diff --git a/extensions/google/openclaw.plugin.json b/extensions/google/openclaw.plugin.json
index 3065bb0a47b..03874e0208d 100644
--- a/extensions/google/openclaw.plugin.json
+++ b/extensions/google/openclaw.plugin.json
@@ -71,6 +71,15 @@
       }
     }
   },
+  "setup": {
+    "providers": [
+      {
+        "id": "google-vertex",
+        "authMethods": ["api-key"],
+        "envVars": ["GOOGLE_CLOUD_API_KEY"]
+      }
+    ]
+  },
   "cliBackends": ["google-gemini-cli"],
   "providerAuthEnvVars": {
     "google": ["GEMINI_API_KEY", "GOOGLE_API_KEY"]
diff --git a/src/commands/models/list.auth-index.test.ts b/src/commands/models/list.auth-index.test.ts
index 364e43667ec..74443b312bf 100644
--- a/src/commands/models/list.auth-index.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/models/list.auth-index.test.ts
@@ -2,10 +2,23 @@ import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import type { AuthProfileStore } from "../../agents/auth-profiles/types.js";
 import { createModelListAuthIndex } from "./list.auth-index.js";
 
-vi.mock("../../plugins/installed-plugin-index-store.js", () => ({
-  readPersistedInstalledPluginIndexSync: vi.fn(() => null),
+const pluginRegistryMocks = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+  loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata: vi.fn(() => ({
+    source: "persisted",
+    snapshot: { plugins: [] },
+    diagnostics: [],
+  })),
 }));
 
+vi.mock("../../plugins/plugin-registry.js", async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import("../../plugins/plugin-registry.js")>();
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata:
+      pluginRegistryMocks.loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata,
+  };
+});
+
 const emptyStore: AuthProfileStore = {
   version: 1,
   profiles: {},
@@ -57,6 +70,18 @@ describe("createModelListAuthIndex", () => {
     expect(index.hasProviderAuth("openai")).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it("uses manifest env metadata for google vertex auth", () => {
+    const index = createModelListAuthIndex({
+      cfg: {},
+      authStore: emptyStore,
+      env: {
+        GOOGLE_CLOUD_API_KEY: "gcp-test",
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(index.hasProviderAuth("google-vertex")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("records configured provider API keys", () => {
     const index = createModelListAuthIndex({
       cfg: {
@@ -108,4 +133,38 @@ describe("createModelListAuthIndex", () => {
 
     expect(index.hasProviderAuth("codex")).toBe(true);
   });
+
+  it("ignores derived synthetic auth snapshots", () => {
+    pluginRegistryMocks.loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata.mockReturnValueOnce({
+      source: "derived",
+      snapshot: {
+        plugins: [{ enabled: true, syntheticAuthRefs: ["codex"] }],
+      },
+      diagnostics: [],
+    });
+    const index = createModelListAuthIndex({
+      cfg: {},
+      authStore: emptyStore,
+      env: {},
+    });
+
+    expect(index.hasProviderAuth("codex")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("ignores disabled synthetic auth snapshot entries", () => {
+    pluginRegistryMocks.loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata.mockReturnValueOnce({
+      source: "persisted",
+      snapshot: {
+        plugins: [{ enabled: false, syntheticAuthRefs: ["codex"] }],
+      },
+      diagnostics: [],
+    });
+    const index = createModelListAuthIndex({
+      cfg: {},
+      authStore: emptyStore,
+      env: {},
+    });
+
+    expect(index.hasProviderAuth("codex")).toBe(false);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/commands/models/list.auth-index.ts b/src/commands/models/list.auth-index.ts
index fab861a31a8..39cf25de8e1 100644
--- a/src/commands/models/list.auth-index.ts
+++ b/src/commands/models/list.auth-index.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import {
 import { resolveProviderAuthAliasMap } from "../../agents/provider-auth-aliases.js";
 import { normalizeProviderIdForAuth } from "../../agents/provider-id.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/types.openclaw.js";
-import { readPersistedInstalledPluginIndexSync } from "../../plugins/installed-plugin-index-store.js";
+import { loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata } from "../../plugins/plugin-registry.js";
 
 export type ModelListAuthIndex = {
   hasProviderAuth(provider: string): boolean;
@@ -34,9 +34,20 @@ function normalizeAuthProvider(
   return aliasMap[normalized] ?? normalized;
 }
 
