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual([
       "test/setup.ts",
       "test/setup.extensions.ts",
       "test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts",
     ]);
-    expect(defaultExtensionTelegramConfig.test?.setupFiles).toEqual([
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(defaultExtensionTelegramConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual([
       "test/setup.ts",
       "test/setup.extensions.ts",
       "test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts",
@@ -603,7 +615,9 @@ describe("scoped vitest configs", () => {
   it("normalizes shared-core include patterns relative to the scoped dir", () => {
     expect(defaultSharedCoreConfig.test?.dir).toBe(path.join(process.cwd(), "src"));
     expect(defaultSharedCoreConfig.test?.include).toEqual(["shared/**/*.test.ts"]);
-    expect(defaultSharedCoreConfig.test?.setupFiles).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(defaultSharedCoreConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual([
+      "test/setup.ts",
+    ]);
   });
 
   it("normalizes process include patterns relative to the scoped dir", () => {
@@ -682,6 +696,6 @@ describe("scoped vitest configs", () => {
   it("normalizes utils include patterns relative to the scoped dir", () => {
     expect(defaultUtilsConfig.test?.dir).toBe(path.join(process.cwd(), "src"));
     expect(defaultUtilsConfig.test?.include).toEqual(["utils/**/*.test.ts"]);
-    expect(defaultUtilsConfig.test?.setupFiles).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(defaultUtilsConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts b/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts
index 92ecf470bea..99dba3abec1 100644
--- a/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts
+++ b/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { createPatternFileHelper } from "./helpers/pattern-file.js";
+import { normalizeConfigPath, normalizeConfigPaths } from "./helpers/vitest-config-paths.js";
 import {
   createUnitVitestConfig,
   createUnitVitestConfigWithOptions,
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@ describe("unit vitest config", () => {
   it("defaults unit tests to the non-isolated runner", () => {
     const unitConfig = createUnitVitestConfig({});
     expect(unitConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
-    expect(unitConfig.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    expect(normalizeConfigPath(unitConfig.test?.runner)).toBe("test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
   });
 
   it("keeps acp and ui tests out of the generic unit lane", () => {
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ describe("unit vitest config", () => {
 
   it("adds the OpenClaw runtime setup hooks on top of the base setup", () => {
     const unitConfig = createUnitVitestConfig({});
-    expect(unitConfig.test?.setupFiles).toEqual([
+    expect(normalizeConfigPaths(unitConfig.test?.setupFiles)).toEqual([
       "test/setup.ts",
       "test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts",
     ]);