diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 667c88e56f7..eb9d23cfe2b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Memory/QMD: prefer QMD's `--mask` collection pattern flag so root memory indexing stays scoped to `MEMORY.md` instead of widening to every markdown file in the workspace. Thanks @codex.
 - Codex harness: normalize cached input tokens before session/context accounting so prompt cache reads are not double-counted in `/status`, `session_status`, or persisted `sessionEntry.totalTokens`. Fixes #69298. Thanks @richardmqq.
 - Hooks/session-memory: use the host local timezone for memory filenames, fallback timestamp slugs, and markdown headers instead of UTC dates. Fixes #46703. (#46721) Thanks @Astro-Han.
 - Feishu: extract quoted/replied interactive-card text across schema 1.0, schema 2.0, i18n, template-variable, and post-format fallback shapes without carrying broad generated/config churn from related parser experiments. (#38776, #60383, #42218, #45936) Thanks @lishuaigit, @lskun, @just2gooo, and @Br1an67.
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-compat.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-compat.test.ts
index 2846167d8cb..9e926ebd730 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-compat.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-compat.test.ts
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@ import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { resolveQmdCollectionPatternFlags } from "./qmd-compat.js";
 
 describe("resolveQmdCollectionPatternFlags", () => {
-  it("prefers modern --glob by default and falls back to legacy --mask", () => {
-    expect(resolveQmdCollectionPatternFlags(null)).toEqual(["--glob", "--mask"]);
-    expect(resolveQmdCollectionPatternFlags("--glob")).toEqual(["--glob", "--mask"]);
-  });
-
-  it("keeps preferring legacy --mask after a legacy-only qmd succeeds", () => {
+  it("prefers --mask by default and falls back to --glob", () => {
+    expect(resolveQmdCollectionPatternFlags(null)).toEqual(["--mask", "--glob"]);
     expect(resolveQmdCollectionPatternFlags("--mask")).toEqual(["--mask", "--glob"]);
   });
+
+  it("keeps preferring --glob after a glob-only qmd succeeds", () => {
+    expect(resolveQmdCollectionPatternFlags("--glob")).toEqual(["--glob", "--mask"]);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-compat.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-compat.ts
index 5c1c5240be4..30090cc384b 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-compat.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-compat.ts
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@ export type QmdCollectionPatternFlag = "--glob" | "--mask";
 export function resolveQmdCollectionPatternFlags(
   preferredFlag: QmdCollectionPatternFlag | null,
 ): QmdCollectionPatternFlag[] {
-  return preferredFlag === "--mask" ? ["--mask", "--glob"] : ["--glob", "--mask"];
+  return preferredFlag === "--glob" ? ["--glob", "--mask"] : ["--mask", "--glob"];
 }
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts
index 5a1b4a9bcc6..7a35e8a5242 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts
@@ -929,7 +929,12 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
         const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
         const pathArg = args[2] ?? "";
         const name = args[args.indexOf("--name") + 1] ?? "";
-        const pattern = args[args.indexOf("--glob") + 1] ?? args[args.indexOf("--mask") + 1] ?? "";
+        const patternIndex = args.includes("--glob")
+          ? args.indexOf("--glob") + 1
+          : args.includes("--mask")
+            ? args.indexOf("--mask") + 1
+            : -1;
+        const pattern = patternIndex >= 0 ? (args[patternIndex] ?? "") : "";
         const hasConflict = [...listedCollections.entries()].some(
           ([existingName, info]) =>
             existingName !== name && info.path === pathArg && info.pattern === pattern,
@@ -1023,7 +1028,12 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
       if (args[0] === "collection" && args[1] === "add") {
         const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
         const name = args[args.indexOf("--name") + 1] ?? "";
-        const pattern = args[args.indexOf("--glob") + 1] ?? args[args.indexOf("--mask") + 1] ?? "";
+        const patternIndex = args.includes("--glob")
+          ? args.indexOf("--glob") + 1
+          : args.includes("--mask")
+            ? args.indexOf("--mask") + 1
+            : -1;
+        const pattern = patternIndex >= 0 ? (args[patternIndex] ?? "") : "";
         const attempts = addAttempts.get(name) ?? 0;
         addAttempts.set(name, attempts + 1);
         if (name === "memory-root-main" && attempts === 0) {
@@ -1097,7 +1107,12 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
       if (args[0] === "collection" && args[1] === "add") {
         const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
         const name = args[args.indexOf("--name") + 1] ?? "";
-        const pattern = args[args.indexOf("--glob") + 1] ?? args[args.indexOf("--mask") + 1] ?? "";
+        const patternIndex = args.includes("--glob")
+          ? args.indexOf("--glob") + 1
+          : args.includes("--mask")
+            ? args.indexOf("--mask") + 1
+            : -1;
+        const pattern = patternIndex >= 0 ? (args[patternIndex] ?? "") : "";
         added.set(name, pattern);
         queueMicrotask(() => child.closeWith(0));
         return child;
@@ -1113,7 +1128,7 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
     expect(removed).not.toContain("memory-dir-main");
   });
 
-  it("falls back to --mask when qmd collection add rejects --glob", async () => {
+  it("falls back to --glob when qmd collection add rejects --mask", async () => {
     cfg = {
       ...cfg,
       memory: {
@@ -1137,8 +1152,8 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
         const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
         const flag = args.includes("--glob") ? "--glob" : args.includes("--mask") ? "--mask" : "";
         addFlagCalls.push(flag);
-        if (flag === "--glob") {
-          emitAndClose(child, "stderr", "unknown flag: --glob", 1);
+        if (flag === "--mask") {
+          emitAndClose(child, "stderr", "unknown flag: --mask", 1);
           return child;
         }
         queueMicrotask(() => child.closeWith(0));
@@ -1150,7 +1165,7 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
     const { manager } = await createManager({ mode: "full" });
     await manager.close();
 
-    expect(addFlagCalls).toEqual(["--glob", "--mask", "--mask"]);
+    expect(addFlagCalls).toEqual(["--mask", "--glob", "--glob"]);
     expect(logWarnMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.stringContaining("retrying with legacy compatibility flag"),
     );
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts
index c0a3b075737..5ca07dad05b 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ export class QmdMemoryManager implements MemorySearchManager {
   private attemptedNullByteCollectionRepair = false;
   private attemptedDuplicateDocumentRepair = false;
   private readonly sessionWarm = new Set<string>();
-  private collectionPatternFlag: QmdCollectionPatternFlag | null = "--glob";
+  private collectionPatternFlag: QmdCollectionPatternFlag | null = "--mask";
 
   private constructor(params: {
     agentId: string;