diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0e878e6a0d0..58fae42de28 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Models status/OAuth health: align OAuth health reporting with the same effective credential view runtime uses, so expired refreshable sessions stop showing healthy by default and fresher imported Codex CLI credentials surface correctly in `models status`, doctor, and gateway auth status. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - OpenAI Codex/OAuth: keep external CLI OAuth imports runtime-only by overlaying fresher Codex CLI credentials without mutating `auth-profiles.json`, so `.codex` stays a bootstrap/runtime input instead of becoming durable OpenClaw state. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - OpenAI Codex/OAuth: drop legacy CLI-manager routing from the remaining bootstrap path so Codex and MiniMax CLI imports are matched by their canonical OpenClaw profile ids instead of stale `managedBy` metadata. Thanks @vincentkoc.
+- OpenAI Codex/OAuth: only bootstrap from external CLI OAuth when the local OpenClaw profile is missing or unusable, so healthy local sessions are no longer overridden by fresher `.codex` tokens. Thanks @vincentkoc.
 - Twitch/setup: load Twitch through the bundled setup-entry discovery path and keep setup/status account detection aligned with runtime config. (#68008) Thanks @gumadeiras.
 - Feishu/card actions: resolve card-action chat type from the Feishu chat API when stored context is missing, preferring `chat_mode` over `chat_type`, so DM-originated card actions no longer bypass `dmPolicy` by falling through to the group handling path. (#68201)
 - Cron/isolated-agent: preserve `trusted: false` on isolated cron awareness events mirrored into the main session, and forward the optional `trusted` flag through the gateway cron wrapper so explicit trust downgrades survive session-key scoping. (#68210)
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles.external-cli-sync.test.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles.external-cli-sync.test.ts
index 06460b47edc..2c58ebf561a 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles.external-cli-sync.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles.external-cli-sync.test.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => ({
 
 let readManagedExternalCliCredential: typeof import("./auth-profiles/external-cli-sync.js").readManagedExternalCliCredential;
 let resolveExternalCliAuthProfiles: typeof import("./auth-profiles/external-cli-sync.js").resolveExternalCliAuthProfiles;
+let hasUsableOAuthCredential: typeof import("./auth-profiles/external-cli-sync.js").hasUsableOAuthCredential;
+let shouldBootstrapFromExternalCliCredential: typeof import("./auth-profiles/external-cli-sync.js").shouldBootstrapFromExternalCliCredential;
 let shouldReplaceStoredOAuthCredential: typeof import("./auth-profiles/external-cli-sync.js").shouldReplaceStoredOAuthCredential;
 let OPENAI_CODEX_DEFAULT_PROFILE_ID: typeof import("./auth-profiles/constants.js").OPENAI_CODEX_DEFAULT_PROFILE_ID;
 let MINIMAX_CLI_PROFILE_ID: typeof import("./auth-profiles/constants.js").MINIMAX_CLI_PROFILE_ID;
@@ -45,8 +47,10 @@ describe("external cli oauth resolution", () => {
     mocks.readCodexCliCredentialsCached.mockReset().mockReturnValue(null);
     mocks.readMiniMaxCliCredentialsCached.mockReset().mockReturnValue(null);
     ({
+      hasUsableOAuthCredential,
       readManagedExternalCliCredential,
       resolveExternalCliAuthProfiles,
+      shouldBootstrapFromExternalCliCredential,
       shouldReplaceStoredOAuthCredential,
     } = await import("./auth-profiles/external-cli-sync.js"));
     ({ OPENAI_CODEX_DEFAULT_PROFILE_ID, MINIMAX_CLI_PROFILE_ID } =
@@ -104,6 +108,70 @@ describe("external cli oauth resolution", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe("external cli bootstrap policy", () => {
+    it("treats only non-expired access tokens as usable local oauth", () => {
+      expect(
+        hasUsableOAuthCredential(
+          makeOAuthCredential({
+            provider: "openai-codex",
+            access: "live-access",
+            expires: Date.now() + 60_000,
+          }),
+        ),
+      ).toBe(true);
+      expect(
+        hasUsableOAuthCredential(
+          makeOAuthCredential({
+            provider: "openai-codex",
+            access: "expired-access",
+            expires: Date.now() - 60_000,
+          }),
+        ),
+      ).toBe(false);
+      expect(
+        hasUsableOAuthCredential(
+          makeOAuthCredential({
+            provider: "openai-codex",
+            access: "",
+            expires: Date.now() + 60_000,
+          }),
+        ),
+      ).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it("only bootstraps from external cli when the stored oauth is not usable", () => {
+      const imported = makeOAuthCredential({
+        provider: "openai-codex",
+        access: "fresh-cli-access",
+        refresh: "fresh-cli-refresh",
+        expires: Date.now() + 5 * 24 * 60 * 60_000,
+      });
+
+      expect(
+        shouldBootstrapFromExternalCliCredential({
+          existing: makeOAuthCredential({
+            provider: "openai-codex",
+            access: "healthy-local-access",
+            refresh: "healthy-local-refresh",
+            expires: Date.now() + 60_000,
+          }),
+          imported,
+        }),
+      ).toBe(false);
+      expect(
+        shouldBootstrapFromExternalCliCredential({
+          existing: makeOAuthCredential({
+            provider: "openai-codex",
+            access: "expired-local-access",
+            refresh: "expired-local-refresh",
+            expires: Date.now() - 60_000,
+          }),
+          imported,
+        }),
+      ).toBe(true);
+    });
+  });
+
   it("reads codex external cli credentials by profile id", () => {
     mocks.readCodexCliCredentialsCached.mockReturnValue(
       makeOAuthCredential({
@@ -210,4 +278,29 @@ describe("external cli oauth resolution", () => {
 
