diff --git a/src/config/channel-configured-shared.ts b/src/config/channel-configured-shared.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d18de8c7380
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/config/channel-configured-shared.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import { hasNonEmptyString } from "../infra/outbound/channel-target.js";
+import { isRecord } from "../utils.js";
+import type { OpenClawConfig } from "./config.js";
+
+const STATIC_ENV_RULES: Record<string, string[] | ((env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv) => boolean)> = {
+  discord: ["DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN"],
+  slack: ["SLACK_BOT_TOKEN"],
+  telegram: ["TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN"],
+  irc: (env) => hasNonEmptyString(env.IRC_HOST) && hasNonEmptyString(env.IRC_NICK),
+};
+
+export function resolveChannelConfigRecord(
+  cfg: OpenClawConfig,
+  channelId: string,
+): Record<string, unknown> | null {
+  const channels = cfg.channels as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+  const entry = channels?.[channelId];
+  return isRecord(entry) ? entry : null;
+}
+
+export function hasMeaningfulChannelConfigShallow(value: unknown): boolean {
+  if (!isRecord(value)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return Object.keys(value).some((key) => key !== "enabled");
+}
+
+export function isStaticallyChannelConfigured(
+  cfg: OpenClawConfig,
+  channelId: string,
+  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env,
+): boolean {
+  const staticRule = STATIC_ENV_RULES[channelId];
+  if (Array.isArray(staticRule)) {
+    for (const envVar of staticRule) {
+      if (hasNonEmptyString(env[envVar])) {
+        return true;
+      }
+    }
+  } else if (staticRule?.(env)) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  return hasMeaningfulChannelConfigShallow(resolveChannelConfigRecord(cfg, channelId));
+}
diff --git a/src/config/channel-configured.ts b/src/config/channel-configured.ts
index da1bc3d0fda..900f35e7c7c 100644
--- a/src/config/channel-configured.ts
+++ b/src/config/channel-configured.ts
@@ -1,24 +1,12 @@
-import { hasMeaningfulChannelConfig } from "../channels/config-presence.js";
 import { getBootstrapChannelPlugin } from "../channels/plugins/bootstrap-registry.js";
 import { hasBundledChannelConfiguredState } from "../channels/plugins/configured-state.js";
 import { hasBundledChannelPersistedAuthState } from "../channels/plugins/persisted-auth-state.js";
-import { isRecord } from "../utils.js";
+import {
+  hasMeaningfulChannelConfigShallow,
+  resolveChannelConfigRecord,
+} from "./channel-configured-shared.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "./config.js";
 
-function resolveChannelConfig(
-  cfg: OpenClawConfig,
-  channelId: string,
-): Record<string, unknown> | null {
-  const channels = cfg.channels as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
-  const entry = channels?.[channelId];
-  return isRecord(entry) ? entry : null;
-}
-
-function isGenericChannelConfigured(cfg: OpenClawConfig, channelId: string): boolean {
-  const entry = resolveChannelConfig(cfg, channelId);
-  return hasMeaningfulChannelConfig(entry);
-}
-
 export function isChannelConfigured(
   cfg: OpenClawConfig,
   channelId: string,
@@ -31,7 +19,7 @@ export function isChannelConfigured(
   if (pluginPersistedAuthState) {
     return true;
   }
-  if (isGenericChannelConfigured(cfg, channelId)) {
+  if (hasMeaningfulChannelConfigShallow(resolveChannelConfigRecord(cfg, channelId))) {
     return true;
   }
   const plugin = getBootstrapChannelPlugin(channelId);
diff --git a/src/plugin-activation-boundary.test.ts b/src/plugin-activation-boundary.test.ts
index ab849181f71..afd89b6d43d 100644
--- a/src/plugin-activation-boundary.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-activation-boundary.test.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ describe("plugin activation boundary", () => {
   let ambientImportsPromise: Promise<void> | undefined;
   let configHelpersPromise:
     | Promise<{
-        isChannelConfigured: typeof import("./config/channel-configured.js").isChannelConfigured;
+        isStaticallyChannelConfigured: typeof import("./config/channel-configured-shared.js").isStaticallyChannelConfigured;
         resolveEnvApiKey: typeof import("./agents/model-auth-env.js").resolveEnvApiKey;
       }>
     | undefined;
@@ -58,10 +58,10 @@ describe("plugin activation boundary", () => {
 
   function importConfigHelpers() {
     configHelpersPromise ??= Promise.all([
-      import("./config/channel-configured.js"),
+      import("./config/channel-configured-shared.js"),
       import("./agents/model-auth-env.js"),
     ]).then(([channelConfigured, modelAuthEnv]) => ({
-      isChannelConfigured: channelConfigured.isChannelConfigured,
+      isStaticallyChannelConfigured: channelConfigured.isStaticallyChannelConfigured,
       resolveEnvApiKey: modelAuthEnv.resolveEnvApiKey,
     }));
     return configHelpersPromise;
@@ -116,15 +116,20 @@ describe("plugin activation boundary", () => {
   });
 
   it("does not load bundled plugins for config and env detection helpers", async () => {
-    const { isChannelConfigured, resolveEnvApiKey } = await importConfigHelpers();
+    const { isStaticallyChannelConfigured, resolveEnvApiKey } = await importConfigHelpers();
 
-    expect(isChannelConfigured({}, "telegram", { TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN: "token" })).toBe(true);
-    expect(isChannelConfigured({}, "discord", { DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN: "token" })).toBe(true);
-    expect(isChannelConfigured({}, "slack", { SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: "xoxb-test" })).toBe(true);
+    expect(isStaticallyChannelConfigured({}, "telegram", { TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN: "token" })).toBe(
+      true,
+    );
+    expect(isStaticallyChannelConfigured({}, "discord", { DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN: "token" })).toBe(true);
+    expect(isStaticallyChannelConfigured({}, "slack", { SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: "xoxb-test" })).toBe(true);
     expect(
-      isChannelConfigured({}, "irc", { IRC_HOST: "irc.example.com", IRC_NICK: "openclaw" }),
+      isStaticallyChannelConfigured({}, "irc", {
+        IRC_HOST: "irc.example.com",
+        IRC_NICK: "openclaw",
+      }),
     ).toBe(true);
-    expect(isChannelConfigured({}, "whatsapp", {})).toBe(false);
+    expect(isStaticallyChannelConfigured({}, "whatsapp", {})).toBe(false);
     expect(
       resolveEnvApiKey("anthropic-vertex", {
         ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_USE_GCP_METADATA: "true",