diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 248f75769e4..59dc5912c39 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Thinking/providers: resolve bundled provider thinking profiles through lightweight provider policy artifacts when startup-lazy providers are not active, so OpenAI Codex GPT-5.x keeps xhigh available in Gateway session validation. Fixes #74796. Thanks @maxschachere.
 - Plugins/TTS: keep bundled speech-provider discovery available on cold package Gateway paths and add bundled plugin matrix runtime probes for health, readiness, RPC, TTS discovery, and post-ready runtime-deps watchdog coverage. Refs #75283. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - Google Meet/Twilio: show delegated voice call ID, DTMF, and intro-greeting state in `googlemeet doctor`, and avoid claiming DTMF was sent when no Meet PIN sequence was configured. Refs #72478. Thanks @DougButdorf.
 - Voice Call/Twilio: send notify-mode initial TwiML directly in the outbound create-call request while keeping conversation and pre-connect DTMF calls webhook-driven, so one-shot notify calls do not depend on a first-answer webhook fetch. Supersedes #72758. Thanks @tyshepps.
diff --git a/extensions/openai/openai-codex-provider.ts b/extensions/openai/openai-codex-provider.ts
index 0c4e139e40b..6662fd87a3b 100644
--- a/extensions/openai/openai-codex-provider.ts
+++ b/extensions/openai/openai-codex-provider.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ import {
   findCatalogTemplate,
   matchesExactOrPrefix,
 } from "./shared.js";
+import { resolveOpenAICodexThinkingProfile } from "./thinking-policy.js";
 
 const PROVIDER_ID = "openai-codex";
 const OPENAI_CODEX_BASE_URL = OPENAI_CODEX_RESPONSES_BASE_URL;
@@ -99,15 +100,6 @@ const OPENAI_CODEX_GPT_55_PRO_TEMPLATE_MODEL_IDS = [
 ] as const;
 const OPENAI_CODEX_GPT_53_MODEL_ID = "gpt-5.3-codex";
 const OPENAI_CODEX_TEMPLATE_MODEL_IDS = ["gpt-5.2-codex"] as const;
-const OPENAI_CODEX_XHIGH_MODEL_IDS = [
-  OPENAI_CODEX_GPT_55_MODEL_ID,
-  OPENAI_CODEX_GPT_55_PRO_MODEL_ID,
-  OPENAI_CODEX_GPT_54_MODEL_ID,
-  OPENAI_CODEX_GPT_54_PRO_MODEL_ID,
-  OPENAI_CODEX_GPT_53_MODEL_ID,
-  "gpt-5.2-codex",
-  "gpt-5.1-codex",
-] as const;
 const OPENAI_CODEX_MODERN_MODEL_IDS = [
   OPENAI_CODEX_GPT_55_MODEL_ID,
   OPENAI_CODEX_GPT_55_PRO_MODEL_ID,
@@ -507,18 +499,7 @@ export function buildOpenAICodexProviderPlugin(): ProviderPlugin {
     },
     resolveDynamicModel: (ctx) => resolveCodexForwardCompatModel(ctx),
     buildAuthDoctorHint: (ctx) => buildOpenAICodexAuthDoctorHint(ctx),
-    resolveThinkingProfile: ({ modelId }) => ({
-      levels: [
-        { id: "off" },
-        { id: "minimal" },
-        { id: "low" },
-        { id: "medium" },
-        { id: "high" },
-        ...(matchesExactOrPrefix(modelId, OPENAI_CODEX_XHIGH_MODEL_IDS)
-          ? [{ id: "xhigh" as const }]
-          : []),
-      ],
-    }),
+    resolveThinkingProfile: ({ modelId }) => resolveOpenAICodexThinkingProfile(modelId),
     isModernModelRef: ({ modelId }) => matchesExactOrPrefix(modelId, OPENAI_CODEX_MODERN_MODEL_IDS),
     preferRuntimeResolvedModel: (ctx) => {
       if (normalizeProviderId(ctx.provider) !== PROVIDER_ID) {
diff --git a/extensions/openai/openai-provider.ts b/extensions/openai/openai-provider.ts
index 3e4ae8e1a53..969b04ed5dc 100644
--- a/extensions/openai/openai-provider.ts
+++ b/extensions/openai/openai-provider.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import {
   findCatalogTemplate,
   matchesExactOrPrefix,
 } from "./shared.js";
+import { resolveOpenAIThinkingProfile } from "./thinking-policy.js";
 
