diff --git a/test/vitest-boundary-config.test.ts b/test/vitest-boundary-config.test.ts
index a65fb248066..fe3f8c54dcb 100644
--- a/test/vitest-boundary-config.test.ts
+++ b/test/vitest-boundary-config.test.ts
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@ describe("loadBoundaryIncludePatternsFromEnv", () => {
 });
 
 describe("boundary vitest config", () => {
-  it("keeps boundary suites isolated with shared test bootstrap", () => {
+  it("keeps boundary suites on the shared runner with shared test bootstrap", () => {
     const config = createBoundaryVitestConfig({});
 
-    expect(config.test?.isolate).toBe(true);
-    expect(config.test?.runner).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(config.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
+    expect(config.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
     expect(config.test?.include).toEqual(boundaryTestFiles);
     expect(config.test?.setupFiles).toEqual(["test/setup.ts"]);
   });
diff --git a/test/vitest-projects-config.test.ts b/test/vitest-projects-config.test.ts
index 885ce2dfa77..3211bcca640 100644
--- a/test/vitest-projects-config.test.ts
+++ b/test/vitest-projects-config.test.ts
@@ -13,38 +13,38 @@ describe("projects vitest config", () => {
     expect(baseConfig.test?.projects).toEqual([...rootVitestProjects]);
   });
 
-  it("keeps every root project on fork workers", () => {
+  it("keeps the heavy root projects on fork workers only where explicitly required", () => {
     expect(createGatewayVitestConfig().test.pool).toBe("forks");
     expect(createAgentsVitestConfig().test.pool).toBe("forks");
     expect(createCommandsVitestConfig().test.pool).toBe("forks");
-    expect(createContractsVitestConfig().test.pool).toBe("forks");
+    expect(createContractsVitestConfig().test.pool).toBe("threads");
   });
 
-  it("keeps the contracts lane isolated by default", () => {
+  it("keeps the contracts lane on the shared non-isolated runner", () => {
     const config = createContractsVitestConfig();
-    expect(config.test.isolate).toBe(true);
-    expect(config.test.runner).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(config.test.isolate).toBe(false);
+    expect(config.test.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
   });
 
-  it("keeps the root ui lane aligned with the isolated jsdom setup", () => {
+  it("keeps the root ui lane aligned with the shared non-isolated jsdom setup", () => {
     const config = createUiVitestConfig();
     expect(config.test.environment).toBe("jsdom");
-    expect(config.test.isolate).toBe(true);
-    expect(config.test.runner).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(config.test.isolate).toBe(false);
+    expect(config.test.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
     expect(config.test.setupFiles).not.toContain("test/setup-openclaw-runtime.ts");
     expect(config.test.setupFiles).toContain("ui/src/test-helpers/lit-warnings.setup.ts");
     expect(config.test.deps?.optimizer?.web?.enabled).toBe(true);
   });
 
-  it("keeps the unit lane isolated by default", () => {
+  it("keeps the unit lane on the shared non-isolated runner", () => {
     const config = createUnitVitestConfig();
-    expect(config.test.isolate).toBe(true);
-    expect(config.test.runner).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(config.test.isolate).toBe(false);
+    expect(config.test.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
   });
 
-  it("keeps the bundled lane isolated on fork workers", () => {
-    expect(bundledConfig.test?.pool).toBe("forks");
-    expect(bundledConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(true);
-    expect(bundledConfig.test?.runner).toBeUndefined();
+  it("keeps the bundled lane on the shared 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");
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/vitest-scoped-config.test.ts b/test/vitest-scoped-config.test.ts
index 169d990450c..8422b5c417d 100644
--- a/test/vitest-scoped-config.test.ts
+++ b/test/vitest-scoped-config.test.ts
@@ -51,22 +51,22 @@ import { BUNDLED_PLUGIN_TEST_GLOB, bundledPluginFile } from "./helpers/bundled-p
 const EXTENSIONS_CHANNEL_GLOB = ["extensions", "channel", "**"].join("/");
 