     expect(profiles).toEqual([]);
   });
+
+  it("does not overlay fresh external cli oauth over a still-usable local credential", () => {
+    mocks.readCodexCliCredentialsCached.mockReturnValue(
+      makeOAuthCredential({
+        provider: "openai-codex",
+        access: "fresh-cli-access",
+        refresh: "fresh-cli-refresh",
+        expires: Date.now() + 5 * 24 * 60 * 60_000,
+      }),
+    );
+
+    const profiles = resolveExternalCliAuthProfiles(
+      makeStore(
+        OPENAI_CODEX_DEFAULT_PROFILE_ID,
+        makeOAuthCredential({
+          provider: "openai-codex",
+          access: "healthy-local-access",
+          refresh: "healthy-local-refresh",
+          expires: Date.now() + 60_000,
+        }),
+      ),
+    );
+
+    expect(profiles).toEqual([]);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles.store.save.test.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles.store.save.test.ts
index cc647c9dd9a..3bd309986af 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles.store.save.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles.store.save.test.ts
@@ -131,41 +131,6 @@ describe("saveAuthProfileStore", () => {
     }
   });
 
-  it("does not persist compatibility-only external oauth ownership metadata", async () => {
-    const agentDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-auth-save-managedby-"));
-    try {
-      const store: AuthProfileStore = {
-        version: 1,
-        profiles: {
-          "openai-codex:default": {
-            type: "oauth",
-            provider: "openai-codex",
-            access: "access-token",
-            refresh: "refresh-token",
-            expires: 123,
-            managedBy: "codex-cli",
-          },
-        },
-      };
-
-      saveAuthProfileStore(store, agentDir);
-
-      const persisted = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(resolveAuthStorePath(agentDir), "utf8")) as {
-        profiles: Record<string, Record<string, unknown>>;
-      };
-      expect(persisted.profiles["openai-codex:default"]).toMatchObject({
-        type: "oauth",
-        provider: "openai-codex",
-        access: "access-token",
-        refresh: "refresh-token",
-        expires: 123,
-      });
-      expect(persisted.profiles["openai-codex:default"]?.managedBy).toBeUndefined();
-    } finally {
-      await fs.rm(agentDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
-
   it("writes runtime scheduling state to auth-state.json only", async () => {
     const agentDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-auth-save-state-"));
     try {
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles/effective-oauth.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles/effective-oauth.ts
index 8768982acd8..02743e5204d 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles/effective-oauth.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles/effective-oauth.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import {
+  hasUsableOAuthCredential,
   readManagedExternalCliCredential,
-  shouldReplaceStoredOAuthCredential,
+  shouldBootstrapFromExternalCliCredential,
 } from "./external-cli-sync.js";
 import type { OAuthCredential } from "./types.js";
 
@@ -15,7 +16,13 @@ export function resolveEffectiveOAuthCredential(params: {
   if (!imported) {
     return params.credential;
   }
-  return shouldReplaceStoredOAuthCredential(params.credential, imported)
+  if (hasUsableOAuthCredential(params.credential)) {
+    return params.credential;
+  }
+  return shouldBootstrapFromExternalCliCredential({
+    existing: params.credential,
+    imported,
+  })
     ? imported
     : params.credential;
 }
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles/external-cli-sync.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles/external-cli-sync.ts
index 62f3e3cc4de..23930189be6 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles/external-cli-sync.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles/external-cli-sync.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
   MINIMAX_CLI_PROFILE_ID,
   OPENAI_CODEX_DEFAULT_PROFILE_ID,
 } from "./constants.js";
+import { resolveTokenExpiryState } from "./credential-state.js";
 import type { AuthProfileStore, OAuthCredential } from "./types.js";
 
 export type ExternalCliResolvedProfile = {
@@ -67,6 +68,31 @@ export function shouldReplaceStoredOAuthCredential(
   return !hasNewerStoredOAuthCredential(existing, incoming);
 }
 