 const PROVIDER_ID = "openai";
 const OPENAI_GPT_55_MODEL_ID = "gpt-5.5";
@@ -59,15 +60,6 @@ const OPENAI_GPT_54_TEMPLATE_MODEL_IDS = ["gpt-5.2"] as const;
 const OPENAI_GPT_54_PRO_TEMPLATE_MODEL_IDS = ["gpt-5.2-pro", "gpt-5.2"] as const;
 const OPENAI_GPT_54_MINI_TEMPLATE_MODEL_IDS = ["gpt-5-mini"] as const;
 const OPENAI_GPT_54_NANO_TEMPLATE_MODEL_IDS = ["gpt-5-nano", "gpt-5-mini"] as const;
-const OPENAI_XHIGH_MODEL_IDS = [
-  OPENAI_GPT_55_MODEL_ID,
-  OPENAI_GPT_55_PRO_MODEL_ID,
-  OPENAI_GPT_54_MODEL_ID,
-  OPENAI_GPT_54_PRO_MODEL_ID,
-  OPENAI_GPT_54_MINI_MODEL_ID,
-  OPENAI_GPT_54_NANO_MODEL_ID,
-  "gpt-5.2",
-] as const;
 const OPENAI_MODERN_MODEL_IDS = [
   OPENAI_GPT_55_MODEL_ID,
   OPENAI_GPT_55_PRO_MODEL_ID,
@@ -239,18 +231,7 @@ export function buildOpenAIProvider(): ProviderPlugin {
     matchesContextOverflowError: ({ errorMessage }) =>
       /content_filter.*(?:prompt|input).*(?:too long|exceed)/i.test(errorMessage),
     resolveReasoningOutputMode: () => "native",
-    resolveThinkingProfile: ({ modelId }) => ({
-      levels: [
-        { id: "off" },
-        { id: "minimal" },
-        { id: "low" },
-        { id: "medium" },
-        { id: "high" },
-        ...(matchesExactOrPrefix(modelId, OPENAI_XHIGH_MODEL_IDS)
-          ? [{ id: "xhigh" as const }]
-          : []),
-      ],
-    }),
+    resolveThinkingProfile: ({ modelId }) => resolveOpenAIThinkingProfile(modelId),
     isModernModelRef: ({ modelId }) => matchesExactOrPrefix(modelId, OPENAI_MODERN_MODEL_IDS),
     buildMissingAuthMessage: (ctx) => {
       if (ctx.provider !== PROVIDER_ID || ctx.listProfileIds("openai-codex").length === 0) {
diff --git a/extensions/openai/provider-policy-api.ts b/extensions/openai/provider-policy-api.ts
index c2fbb0cb4a4..09028fd26c8 100644
--- a/extensions/openai/provider-policy-api.ts
+++ b/extensions/openai/provider-policy-api.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,20 @@
 import type { ModelProviderConfig } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-model-types";
+import {
+  resolveOpenAICodexThinkingProfile,
+  resolveOpenAIThinkingProfile,
+} from "./thinking-policy.js";
 
