fix: avoid duplicate gateway config loads

src/cli/gateway-cli/run.option-collisions.test.ts

@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ const configState = vi.hoisted(() => ({
   cfg: {} as Record<string, unknown>,
   snapshot: { exists: false } as Record<string, unknown>,
 }));
+const readBestEffortConfig = vi.fn(async () => configState.cfg);
+const readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata = vi.fn(async () => ({
+  snapshot: configState.snapshot,
+}));
 const recoverConfigFromLastKnownGood = vi.fn<(params?: unknown) => Promise<boolean>>(
   async (_params?: unknown) => false,
 );
@@ -52,8 +56,9 @@ const { runtimeErrors, defaultRuntime, resetRuntimeCapture } = createCliRuntimeC
 
 vi.mock("../../config/config.js", () => ({
   getConfigPath: () => "/tmp/openclaw-test-missing-config.json",
-  readBestEffortConfig: async () => configState.cfg,
+  readBestEffortConfig: () => readBestEffortConfig(),
   readConfigFileSnapshot: async () => configState.snapshot,
+  readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata: () => readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata(),
   recoverConfigFromLastKnownGood: (params: unknown) => recoverConfigFromLastKnownGood(params),
   recoverConfigFromJsonRootSuffix: (snapshot: unknown) => recoverConfigFromJsonRootSuffix(snapshot),
 }));
@@ -186,6 +191,8 @@ describe("gateway run option collisions", () => {
     resetRuntimeCapture();
     configState.cfg = {};
     configState.snapshot = { exists: false };
+    readBestEffortConfig.mockClear();
+    readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata.mockClear();
     controlUiState.root = "/tmp/openclaw-control-ui";
     gatewayLogMessages.length = 0;
     recoverConfigFromLastKnownGood.mockReset();
@@ -306,10 +313,15 @@ describe("gateway run option collisions", () => {
   it("starts gateway when token mode has no configured token (startup bootstrap path)", async () => {
     await runGatewayCli(["gateway", "run", "--allow-unconfigured"]);
 
+    expect(readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(readBestEffortConfig).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(startGatewayServer).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       18789,
       expect.objectContaining({
         bind: "loopback",
+        startupConfigSnapshotRead: {
+          snapshot: configState.snapshot,
+        },
       }),
     );
   });
@@ -339,7 +351,7 @@ describe("gateway run option collisions", () => {
     expect(writeDiagnosticStabilityBundleForFailureSync).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it("blocks startup when the observed snapshot loses gateway.mode even if loadConfig still says local", async () => {
+  it("blocks startup when the observed snapshot loses gateway.mode", async () => {
     configState.cfg = {
       gateway: {
         mode: "local",
@@ -365,6 +377,7 @@ describe("gateway run option collisions", () => {
       `Config write audit: ${path.join("/tmp", "logs", "config-audit.jsonl")}`,
     );
     expect(startGatewayServer).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(readBestEffortConfig).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
   it("restores last-known-good config before startup when the effective config is invalid", async () => {

src/cli/gateway-cli/run.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import type {
   GatewayAuthMode,
   GatewayBindMode,
   GatewayTailscaleMode,
+  ReadConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadataResult,
 } from "../../config/config.js";
 import { formatConfigIssueSummary } from "../../config/issue-format.js";
 import { CONFIG_PATH, resolveGatewayPort, resolveStateDir } from "../../config/paths.js";
@@ -271,18 +272,21 @@ function getGatewayStartGuardErrors(params: {
 