-function listPersistedSyntheticAuthProviderRefs(): readonly string[] {
-  const index = readPersistedInstalledPluginIndexSync();
-  return index?.plugins.flatMap((plugin) => plugin.syntheticAuthRefs ?? []) ?? [];
+function listValidatedSyntheticAuthProviderRefs(params: {
+  cfg: OpenClawConfig;
+  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+}): readonly string[] {
+  const result = loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata({
+    config: params.cfg,
+    env: params.env,
+  });
+  if (result.source !== "persisted" && result.source !== "provided") {
+    return [];
+  }
+  return result.snapshot.plugins
+    .filter((plugin) => plugin.enabled)
+    .flatMap((plugin) => plugin.syntheticAuthRefs ?? []);
 }
 
 export function createModelListAuthIndex(
@@ -62,6 +73,11 @@ export function createModelListAuthIndex(
       addProvider(provider);
     }
   }
+  // Google Vertex ADC is still represented by resolveEnvApiKey's compatibility
+  // path. Move this into manifest auth signals once that contract exists.
+  if (resolveEnvApiKey("google-vertex", env, { aliasMap, candidateMap: envCandidateMap })) {
+    addProvider("google-vertex");
+  }
 
   if (resolveAwsSdkEnvVarName(env)) {
     addProvider("amazon-bedrock");
@@ -77,7 +93,7 @@ export function createModelListAuthIndex(
   }
 
   for (const provider of params.syntheticAuthProviderRefs ??
-    listPersistedSyntheticAuthProviderRefs()) {
+    listValidatedSyntheticAuthProviderRefs({ cfg: params.cfg, env })) {
     addProvider(provider);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/commands/models/list.list-command.forward-compat.test.ts b/src/commands/models/list.list-command.forward-compat.test.ts
index 27f320cbfeb..5ac253c78db 100644
--- a/src/commands/models/list.list-command.forward-compat.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/models/list.list-command.forward-compat.test.ts
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => {
     printModelTable: vi.fn(),
     resolveModelWithRegistry: vi.fn(),
     readPersistedInstalledPluginIndexSync: vi.fn(),
+    loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata: vi.fn(),
   };
 });
 
@@ -95,6 +96,11 @@ function resetMocks() {
   mocks.printModelTable.mockReset();
   mocks.resolveModelWithRegistry.mockReturnValue({ ...OPENAI_CODEX_MODEL });
   mocks.readPersistedInstalledPluginIndexSync.mockReturnValue(null);
+  mocks.loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata.mockReturnValue({
+    source: "persisted",
+    snapshot: { plugins: [] },
+    diagnostics: [],
+  });
 }
 
 function createRuntime() {
@@ -215,6 +221,14 @@ function installModelsListCommandForwardCompatMocks() {
   vi.doMock("../../plugins/installed-plugin-index-store.js", () => ({
     readPersistedInstalledPluginIndexSync: mocks.readPersistedInstalledPluginIndexSync,
   }));
+
+  vi.doMock("../../plugins/plugin-registry.js", async (importOriginal) => {
+    const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import("../../plugins/plugin-registry.js")>();
+    return {
+      ...actual,
+      loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata: mocks.loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata,
+    };
+  });
 }
 
 beforeAll(async () => {
@@ -507,8 +521,12 @@ describe("modelsListCommand forward-compat", () => {
           cost: { input: 0, output: 0, cacheRead: 0, cacheWrite: 0 },
         },
       ]);
-      mocks.readPersistedInstalledPluginIndexSync.mockReturnValue({
-        plugins: [{ syntheticAuthRefs: ["codex"] }],
+      mocks.loadPluginRegistrySnapshotWithMetadata.mockReturnValueOnce({
+        source: "persisted",
+        snapshot: {
+          plugins: [{ enabled: true, syntheticAuthRefs: ["codex"] }],
+        },
+        diagnostics: [],
       });
       const runtime = createRuntime();