 export function normalizeConfig(params: { provider: string; providerConfig: ModelProviderConfig }) {
   return params.providerConfig;
 }
+
+export function resolveThinkingProfile(params: { provider: string; modelId: string }) {
+  switch (params.provider.trim().toLowerCase()) {
+    case "openai":
+      return resolveOpenAIThinkingProfile(params.modelId);
+    case "openai-codex":
+      return resolveOpenAICodexThinkingProfile(params.modelId);
+    default:
+      return null;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/extensions/openai/thinking-policy.ts b/extensions/openai/thinking-policy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..22bfa2398f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/openai/thinking-policy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+import type { ProviderThinkingProfile } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
+
+const OPENAI_THINKING_BASE_LEVELS = [
+  { id: "off" },
+  { id: "minimal" },
+  { id: "low" },
+  { id: "medium" },
+  { id: "high" },
+] as const satisfies ProviderThinkingProfile["levels"];
+
+const OPENAI_XHIGH_MODEL_IDS = [
+  "gpt-5.5",
+  "gpt-5.5-pro",
+  "gpt-5.4",
+  "gpt-5.4-pro",
+  "gpt-5.4-mini",
+  "gpt-5.4-nano",
+  "gpt-5.2",
+] as const;
+
+const OPENAI_CODEX_XHIGH_MODEL_IDS = [
+  "gpt-5.5",
+  "gpt-5.5-pro",
+  "gpt-5.4",
+  "gpt-5.4-pro",
+  "gpt-5.3-codex",
+  "gpt-5.2-codex",
+  "gpt-5.1-codex",
+] as const;
+
+function normalizeModelId(value: string): string {
+  return value.trim().toLowerCase();
+}
+
+function matchesExactOrPrefix(id: string, values: readonly string[]): boolean {
+  const normalizedId = normalizeModelId(id);
+  return values.some((value) => {
+    const normalizedValue = normalizeModelId(value);
+    return normalizedId === normalizedValue || normalizedId.startsWith(normalizedValue);
+  });
+}
+
+function buildOpenAIThinkingProfile(params: {
+  modelId: string;
+  xhighModelIds: readonly string[];
+}): ProviderThinkingProfile {
+  return {
+    levels: [
+      ...OPENAI_THINKING_BASE_LEVELS,
+      ...(matchesExactOrPrefix(params.modelId, params.xhighModelIds)
+        ? [{ id: "xhigh" as const }]
+        : []),
+    ],
+  };
+}
+
+export function resolveOpenAIThinkingProfile(modelId: string): ProviderThinkingProfile {
+  return buildOpenAIThinkingProfile({ modelId, xhighModelIds: OPENAI_XHIGH_MODEL_IDS });
+}
+
+export function resolveOpenAICodexThinkingProfile(modelId: string): ProviderThinkingProfile {
+  return buildOpenAIThinkingProfile({ modelId, xhighModelIds: OPENAI_CODEX_XHIGH_MODEL_IDS });
+}
diff --git a/src/gateway/session-utils.test.ts b/src/gateway/session-utils.test.ts
index a372d7e07ac..ec9b3f1d5e0 100644
--- a/src/gateway/session-utils.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/session-utils.test.ts
@@ -226,6 +226,21 @@ describe("gateway session utils", () => {
     expect(row.thinkingLevels?.map((level) => level.id)).toContain("xhigh");
   });
 
+  test("session defaults and rows expose bundled startup-lazy provider thinking without catalog", () => {
+    const cfg = createModelDefaultsConfig({ primary: "openai-codex/gpt-5.5" });
+
+    const defaults = getSessionDefaults(cfg);
+    const row = buildGatewaySessionRow({
+      cfg,
+      storePath: "",
+      store: {},
+      key: "main",
+    });
+
+    expect(defaults.thinkingLevels?.map((level) => level.id)).toContain("xhigh");
+    expect(row.thinkingLevels?.map((level) => level.id)).toContain("xhigh");
+  });
+
   test("session defaults use configured thinking default", () => {
     const defaults = getSessionDefaults({
       agents: {
diff --git a/src/gateway/sessions-patch.test.ts b/src/gateway/sessions-patch.test.ts
index 53ab366be5e..47719c5ef3f 100644
--- a/src/gateway/sessions-patch.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/sessions-patch.test.ts
@@ -429,6 +429,27 @@ describe("gateway sessions patch", () => {
     expect(entry.thinkingLevel).toBe("xhigh");
   });
 
+  test("accepts xhigh thinking patches from bundled startup-lazy provider policy without catalog", async () => {
+    const entry = expectPatchOk(
+      await runPatch({
+        cfg: {
+          agents: {
+            defaults: {
+              model: { primary: "openai-codex/gpt-5.5" },
+            },
+          },
+        } as OpenClawConfig,
+        patch: {
+          key: MAIN_SESSION_KEY,
+          thinkingLevel: "xhigh",
+        },
+        loadGatewayModelCatalog: async () => [],
+      }),
+    );
+
+    expect(entry.thinkingLevel).toBe("xhigh");
+  });
+
   test("sets spawnedBy for ACP sessions", async () => {
     const entry = expectPatchOk(
       await runPatch({
diff --git a/src/plugins/provider-public-artifacts.test.ts b/src/plugins/provider-public-artifacts.test.ts
index 3589fb737c4..e7c9cfc1224 100644
--- a/src/plugins/provider-public-artifacts.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/provider-public-artifacts.test.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,28 @@ describe("provider public artifacts", () => {
     ).toBe(providerConfig);
   });
 
