diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-helpers.test.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-helpers.test.ts
index d478af66985..5aaab51fec3 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-helpers.test.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-helpers.test.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ describe("agent runner helpers", () => {
     });
     expect(shouldEmitResult()).toBe(true);
     expect(shouldEmitOutput()).toBe(true);
+    expect(hoisted.loadSessionStoreMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith("/tmp/store.json", {
+      clone: false,
+    });
   });
 
   it("caches session verbose reads briefly while still refreshing live changes", () => {
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-helpers.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-helpers.ts
index 12a35381278..2eac9a92409 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-helpers.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-helpers.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ function readCurrentVerboseLevel(params: VerboseGateParams): VerboseLevel | unde
     return undefined;
   }
   try {
-    const store = loadSessionStore(params.storePath);
+    const store = loadSessionStore(params.storePath, { clone: false });
     const entry = store[params.sessionKey];
     return typeof entry?.verboseLevel === "string"
       ? normalizeVerboseLevel(entry.verboseLevel)
diff --git a/src/config/sessions.cache.test.ts b/src/config/sessions.cache.test.ts
index 0f8cdabcffc..e7cd13b875a 100644
--- a/src/config/sessions.cache.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/sessions.cache.test.ts
@@ -444,6 +444,7 @@ describe("Session Store Cache", () => {
 
     expect(readSessionUpdatedAt({ storePath, sessionKey: "agent:main:main" })).toBe(updatedAt);
     expect(parseSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(getSessionStoreSnapshotCacheStatsForTest().entries).toBe(1);
 
     parseSpy.mockRestore();
   });
@@ -507,6 +508,33 @@ describe("Session Store Cache", () => {
     expect(readSessionStoreSnapshot(storePath)["session:1"].origin?.provider).toBe("openai");
   });
 
+  it("reads immutable single entries without populating whole-store snapshots", async () => {
+    await saveSessionStore(storePath, {
+      "session:1": createSessionEntry({
+        sessionId: "id-1",
+        skillsSnapshot: {
+          prompt: "single entry prompt ".repeat(200),
+          skills: [{ name: "alpha" }],
+        },
+      }),
+      "session:2": createSessionEntry({ sessionId: "id-2" }),
+    });
+    clearSessionStoreCacheForTest();
+
+    const entry = readSessionEntry(storePath, "session:1");
+
+    expect(entry?.sessionId).toBe("id-1");
+    expect(Object.isFrozen(entry)).toBe(true);
+    expect(Object.isFrozen(entry?.skillsSnapshot?.skills)).toBe(true);
+    expect(getSessionStoreSnapshotCacheStatsForTest().entries).toBe(0);
+
+    const cached = loadSessionStore(storePath, { clone: false });
+    expect(() => {
+      (entry as SessionEntry).displayName = "mutated returned entry";
+    }).toThrow(TypeError);
+    expect(cached["session:1"].displayName).toBe("Test Session 1");
+  });
+
   it("does not tag snapshots with stats from writes racing after a disk read", async () => {
     await saveSessionStore(
       storePath,
diff --git a/src/config/sessions/store-cache.ts b/src/config/sessions/store-cache.ts
index 3441705ca5d..71c3cbfb335 100644
--- a/src/config/sessions/store-cache.ts
+++ b/src/config/sessions/store-cache.ts
@@ -243,6 +243,10 @@ export function cloneSessionStoreSnapshot(
   return deepFreeze(cloned);
 }
 
+export function cloneSessionStoreSnapshotEntry(entry: SessionEntry): SessionStoreSnapshotEntry {
+  return deepFreeze(cloneSessionStoreRecord({ entry }).entry);
+}
+
 export function getSessionStoreTtl(): number {
   return resolveCacheTtlMs({
     envValue: process.env.OPENCLAW_SESSION_CACHE_TTL_MS,
diff --git a/src/config/sessions/store-load.ts b/src/config/sessions/store-load.ts
index b83ae2ff92d..58d418425b3 100644
--- a/src/config/sessions/store-load.ts
+++ b/src/config/sessions/store-load.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { getFileStatSnapshot } from "../cache-utils.js";
 import { hydrateSessionStoreSkillPromptRefs } from "./skill-prompt-blobs.js";
 import {
   cloneSessionStoreRecord,
+  cloneSessionStoreSnapshotEntry,
   cloneSessionStoreSnapshot,
   internSessionEntryLargeStrings,
   isSessionStoreCacheEnabled,
@@ -488,12 +489,12 @@ export function readSessionEntry(
   storePath: string,
   sessionKey: string,
 ): SessionStoreSnapshotEntry | undefined {
-  const snapshot = readSessionStoreSnapshot(storePath);
+  const store = loadSessionStore(storePath, { clone: false });
   const resolved = resolveSessionStoreEntry({
-    store: snapshot as Record<string, SessionEntry>,
+    store,
     sessionKey,
   });
-  return resolved.existing as SessionStoreSnapshotEntry | undefined;
+  return resolved.existing ? cloneSessionStoreSnapshotEntry(resolved.existing) : undefined;
 }
 
 export function readSessionEntries(storePath: string): SessionStoreSnapshotEntries {
diff --git a/src/config/sessions/store.ts b/src/config/sessions/store.ts
index 123e90e1344..4574aaa4c2c 100644
--- a/src/config/sessions/store.ts
+++ b/src/config/sessions/store.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ export function readSessionUpdatedAt(params: {
   sessionKey: string;
 }): number | undefined {
   try {
-    return readSessionEntry(params.storePath, params.sessionKey)?.updatedAt;
+    const store = loadSessionStore(params.storePath, { clone: false });
+    return resolveSessionStoreEntry({ store, sessionKey: params.sessionKey }).existing?.updatedAt;
   } catch {
     return undefined;
   }