diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d51f5383c70..cc7dc8b5ccd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Gateway/plugins: always send a non-empty `idempotencyKey` for plugin subagent runs, so dreaming narrative jobs stop failing gateway schema validation. (#65354) Thanks @CodeForgeNet and @vincentkoc.
 - Cron/isolated sessions: persist the right transcript path for each isolated run, including fresh session rollovers, so cron runs stop appending to stale session files. Thanks @samrusani and @vincentkoc.
 - Dreaming/cron: wake managed dreaming jobs immediately instead of waiting for the next heartbeat, so scheduled dreaming runs start when the cron fires. (#65053) Thanks @l0cka and @vincentkoc.
+- QA/packaging: stop packaged QA helpers from crashing when optional scenario execution config is unavailable, so npm distributions can skip the repo-only scenario pack without breaking completion-cache and startup paths. (#65118) Thanks @EdderTalmor and @vincentkoc.
 
 ## 2026.4.11
 
diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.test.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.test.ts
index cd5ea2682c9..13b670e44dd 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.test.ts
@@ -119,4 +119,8 @@ describe("qa scenario catalog", () => {
       }),
     ).toThrow(/gracefulFallbackAny entries must be strings/);
   });
+
+  it("returns undefined execution config for an unknown scenario id", () => {
+    expect(readQaScenarioExecutionConfig("missing-scenario-id")).toBeUndefined();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.ts
index ffaca54946e..c20161a31ef 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.ts
@@ -278,7 +278,15 @@ export function readQaScenarioPackMarkdown(): string {
 export function readQaScenarioPack(): QaScenarioPack {
   const packMarkdown = readTextFile(QA_SCENARIO_PACK_INDEX_PATH).trim();
   if (!packMarkdown) {
-    throw new Error(`qa scenario pack not found: ${QA_SCENARIO_PACK_INDEX_PATH}`);
+    // The QA scenario pack is optional in npm distributions.  Return an empty
+    // pack so completion cache updates and other consumers don't crash when
+    // the qa/scenarios/ directory is not shipped with the package.
+    return {
+      version: 1,
+      agent: { identityMarkdown: DEFAULT_QA_AGENT_IDENTITY_MARKDOWN },
+      kickoffTask: "QA scenarios not available in this distribution.",
+      scenarios: [],
+    };
   }
   const parsedPack = parseQaYamlWithContext(
     qaScenarioPackSchema,
@@ -344,7 +352,7 @@ export function readQaScenarioById(id: string): QaSeedScenario {
 }
 
 export function readQaScenarioExecutionConfig(id: string): Record<string, unknown> | undefined {
-  return readQaScenarioById(id).execution?.config;
+  return readQaScenarioPack().scenarios.find((candidate) => candidate.id === id)?.execution?.config;
 }
 
 export function validateQaScenarioExecutionConfig(config: Record<string, unknown>) {