+  it("resolves multi-provider policy artifacts by manifest-owned provider id", () => {
+    const surface = resolveBundledProviderPolicySurface("openai-codex");
+
+    expect(surface?.resolveThinkingProfile).toBeTypeOf("function");
+    expect(
+      surface
+        ?.resolveThinkingProfile?.({
+          provider: "openai-codex",
+          modelId: "gpt-5.5",
+        })
+        ?.levels.map((level) => level.id),
+    ).toContain("xhigh");
+    expect(
+      surface
+        ?.resolveThinkingProfile?.({
+          provider: "openai-codex",
+          modelId: "gpt-4.1",
+        })
+        ?.levels.map((level) => level.id),
+    ).not.toContain("xhigh");
+  });
+
   it("loads provider policy surfaces without staging runtime deps", async () => {
     const loadBundledPluginPublicArtifactModuleSync = vi.fn(() => ({
       normalizeConfig: (ctx: { providerConfig: ModelProviderConfig }) => ctx.providerConfig,
diff --git a/src/plugins/provider-public-artifacts.ts b/src/plugins/provider-public-artifacts.ts
index 7bcc9658639..8a8a92a9613 100644
--- a/src/plugins/provider-public-artifacts.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/provider-public-artifacts.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,22 @@
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
 import { normalizeProviderId } from "../agents/provider-id.js";
 import type { ModelProviderConfig } from "../config/types.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";
+import { resolveBundledPluginsDir } from "./bundled-dir.js";
 import type {
   ProviderApplyConfigDefaultsContext,
   ProviderNormalizeConfigContext,
   ProviderResolveConfigApiKeyContext,
 } from "./provider-config-context.types.js";
+import type {
+  ProviderDefaultThinkingPolicyContext,
+  ProviderThinkingProfile,
+} from "./provider-thinking.types.js";
 import { loadBundledPluginPublicArtifactModuleSync } from "./public-surface-loader.js";
 
 const PROVIDER_POLICY_ARTIFACT_CANDIDATES = ["provider-policy-api.js"] as const;
+const providerPolicyPluginIdsByProviderId = new Map<string, string | null>();
 
 export type BundledProviderPolicySurface = {
   normalizeConfig?: (ctx: ProviderNormalizeConfigContext) => ModelProviderConfig | null | undefined;
@@ -16,6 +24,9 @@ export type BundledProviderPolicySurface = {
     ctx: ProviderApplyConfigDefaultsContext,
   ) => OpenClawConfig | null | undefined;
   resolveConfigApiKey?: (ctx: ProviderResolveConfigApiKeyContext) => string | null | undefined;
+  resolveThinkingProfile?: (
+    ctx: ProviderDefaultThinkingPolicyContext,
+  ) => ProviderThinkingProfile | null | undefined;
 };
 
 function hasProviderPolicyHook(
@@ -24,7 +35,8 @@ function hasProviderPolicyHook(
   return (
     typeof mod.normalizeConfig === "function" ||
     typeof mod.applyConfigDefaults === "function" ||
-    typeof mod.resolveConfigApiKey === "function"
+    typeof mod.resolveConfigApiKey === "function" ||
+    typeof mod.resolveThinkingProfile === "function"
   );
 }
 
@@ -54,6 +66,52 @@ function tryLoadBundledProviderPolicySurface(
   return null;
 }
 
