diff --git a/src/cli/command-catalog.ts b/src/cli/command-catalog.ts
index 521e7922ab3..21820438302 100644
--- a/src/cli/command-catalog.ts
+++ b/src/cli/command-catalog.ts
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export const cliCommandCatalog: readonly CliCommandCatalogEntry[] = [
   { commandPath: ["channels"], policy: { loadPlugins: "always" } },
   { commandPath: ["directory"], policy: { loadPlugins: "always" } },
   { commandPath: ["agents"], policy: { loadPlugins: "always" } },
-  { commandPath: ["configure"], policy: { loadPlugins: "always" } },
+  { commandPath: ["configure"], policy: { bypassConfigGuard: true, loadPlugins: "never" } },
   {
     commandPath: ["status"],
     policy: {
diff --git a/src/cli/command-path-policy.test.ts b/src/cli/command-path-policy.test.ts
index a8019f2ca4f..484c14a4533 100644
--- a/src/cli/command-path-policy.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/command-path-policy.test.ts
@@ -44,6 +44,13 @@ describe("command-path-policy", () => {
   });
 
   it("resolves mixed startup-only rules", () => {
+    expect(resolveCliCommandPathPolicy(["configure"])).toEqual({
+      bypassConfigGuard: true,
+      routeConfigGuard: "never",
+      loadPlugins: "never",
+      hideBanner: false,
+      ensureCliPath: true,
+    });
     expect(resolveCliCommandPathPolicy(["config", "validate"])).toEqual({
       bypassConfigGuard: true,
       routeConfigGuard: "never",
diff --git a/src/cli/program/preaction.test.ts b/src/cli/program/preaction.test.ts
index 5c85fd32c5c..49342b01ab9 100644
--- a/src/cli/program/preaction.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/program/preaction.test.ts
@@ -266,6 +266,16 @@ describe("registerPreActionHooks", () => {
     expect(ensurePluginRegistryLoadedMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("lets configure own config validation and plugin loading", async () => {
+    await runPreAction({
+      parseArgv: ["configure"],
+      processArgv: ["node", "openclaw", "configure"],
+    });
+
+    expect(ensureConfigReadyMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(ensurePluginRegistryLoadedMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   it("only allows invalid config for explicit Matrix reinstall requests", async () => {
     await runPreAction({
       parseArgv: ["plugins", "install", "@openclaw/matrix"],