diff --git a/src/config/config.compaction-settings.test.ts b/src/config/config.compaction-settings.test.ts
index 7024f3a3520..7f86ea561aa 100644
--- a/src/config/config.compaction-settings.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.compaction-settings.test.ts
@@ -1,139 +1,121 @@
-import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { loadConfig, resetConfigRuntimeState } from "./config.js";
-import { withTempHomeConfig } from "./test-helpers.js";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { applyCompactionDefaults } from "./defaults.js";
+import type { OpenClawConfig } from "./types.js";
+import { OpenClawSchema } from "./zod-schema.js";
+
+function parseConfig(config: unknown): OpenClawConfig {
+  const result = OpenClawSchema.safeParse(config);
+  expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+  if (!result.success) {
+    throw new Error("expected config to parse");
+  }
+  return result.data as OpenClawConfig;
+}
+
+function parseConfigWithCompactionDefaults(config: unknown): OpenClawConfig {
+  return applyCompactionDefaults(parseConfig(config));
+}
 
 describe("config compaction settings", () => {
-  beforeEach(() => {
-    resetConfigRuntimeState();
-  });
-
-  afterEach(() => {
-    resetConfigRuntimeState();
-  });
-
   it("preserves memory flush config values", async () => {
-    await withTempHomeConfig(
-      {
-        agents: {
-          defaults: {
-            compaction: {
-              mode: "safeguard",
-              reserveTokensFloor: 12_345,
-              identifierPolicy: "custom",
-              identifierInstructions: "Keep ticket IDs unchanged.",
-              qualityGuard: {
-                enabled: true,
-                maxRetries: 2,
-              },
-              memoryFlush: {
-                enabled: false,
-                softThresholdTokens: 1234,
-                prompt: "Write notes.",
-                systemPrompt: "Flush memory now.",
-              },
+    const cfg = parseConfig({
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          compaction: {
+            mode: "safeguard",
+            reserveTokensFloor: 12_345,
+            identifierPolicy: "custom",
+            identifierInstructions: "Keep ticket IDs unchanged.",
+            qualityGuard: {
+              enabled: true,
+              maxRetries: 2,
+            },
+            memoryFlush: {
+              enabled: false,
+              softThresholdTokens: 1234,
+              prompt: "Write notes.",
+              systemPrompt: "Flush memory now.",
             },
           },
         },
       },
-      async () => {
-        const cfg = loadConfig();
+    });
 
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.reserveTokensFloor).toBe(12_345);
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.mode).toBe("safeguard");
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.reserveTokens).toBeUndefined();
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.keepRecentTokens).toBeUndefined();
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.identifierPolicy).toBe("custom");
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.identifierInstructions).toBe(
-          "Keep ticket IDs unchanged.",
-        );
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.qualityGuard?.enabled).toBe(true);
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.qualityGuard?.maxRetries).toBe(2);
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.memoryFlush?.enabled).toBe(false);
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.memoryFlush?.softThresholdTokens).toBe(1234);
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.memoryFlush?.prompt).toBe("Write notes.");
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.memoryFlush?.systemPrompt).toBe(
-          "Flush memory now.",
-        );
-      },
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.reserveTokensFloor).toBe(12_345);
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.mode).toBe("safeguard");
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.reserveTokens).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.keepRecentTokens).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.identifierPolicy).toBe("custom");
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.identifierInstructions).toBe(
+      "Keep ticket IDs unchanged.",
     );
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.qualityGuard?.enabled).toBe(true);
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.qualityGuard?.maxRetries).toBe(2);
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.memoryFlush?.enabled).toBe(false);
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.memoryFlush?.softThresholdTokens).toBe(1234);
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.memoryFlush?.prompt).toBe("Write notes.");
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.memoryFlush?.systemPrompt).toBe("Flush memory now.");
   });
 
   it("preserves pi compaction override values", async () => {
-    await withTempHomeConfig(
-      {
-        agents: {
-          defaults: {
-            compaction: {
-              reserveTokens: 15_000,
-              keepRecentTokens: 12_000,
-            },
+    const cfg = parseConfig({
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          compaction: {
+            reserveTokens: 15_000,
+            keepRecentTokens: 12_000,
           },
         },
       },
-      async () => {
-        const cfg = loadConfig();
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.reserveTokens).toBe(15_000);
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.keepRecentTokens).toBe(12_000);
-      },
-    );
+    });
+
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.reserveTokens).toBe(15_000);
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.keepRecentTokens).toBe(12_000);
   });
 
   it("defaults compaction mode to safeguard", async () => {
-    await withTempHomeConfig(
-      {
-        agents: {
-          defaults: {
-            compaction: {
-              reserveTokensFloor: 9000,
-            },
+    const cfg = parseConfigWithCompactionDefaults({
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          compaction: {
+            reserveTokensFloor: 9000,
           },
         },
       },
-      async () => {
-        const cfg = loadConfig();
+    });
 
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.mode).toBe("safeguard");
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.reserveTokensFloor).toBe(9000);
-      },
-    );
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.mode).toBe("safeguard");
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.reserveTokensFloor).toBe(9000);
   });
 
-  it("preserves recent turn safeguard values through loadConfig()", async () => {
-    await withTempHomeConfig(
-      {
-        agents: {
-          defaults: {
-            compaction: {
-              mode: "safeguard",
-              recentTurnsPreserve: 4,
-            },
+  it("preserves recent turn safeguard values through schema parsing", async () => {
+    const cfg = parseConfig({
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          compaction: {
+            mode: "safeguard",
+            recentTurnsPreserve: 4,
           },
         },
       },
-      async () => {
-        const cfg = loadConfig();
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.recentTurnsPreserve).toBe(4);
-      },
-    );
+    });
+
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.recentTurnsPreserve).toBe(4);
   });
 
   it("preserves oversized quality guard retry values for runtime clamping", async () => {
-    await withTempHomeConfig(
-      {
-        agents: {
-          defaults: {
-            compaction: {
-              qualityGuard: {
-                maxRetries: 99,
-              },
+    const cfg = parseConfig({
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          compaction: {
+            qualityGuard: {
+              maxRetries: 99,
             },
           },
         },
       },
-      async () => {
-        const cfg = loadConfig();
-        expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.qualityGuard?.maxRetries).toBe(99);
-      },
-    );
+    });
+
+    expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.compaction?.qualityGuard?.maxRetries).toBe(99);
   });
 });