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 3bf14e26fc6..d1d2d64b001 100644
--- a/src/commands/models/list.list-command.forward-compat.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/models/list.list-command.forward-compat.test.ts
@@ -468,6 +468,50 @@ describe("modelsListCommand forward-compat", () => {
       ]);
     });
 
+    it("falls back to registry-backed rows when the fast-path catalog is empty", async () => {
+      mocks.resolveConfiguredEntries.mockReturnValueOnce({ entries: [] });
+      mocks.hasProviderStaticCatalogForFilter.mockResolvedValueOnce(true);
+      mocks.loadProviderCatalogModelsForList.mockResolvedValueOnce([]).mockResolvedValueOnce([]);
+      mocks.loadModelRegistry.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        models: [{ ...OPENAI_CODEX_MODEL }],
+        availableKeys: new Set(["openai-codex/gpt-5.4"]),
+        registry: {
+          getAll: () => [{ ...OPENAI_CODEX_MODEL }],
+        },
+      });
+      const runtime = createRuntime();
+
+      await modelsListCommand(
+        { all: true, provider: "openai-codex", json: true },
+        runtime as never,
+      );
+
+      expect(mocks.loadModelRegistry).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        mocks.resolvedConfig,
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          providerFilter: "openai-codex",
+        }),
+      );
+      expect(mocks.loadProviderCatalogModelsForList).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, {
+        cfg: mocks.resolvedConfig,
+        agentDir: "/tmp/openclaw-agent",
+        providerFilter: "openai-codex",
+        staticOnly: true,
+      });
+      expect(mocks.loadProviderCatalogModelsForList).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, {
+        cfg: mocks.resolvedConfig,
+        agentDir: "/tmp/openclaw-agent",
+        providerFilter: "openai-codex",
+        staticOnly: undefined,
+      });
+      expect(lastPrintedRows<{ key: string; available: boolean }>()).toEqual([
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          key: "openai-codex/gpt-5.4",
+          available: true,
+        }),
+      ]);
+    });
+
     it("keeps the registry path for provider filters without static catalog coverage", async () => {
       mocks.resolveConfiguredEntries.mockReturnValueOnce({ entries: [] });
       mocks.hasProviderStaticCatalogForFilter.mockResolvedValueOnce(false);
diff --git a/src/commands/models/list.list-command.ts b/src/commands/models/list.list-command.ts
index e1c26a4cbbe..ba28db382fe 100644
--- a/src/commands/models/list.list-command.ts
+++ b/src/commands/models/list.list-command.ts
@@ -70,13 +70,16 @@ export async function modelsListCommand(
     providerFilter,
     useProviderCatalogFastPath,
   });
+  const loadRegistryState = async () => {
+    const loaded = await loadListModelRegistry(cfg, { providerFilter });
+    modelRegistry = loaded.registry;
+    discoveredKeys = loaded.discoveredKeys;
+    availableKeys = loaded.availableKeys;
+    availabilityErrorMessage = loaded.availabilityErrorMessage;
+  };
   try {
     if (shouldLoadRegistry) {
-      const loaded = await loadListModelRegistry(cfg, { providerFilter });
-      modelRegistry = loaded.registry;
-      discoveredKeys = loaded.discoveredKeys;
-      availableKeys = loaded.availableKeys;
-      availabilityErrorMessage = loaded.availabilityErrorMessage;
+      await loadRegistryState();
     } else if (!opts.all) {
       const loaded = loadConfiguredListModelRegistry(cfg, entries, { providerFilter });
       modelRegistry = loaded.registry;
@@ -88,14 +91,7 @@ export async function modelsListCommand(
     process.exitCode = 1;
     return;
   }
-  if (availabilityErrorMessage !== undefined) {
-    runtime.error(
-      `Model availability lookup failed; falling back to auth heuristics for discovered models: ${availabilityErrorMessage}`,
-    );
-  }
-
-  const rows: ModelRow[] = [];
-  const rowContext = {
+  const buildRowContext = (skipRuntimeModelSuppression: boolean) => ({
     cfg,
     agentDir,
     authStore,
@@ -106,16 +102,35 @@ export async function modelsListCommand(
       provider: providerFilter,
       local: opts.local,
     },
-    skipRuntimeModelSuppression: useProviderCatalogFastPath,
-  };
+    skipRuntimeModelSuppression,
+  });
+  const rows: ModelRow[] = [];
 