 describe("resolveVitestIsolation", () => {
-  it("defaults shared scoped configs to isolated workers", () => {
-    expect(resolveVitestIsolation({})).toBe(true);
+  it("defaults shared scoped configs to non-isolated workers", () => {
+    expect(resolveVitestIsolation({})).toBe(false);
   });
 
   it("ignores the legacy isolation escape hatches", () => {
-    expect(resolveVitestIsolation({ OPENCLAW_TEST_ISOLATE: "1" })).toBe(true);
-    expect(resolveVitestIsolation({ OPENCLAW_TEST_NO_ISOLATE: "0" })).toBe(true);
-    expect(resolveVitestIsolation({ OPENCLAW_TEST_NO_ISOLATE: "false" })).toBe(true);
+    expect(resolveVitestIsolation({ OPENCLAW_TEST_ISOLATE: "1" })).toBe(false);
+    expect(resolveVitestIsolation({ OPENCLAW_TEST_NO_ISOLATE: "0" })).toBe(false);
+    expect(resolveVitestIsolation({ OPENCLAW_TEST_NO_ISOLATE: "false" })).toBe(false);
   });
 });
 
 describe("createScopedVitestConfig", () => {
-  it("applies isolated mode by default", () => {
+  it("applies non-isolated mode by default", () => {
     const config = createScopedVitestConfig(["src/example.test.ts"], { env: {} });
-    expect(config.test?.isolate).toBe(true);
-    expect(config.test?.runner).toBeUndefined();
+    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"]);
   });
 
@@ -160,30 +160,35 @@ describe("scoped vitest configs", () => {
   const defaultUtilsConfig = createUtilsVitestConfig({});
   const defaultWizardConfig = createWizardVitestConfig({});
 
-  it("keeps every scoped lane on fork workers with isolation enabled", () => {
+  it("keeps most scoped lanes on thread workers with the non-isolated runner", () => {
     for (const config of [
       defaultChannelsConfig,
       defaultAcpConfig,
       defaultExtensionsConfig,
       defaultExtensionChannelsConfig,
       defaultExtensionProvidersConfig,
-      defaultGatewayConfig,
       defaultInfraConfig,
-      defaultCommandsConfig,
       defaultAutoReplyConfig,
-      defaultAgentsConfig,
       defaultToolingConfig,
       defaultUiConfig,
     ]) {
-      expect(config.test?.pool).toBe("forks");
-      expect(config.test?.isolate).toBe(true);
-      expect(config.test?.runner).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(config.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
+      expect(config.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
+      expect(config.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
     }
   });
 
-  it("defaults channel tests to isolated fork mode", () => {
-    expect(defaultChannelsConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(true);
-    expect(defaultChannelsConfig.test?.pool).toBe("forks");
+  it("keeps gateway, commands, and agents on fork workers", () => {
+    for (const config of [defaultGatewayConfig, defaultCommandsConfig, defaultAgentsConfig]) {
+      expect(config.test?.pool).toBe("forks");
+      expect(config.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
+      expect(config.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("defaults channel tests to non-isolated thread mode", () => {
+    expect(defaultChannelsConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
+    expect(defaultChannelsConfig.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
   });
 
   it("keeps the core channel lane limited to non-extension roots", () => {
@@ -217,9 +222,9 @@ describe("scoped vitest configs", () => {
     }
   });
 