 async function readGatewayStartupConfig(params: {
   startupTrace: ReturnType<typeof createGatewayCliStartupTrace>;
-}): Promise<{ cfg: OpenClawConfig; snapshot: ConfigFileSnapshot | null }> {
+}): Promise<{
+  cfg: OpenClawConfig;
+  snapshot: ConfigFileSnapshot | null;
+  startupConfigSnapshotRead?: ReadConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadataResult;
+}> {
   const {
-    readBestEffortConfig,
-    readConfigFileSnapshot,
+    readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata,
     recoverConfigFromLastKnownGood,
     recoverConfigFromJsonRootSuffix,
   } = await import("../../config/config.js");
-  let cfg = await params.startupTrace.measure("cli.config-load", () => readBestEffortConfig());
-  let snapshot: ConfigFileSnapshot | null = await params.startupTrace.measure(
-    "cli.config-snapshot",
-    () => readConfigFileSnapshot().catch(() => null),
-  );
+  let snapshotRead: ReadConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadataResult | null =
+    await params.startupTrace.measure("cli.config-snapshot", () =>
+      readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata().catch(() => null),
+    );
+  let snapshot: ConfigFileSnapshot | null = snapshotRead?.snapshot ?? null;
   if (snapshot?.exists && !snapshot.valid) {
     const invalidSnapshot = snapshot;
     const recovered = await params.startupTrace.measure("cli.config-recovery", () =>
@@ -317,9 +321,10 @@ async function readGatewayStartupConfig(params: {
           `gateway: failed to persist config auto-recovery notice: ${formatErrorMessage(err)}`,
         );
       }
-      snapshot = await params.startupTrace.measure("cli.config-snapshot-reload", () =>
-        readConfigFileSnapshot().catch(() => null),
+      snapshotRead = await params.startupTrace.measure("cli.config-snapshot-reload", () =>
+        readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata().catch(() => null),
       );
+      snapshot = snapshotRead?.snapshot ?? null;
     } else {
       const repaired = await params.startupTrace.measure("cli.config-prefix-recovery", () =>
         recoverConfigFromJsonRootSuffix(invalidSnapshot),
@@ -328,16 +333,19 @@ async function readGatewayStartupConfig(params: {
         gatewayLog.warn(
           `gateway: repaired invalid effective config by stripping a non-JSON prefix: ${invalidSnapshot.path}`,
         );
-        snapshot = await params.startupTrace.measure("cli.config-snapshot-reload", () =>
-          readConfigFileSnapshot().catch(() => null),
+        snapshotRead = await params.startupTrace.measure("cli.config-snapshot-reload", () =>
+          readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata().catch(() => null),
         );
+        snapshot = snapshotRead?.snapshot ?? null;
       }
     }
   }
-  if (snapshot?.valid) {
-    cfg = snapshot.config;
-  }
-  return { cfg, snapshot };
+  const cfg = snapshot?.config ?? {};
+  return {
+    cfg,
+    snapshot,
+    ...(snapshotRead ? { startupConfigSnapshotRead: snapshotRead } : {}),
+  };
 }
 
 function resolveGatewayRunOptions(opts: GatewayRunOpts, command?: Command): GatewayRunOpts {
@@ -563,7 +571,9 @@ async function runGatewayCommand(opts: GatewayRunOpts) {
   }
 
   gatewayLog.info("loading configuration…");
-  const { cfg, snapshot } = await readGatewayStartupConfig({ startupTrace });
+  const { cfg, snapshot, startupConfigSnapshotRead } = await readGatewayStartupConfig({
+    startupTrace,
+  });
   void maybeLogPendingControlUiBuild(cfg).catch((err) => {
     gatewayLog.warn(`Control UI asset check failed: ${String(err)}`);
   });
@@ -842,6 +852,7 @@ async function runGatewayCommand(opts: GatewayRunOpts) {
           auth: authOverride,
           tailscale: tailscaleOverride,
           startupStartedAt,
+          ...(startupConfigSnapshotRead ? { startupConfigSnapshotRead } : {}),
         }),
     });
 

src/config/config.ts

@@ -39,7 +39,10 @@ export type {
   ConfigWriteFollowUp,
   RuntimeConfigSnapshotMetadata,
 } from "./runtime-snapshot.js";
-export type { ConfigWriteNotification } from "./io.js";
+export type {
+  ConfigWriteNotification,
+  ReadConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadataResult,
+} from "./io.js";
 export { ConfigMutationConflictError, mutateConfigFile, replaceConfigFile } from "./mutate.js";
 export * from "./paths.js";
 export * from "./recovery-policy.js";

