diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2e372d2a3dc..e27d431eeec 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Gateway/diagnostics: include a bounded redacted startup error message in stability bundles, so crash-loop reports identify the failing plugin or contract without exposing secrets. Refs #75797. Thanks @ymebosma.
 - Control UI/Talk: allow the OpenAI Realtime WebRTC offer endpoint through the Control UI CSP, configure browser sessions with explicit VAD/transcription input settings, and surface OpenAI realtime error/lifecycle events instead of leaving Talk stuck as live with no diagnostic. Fixes #73427.
 - Providers/OpenAI: resolve `keychain:<service>:<account>` `OPENAI_API_KEY` refs before creating OpenAI Realtime browser sessions or voice bridges, with a bounded cached Keychain lookup. Fixes #72120. Thanks @ctbritt.
 - Discord/gateway: reconnect when the gateway socket closes while waiting for the shared IDENTIFY concurrency window, instead of silently skipping IDENTIFY and leaving the bot online but unresponsive. Fixes #74617. Thanks @zeeskdr-ai.
diff --git a/src/logging/diagnostic-stability-bundle.test.ts b/src/logging/diagnostic-stability-bundle.test.ts
index 1453cba001a..97e59939ac3 100644
--- a/src/logging/diagnostic-stability-bundle.test.ts
+++ b/src/logging/diagnostic-stability-bundle.test.ts
@@ -88,7 +88,13 @@ describe("diagnostic stability bundles", () => {
       reason: "json_body_limit",
     });
 
-    const error = Object.assign(new Error("contains secret message"), { code: "ERR_TEST" });
+    const secret = "sk-1234567890abcdef";
+    const error = Object.assign(
+      new Error(
+        `Startup failed: OPENAI_API_KEY=${secret} while opening google/web-search-contract-api.js`,
+      ),
+      { code: "ERR_TEST" },
+    );
     const result = writeDiagnosticStabilityBundleSync({
       reason: "gateway.restart_startup_failed",
       error,
@@ -122,9 +128,11 @@ describe("diagnostic stability bundles", () => {
     });
     expect(bundle.snapshot.events[0]).not.toHaveProperty("chatId");
     expect(bundle.snapshot.events[0]).not.toHaveProperty("error");
+    expect(bundle.error?.message).toContain("google/web-search-contract-api.js");
+    expect(bundle.error?.message).not.toContain(secret);
     expect(raw).not.toContain("chat-secret");
     expect(raw).not.toContain("message body");
-    expect(raw).not.toContain("contains secret message");
+    expect(raw).not.toContain(secret);
     expect(raw).not.toContain(os.hostname());
   });
 
@@ -158,13 +166,14 @@ describe("diagnostic stability bundles", () => {
       error: {
         name: "Error",
         code: "ERR_CONFIG_PARSE",
+        message: "raw startup config payload",
       },
       snapshot: {
         count: 0,
         events: [],
       },
     });
-    expect(raw).not.toContain("raw startup config payload");
+    expect(raw).not.toContain("stack");
   });
 
   it("registers a fatal hook only while installed", () => {
@@ -242,7 +251,7 @@ describe("diagnostic stability bundles", () => {
       error: {
         name: "private error name",
         code: "ERR_TEST",
-        message: "error-message-secret",
+        message: "OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-1234567890abcdef",
       },
     });
     Object.assign(bundle.process as Record<string, unknown>, {
@@ -284,7 +293,9 @@ describe("diagnostic stability bundles", () => {
     }
     expect(result.bundle.reason).toBe("unknown");
     expect(result.bundle.host).toEqual({ hostname: "<redacted-hostname>" });
-    expect(result.bundle.error).toEqual({ code: "ERR_TEST" });
+    expect(result.bundle.error?.code).toBe("ERR_TEST");
+    expect(result.bundle.error?.message).toContain("OPENAI_API_KEY=");
+    expect(result.bundle.error?.message).not.toContain("sk-1234567890abcdef");
     expect(result.bundle.snapshot.events[0]).toEqual({
       seq: 1,
       ts: 1,
@@ -297,7 +308,7 @@ describe("diagnostic stability bundles", () => {
       "private reason",
       "top-level-secret",
       "private error name",
-      "error-message-secret",
+      "sk-1234567890abcdef",
       "process-command-secret",
       "private-hostname",
       "host-extra-secret",
diff --git a/src/logging/diagnostic-stability-bundle.ts b/src/logging/diagnostic-stability-bundle.ts
index 88c35343f43..b8b4984ccbf 100644
--- a/src/logging/diagnostic-stability-bundle.ts
+++ b/src/logging/diagnostic-stability-bundle.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {
   MAX_DIAGNOSTIC_STABILITY_LIMIT,
   type DiagnosticStabilitySnapshot,
 } from "./diagnostic-stability.js";
+import { redactSensitiveText } from "./redact.js";
 
 export const DIAGNOSTIC_STABILITY_BUNDLE_VERSION = 1;
 export const DEFAULT_DIAGNOSTIC_STABILITY_BUNDLE_LIMIT = MAX_DIAGNOSTIC_STABILITY_LIMIT;
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ const SAFE_REASON_CODE = /^[A-Za-z0-9_.:-]{1,120}$/u;
 const BUNDLE_PREFIX = "openclaw-stability-";
 const BUNDLE_SUFFIX = ".json";
 const REDACTED_HOSTNAME = "<redacted-hostname>";
+const MAX_SAFE_ERROR_MESSAGE_LENGTH = 500;
 
 export type DiagnosticStabilityBundle = {
   version: typeof DIAGNOSTIC_STABILITY_BUNDLE_VERSION;
@@ -36,6 +38,7 @@ export type DiagnosticStabilityBundle = {
   error?: {
     name?: string;
     code?: string;
+    message?: string;
   };
   snapshot: DiagnosticStabilitySnapshot;
 };
@@ -113,15 +116,34 @@ function readErrorName(error: unknown): string | undefined {
   return typeof name === "string" && SAFE_REASON_CODE.test(name) ? name : undefined;
 }
 
+function readErrorMessage(error: unknown): string | undefined {
+  if (!error || typeof error !== "object" || !("message" in error)) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const message = (error as { message?: unknown }).message;
+  if (typeof message !== "string") {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const sanitized = redactSensitiveText(message, { mode: "tools" }).replace(/\s+/gu, " ").trim();
+  if (!sanitized) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  return sanitized.length > MAX_SAFE_ERROR_MESSAGE_LENGTH
+    ? `${sanitized.slice(0, MAX_SAFE_ERROR_MESSAGE_LENGTH)}...`
+    : sanitized;
+}
+
 function readSafeErrorMetadata(error: unknown): DiagnosticStabilityBundle["error"] | undefined {
   const name = readErrorName(error);
   const code = readErrorCode(error);
-  if (!name && !code) {
+  const message = readErrorMessage(error);
+  if (!name && !code && !message) {
     return undefined;
   }
   return {
     ...(name ? { name } : {}),
     ...(code ? { code } : {}),
+    ...(message ? { message } : {}),
   };
 }