-  it("defaults extension tests to isolated fork mode", () => {
-    expect(defaultExtensionsConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(true);
-    expect(defaultExtensionsConfig.test?.pool).toBe("forks");
+  it("defaults extension tests to non-isolated thread mode", () => {
+    expect(defaultExtensionsConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
+    expect(defaultExtensionsConfig.test?.pool).toBe("threads");
   });
 
   it("normalizes extension channel include patterns relative to the scoped dir", () => {
diff --git a/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts b/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts
index a0d3d8ddfd5..15ddb3ac8b6 100644
--- a/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts
+++ b/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts
@@ -68,10 +68,10 @@ describe("loadExtraExcludePatternsFromEnv", () => {
 });
 
 describe("unit vitest config", () => {
-  it("defaults unit tests to isolated mode", () => {
+  it("defaults unit tests to non-isolated mode", () => {
     const unitConfig = createUnitVitestConfig({});
-    expect(unitConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(true);
-    expect(unitConfig.test?.runner).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(unitConfig.test?.isolate).toBe(false);
+    expect(unitConfig.test?.runner).toBe("./test/non-isolated-runner.ts");
   });
 
   it("keeps acp and ui tests out of the generic unit lane", () => {
diff --git a/vitest.agents.config.ts b/vitest.agents.config.ts
index 30a867c875e..4a4a0e39427 100644
--- a/vitest.agents.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.agents.config.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export function createAgentsVitestConfig(env?: Record<string, string | undefined
     dir: "src/agents",
     env,
     name: "agents",
+    pool: "forks",
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/vitest.boundary.config.ts b/vitest.boundary.config.ts
index d25880db340..f3afb4829b4 100644
--- a/vitest.boundary.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.boundary.config.ts
@@ -19,8 +19,12 @@ export function createBoundaryVitestConfig(
     test: {
       ...sharedVitestConfig.test,
       name: "boundary",
+      isolate: false,
+      runner: "./test/non-isolated-runner.ts",
       include: loadBoundaryIncludePatternsFromEnv(env) ?? cliIncludePatterns ?? boundaryTestFiles,
       ...(cliIncludePatterns !== null ? { passWithNoTests: true } : {}),
+      // Boundary workers still need the shared isolated HOME/bootstrap. Only
+      // per-file module isolation is disabled here.
       setupFiles: sharedVitestConfig.test.setupFiles,
     },
   });
diff --git a/vitest.commands.config.ts b/vitest.commands.config.ts
index de76ed9c21c..095fc775328 100644
--- a/vitest.commands.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.commands.config.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export function createCommandsVitestConfig(env?: Record<string, string | undefin
     dir: "src/commands",
     env,
     name: "commands",
+    pool: "forks",
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/vitest.gateway.config.ts b/vitest.gateway.config.ts
index 1ada2bbb4f9..269452ccd32 100644
--- a/vitest.gateway.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.gateway.config.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export function createGatewayVitestConfig(env?: Record<string, string | undefine
     dir: "src/gateway",
     env,
     name: "gateway",
+    pool: "forks",
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/vitest.scoped-config.ts b/vitest.scoped-config.ts
index ddb4472576b..3d099a63651 100644
--- a/vitest.scoped-config.ts
+++ b/vitest.scoped-config.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ function relativizeScopedPatterns(values: string[], dir?: string): string[] {
 export function resolveVitestIsolation(
   _env: Record<string, string | undefined> = process.env,
 ): boolean {
-  return true;
+  return false;
 }
 
 export function createScopedVitestConfig(
diff --git a/vitest.shared.config.ts b/vitest.shared.config.ts
index 7dee0d4661e..63b370095eb 100644
--- a/vitest.shared.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.shared.config.ts
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ export function resolveLocalVitestScheduling(
 export function resolveDefaultVitestPool(
   _env: Record<string, string | undefined> = process.env,
 ): OpenClawVitestPool {
-  return "forks";
+  return "threads";
 }
 
 const repoRoot = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
@@ -211,8 +211,9 @@ export const sharedVitestConfig = {
     hookTimeout: isWindows ? 180_000 : 120_000,
     unstubEnvs: true,
     unstubGlobals: true,
-    isolate: true,
+    isolate: false,
     pool: defaultPool,
+    runner: "./test/non-isolated-runner.ts",
     maxWorkers: isCI ? ciWorkers : localScheduling.maxWorkers,
     fileParallelism: isCI ? true : localScheduling.fileParallelism,
     forceRerunTriggers: [