src/gateway/server-startup-config.recovery.test.ts

@@ -244,6 +244,42 @@ describe("gateway startup config recovery", () => {
     expect(log.info).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("reuses a CLI preflight snapshot without rereading config", async () => {
+    const snapshot = buildTestConfigSnapshot({
+      path: configPath,
+      exists: true,
+      raw: `${JSON.stringify(validConfig)}\n`,
+      parsed: validConfig,
+      valid: true,
+      config: validConfig,
+      issues: [],
+      legacyIssues: [],
+    });
+    const log = { info: vi.fn(), warn: vi.fn() };
+
+    await expect(
+      loadGatewayStartupConfigSnapshot({
+        minimalTestGateway: false,
+        log,
+        initialSnapshotRead: {
+          snapshot,
+          pluginMetadataSnapshot,
+        },
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual({
+      snapshot,
+      wroteConfig: false,
+      pluginMetadataSnapshot,
+    });
+
+    expect(configIo.readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(applyPluginAutoEnable).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      config: validConfig,
+      env: process.env,
+      manifestRegistry: pluginManifestRegistry,
+    });
+  });
+
   it("preserves empty model allowlist entries through startup auto-enable writes", async () => {
     const sourceConfig = {
       agents: {

src/gateway/server-startup-config.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { loadAuthProfileStoreWithoutExternalProfiles } from "../agents/auth-profiles.js";
 import { formatCliCommand } from "../cli/command-format.js";
 import {
+  type ReadConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadataResult,
   readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata,
   recoverConfigFromLastKnownGood,
   recoverConfigFromJsonRootSuffix,
@@ -202,11 +203,14 @@ export async function loadGatewayStartupConfigSnapshot(params: {
   minimalTestGateway: boolean;
   log: GatewayStartupLog;
   measure?: GatewayStartupConfigMeasure;
+  initialSnapshotRead?: ReadConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadataResult;
 }): Promise<GatewayStartupConfigSnapshotLoadResult> {
   const measure = params.measure ?? (async (_name, run) => await run());
-  let snapshotRead = await measure("config.snapshot.read", () =>
-    readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata({ measure }),
-  );
+  let snapshotRead =
+    params.initialSnapshotRead ??
+    (await measure("config.snapshot.read", () =>
+      readConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadata({ measure }),
+    ));
   let configSnapshot = snapshotRead.snapshot;
   let pluginMetadataSnapshot = snapshotRead.pluginMetadataSnapshot;
   let wroteConfig = false;

src/gateway/server.impl.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ import {
   readConfigFileSnapshot,
   recoverConfigFromLastKnownGood,
   registerConfigWriteListener,
+  setRuntimeConfigSnapshot,
+  type ReadConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadataResult,
 } from "../config/io.js";
 import { replaceConfigFile } from "../config/mutate.js";
 import { isNixMode } from "../config/paths.js";
@@ -456,6 +458,11 @@ export type GatewayServerOptions = {
    * Optional startup timestamp used for concise readiness logging.
    */
   startupStartedAt?: number;
+  /**
+   * Config snapshot already read by the CLI gateway preflight. Passing it avoids
+   * reparsing openclaw.json during server startup.
+   */
+  startupConfigSnapshotRead?: ReadConfigFileSnapshotWithPluginMetadataResult;
 };
 
 type SetupWizardRunner = NonNullable<GatewayServerOptions["wizardRunner"]>;
@@ -491,6 +498,9 @@ export async function startGatewayServer(
       minimalTestGateway,
       log,
       measure: (name, run) => startupTrace.measure(name, run),
+      ...(opts.startupConfigSnapshotRead
+        ? { initialSnapshotRead: opts.startupConfigSnapshotRead }
+        : {}),
     }),
   );
   const configSnapshot = startupConfigLoad.snapshot;
@@ -585,6 +595,7 @@ export async function startGatewayServer(
     startupInternalWriteHash = startupSnapshot.hash ?? null;
     startupLastGoodSnapshot = startupSnapshot;
   }
+  setRuntimeConfigSnapshot(cfgAtStart, startupLastGoodSnapshot.sourceConfig);
   const pluginBootstrap = await startupTrace.measure("plugins.bootstrap", () =>
     prepareGatewayPluginBootstrap({
       cfgAtStart,