   if (opts.all) {
-    await appendAllModelRowSources({
+    let rowContext = buildRowContext(useProviderCatalogFastPath);
+    const initialAppend = await appendAllModelRowSources({
       rows,
       context: rowContext,
       modelRegistry,
       useProviderCatalogFastPath,
     });
+    if (initialAppend.requiresRegistryFallback) {
+      try {
+        await loadRegistryState();
+      } catch (err) {
+        runtime.error(`Model registry unavailable:\n${formatErrorWithStack(err)}`);
+        process.exitCode = 1;
+        return;
+      }
+      rows.length = 0;
+      rowContext = buildRowContext(false);
+      await appendAllModelRowSources({
+        rows,
+        context: rowContext,
+        modelRegistry,
+        useProviderCatalogFastPath: false,
+      });
+    }
   } else {
     const registry = modelRegistry;
     if (!registry) {
@@ -127,10 +142,16 @@ export async function modelsListCommand(
       rows,
       entries,
       modelRegistry: registry,
-      context: rowContext,
+      context: buildRowContext(false),
     });
   }
 
+  if (availabilityErrorMessage !== undefined) {
+    runtime.error(
+      `Model availability lookup failed; falling back to auth heuristics for discovered models: ${availabilityErrorMessage}`,
+    );
+  }
+
   if (rows.length === 0) {
     runtime.log("No models found.");
     return;
diff --git a/src/commands/models/list.provider-catalog.test.ts b/src/commands/models/list.provider-catalog.test.ts
index e0925fd3722..e894c9ccbf2 100644
--- a/src/commands/models/list.provider-catalog.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/models/list.provider-catalog.test.ts
@@ -167,6 +167,30 @@ describe("loadProviderCatalogModelsForList", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("returns an empty catalog when a static provider catalog throws", async () => {
+    providerDiscoveryMocks.resolvePluginDiscoveryProviders.mockResolvedValueOnce([
+      {
+        id: "moonshot",
+        pluginId: "moonshot",
+        label: "Moonshot",
+        auth: [],
+        staticCatalog: {
+          run: async () => {
+            throw new Error("catalog offline");
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    ]);
+
+    await expect(
+      loadProviderCatalogModelsForList({
+        ...baseParams,
+        providerFilter: "moonshot",
+        staticOnly: true,
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it("only skips registry for providers with actual static catalogs", async () => {
     providerDiscoveryMocks.resolvePluginDiscoveryProviders.mockResolvedValue([catalogOnlyProvider]);
 
diff --git a/src/commands/models/list.row-sources.ts b/src/commands/models/list.row-sources.ts
index 788ee9930cc..8330aded170 100644
--- a/src/commands/models/list.row-sources.ts
+++ b/src/commands/models/list.row-sources.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ type AllModelRowSources = {
   useProviderCatalogFastPath: boolean;
 };
 
+type AppendAllModelRowSourcesResult = {
+  requiresRegistryFallback: boolean;
+};
+
 export function modelRowSourcesRequireRegistry(params: {
   all?: boolean;
   providerFilter?: string;
@@ -30,7 +34,9 @@ export function modelRowSourcesRequireRegistry(params: {
   return true;
 }
 
-export async function appendAllModelRowSources(params: AllModelRowSources): Promise<void> {
+export async function appendAllModelRowSources(
+  params: AllModelRowSources,
+): Promise<AppendAllModelRowSourcesResult> {
   if (params.context.filter.provider && params.useProviderCatalogFastPath) {
     let seenKeys = new Set<string>();
     appendConfiguredProviderRows({
@@ -45,13 +51,16 @@ export async function appendAllModelRowSources(params: AllModelRowSources): Prom
       staticOnly: true,
     });
     if (catalogRows === 0) {
-      seenKeys = appendDiscoveredRows({
+      if (!params.modelRegistry) {
+        return { requiresRegistryFallback: true };
+      }
+      appendDiscoveredRows({
         rows: params.rows,
-        models: params.modelRegistry?.getAll() ?? [],
+        models: params.modelRegistry.getAll(),
         context: params.context,
       });
     }
-    return;
+    return { requiresRegistryFallback: false };
   }
 
   const seenKeys = appendDiscoveredRows({
@@ -73,7 +82,7 @@ export async function appendAllModelRowSources(params: AllModelRowSources): Prom
       context: params.context,
       seenKeys,
     });
-    return;
+    return { requiresRegistryFallback: false };
   }
 
   await appendProviderCatalogRows({
@@ -81,6 +90,7 @@ export async function appendAllModelRowSources(params: AllModelRowSources): Prom
     context: params.context,
     seenKeys,
   });
+  return { requiresRegistryFallback: false };
 }
 
 export function appendConfiguredModelRowSources(params: {