+function resolveBundledProviderPolicyPluginId(providerId: string): string | null {
+  const normalizedProviderId = normalizeProviderId(providerId);
+  if (!normalizedProviderId) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  const bundledPluginsDir = resolveBundledPluginsDir();
+  const cacheKey = `${bundledPluginsDir ?? "<none>"}::${normalizedProviderId}`;
+  if (providerPolicyPluginIdsByProviderId.has(cacheKey)) {
+    return providerPolicyPluginIdsByProviderId.get(cacheKey) ?? null;
+  }
+
+  if (!bundledPluginsDir || !fs.existsSync(bundledPluginsDir)) {
+    providerPolicyPluginIdsByProviderId.set(cacheKey, null);
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  for (const entry of fs
+    .readdirSync(bundledPluginsDir, { withFileTypes: true })
+    .filter((candidate) => candidate.isDirectory())
+    .map((candidate) => candidate.name)
+    .toSorted((left, right) => left.localeCompare(right))) {
+    const manifestPath = path.join(bundledPluginsDir, entry, "openclaw.plugin.json");
+    if (!fs.existsSync(manifestPath)) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    let manifest: { providers?: unknown };
+    try {
+      manifest = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(manifestPath, "utf-8")) as { providers?: unknown };
+    } catch {
+      continue;
+    }
+    const providers = Array.isArray(manifest.providers) ? manifest.providers : [];
+    const ownsProvider = providers.some(
+      (candidate) =>
+        typeof candidate === "string" && normalizeProviderId(candidate) === normalizedProviderId,
+    );
+    if (ownsProvider) {
+      providerPolicyPluginIdsByProviderId.set(cacheKey, entry);
+      return entry;
+    }
+  }
+
+  providerPolicyPluginIdsByProviderId.set(cacheKey, null);
+  return null;
+}
+
 export function resolveBundledProviderPolicySurface(
   providerId: string,
 ): BundledProviderPolicySurface | null {
@@ -61,5 +119,10 @@ export function resolveBundledProviderPolicySurface(
   if (!normalizedProviderId) {
     return null;
   }
-  return tryLoadBundledProviderPolicySurface(normalizedProviderId);
+  return (
+    tryLoadBundledProviderPolicySurface(normalizedProviderId) ??
+    tryLoadBundledProviderPolicySurface(
+      resolveBundledProviderPolicyPluginId(normalizedProviderId) ?? normalizedProviderId,
+    )
+  );
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/provider-thinking.ts b/src/plugins/provider-thinking.ts
index 1c6e700a1e0..7f475379045 100644
--- a/src/plugins/provider-thinking.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/provider-thinking.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { normalizeProviderId } from "../agents/provider-id.js";
+import { resolveBundledProviderPolicySurface } from "./provider-public-artifacts.js";
 import type {
   ProviderDefaultThinkingPolicyContext,
   ProviderThinkingProfile,
@@ -8,6 +9,7 @@ import type {
 type ThinkingProviderPlugin = {
   id: string;
   aliases?: string[];
+  hookAliases?: string[];
   isBinaryThinking?: (ctx: ProviderThinkingPolicyContext) => boolean | undefined;
   supportsXHighThinking?: (ctx: ProviderThinkingPolicyContext) => boolean | undefined;
   resolveThinkingProfile?: (
@@ -36,7 +38,9 @@ function matchesProviderId(provider: ThinkingProviderPlugin, providerId: string)
   if (normalizeProviderId(provider.id) === normalized) {
     return true;
   }
-  return (provider.aliases ?? []).some((alias) => normalizeProviderId(alias) === normalized);
+  return [...(provider.aliases ?? []), ...(provider.hookAliases ?? [])].some(
+    (alias) => normalizeProviderId(alias) === normalized,
+  );
 }
 
 function resolveActiveThinkingProvider(providerId: string): ThinkingProviderPlugin | undefined {
@@ -72,7 +76,15 @@ export function resolveProviderXHighThinking(
 export function resolveProviderThinkingProfile(
   params: ThinkingHookParams<ProviderDefaultThinkingPolicyContext>,
 ) {
-  return resolveActiveThinkingProvider(params.provider)?.resolveThinkingProfile?.(params.context);
+  const activeProfile = resolveActiveThinkingProvider(params.provider)?.resolveThinkingProfile?.(
+    params.context,
+  );
+  if (activeProfile) {
+    return activeProfile;
+  }
+  return resolveBundledProviderPolicySurface(params.provider)?.resolveThinkingProfile?.(
+    params.context,
+  );
 }
 
 export function resolveProviderDefaultThinkingLevel(