+export function hasUsableOAuthCredential(
+  credential: OAuthCredential | undefined,
+  now = Date.now(),
+): boolean {
+  if (!credential || credential.type !== "oauth") {
+    return false;
+  }
+  if (typeof credential.access !== "string" || credential.access.trim().length === 0) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return resolveTokenExpiryState(credential.expires, now) === "valid";
+}
+
+export function shouldBootstrapFromExternalCliCredential(params: {
+  existing: OAuthCredential | undefined;
+  imported: OAuthCredential;
+  now?: number;
+}): boolean {
+  const now = params.now ?? Date.now();
+  if (hasUsableOAuthCredential(params.existing, now)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return hasUsableOAuthCredential(params.imported, now);
+}
+
 const EXTERNAL_CLI_SYNC_PROVIDERS: ExternalCliSyncProvider[] = [
   {
     profileId: MINIMAX_CLI_PROFILE_ID,
@@ -111,6 +137,7 @@ export function resolveExternalCliAuthProfiles(
   store: AuthProfileStore,
 ): ExternalCliResolvedProfile[] {
   const profiles: ExternalCliResolvedProfile[] = [];
+  const now = Date.now();
   for (const providerConfig of EXTERNAL_CLI_SYNC_PROVIDERS) {
     const creds = providerConfig.readCredentials();
     if (!creds) {
@@ -119,8 +146,11 @@ export function resolveExternalCliAuthProfiles(
     const existing = store.profiles[providerConfig.profileId];
     const existingOAuth = existing?.type === "oauth" ? existing : undefined;
     if (
-      !shouldReplaceStoredOAuthCredential(existingOAuth, creds) &&
-      !areOAuthCredentialsEquivalent(existingOAuth, creds)
+      !shouldBootstrapFromExternalCliCredential({
+        existing: existingOAuth,
+        imported: creds,
+        now,
+      })
     ) {
       continue;
     }
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles/external-oauth.test.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles/external-oauth.test.ts
index d1f6302937c..568ae2f8031 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles/external-oauth.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles/external-oauth.test.ts
@@ -119,12 +119,12 @@ describe("auth external oauth helpers", () => {
     expect(shouldPersist).toBe(true);
   });
 
-  it("overlays fresher external CLI OAuth credentials without treating them as persisted store state", () => {
+  it("overlays external CLI OAuth only when the stored credential is no longer usable", () => {
     readCodexCliCredentialsCachedMock.mockReturnValue(
       createCredential({
         access: "fresh-cli-access-token",
         refresh: "fresh-cli-refresh-token",
-        expires: 456,
+        expires: Date.now() + 60_000,
       }),
     );
 
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ describe("auth external oauth helpers", () => {
         "openai-codex:default": createCredential({
           access: "stale-store-access-token",
           refresh: "stale-store-refresh-token",
-          expires: 123,
+          expires: Date.now() - 60_000,
         }),
       }),
     );
@@ -141,15 +141,32 @@ describe("auth external oauth helpers", () => {
     expect(overlaid.profiles["openai-codex:default"]).toMatchObject({
       access: "fresh-cli-access-token",
       refresh: "fresh-cli-refresh-token",
-      expires: 456,
+      expires: expect.any(Number),
     });
+  });
 
-    const shouldPersist = shouldPersistExternalOAuthProfile({
-      store: overlaid,
-      profileId: "openai-codex:default",
-      credential: overlaid.profiles["openai-codex:default"] as OAuthCredential,
+  it("keeps healthy local oauth even when external cli has a fresher token", () => {
+    readCodexCliCredentialsCachedMock.mockReturnValue(
+      createCredential({
+        access: "fresh-cli-access-token",
+        refresh: "fresh-cli-refresh-token",
+        expires: Date.now() + 5 * 24 * 60 * 60_000,
+      }),
+    );
+
+    const overlaid = overlayExternalOAuthProfiles(
+      createStore({
+        "openai-codex:default": createCredential({
+          access: "healthy-local-access-token",
+          refresh: "healthy-local-refresh-token",
+          expires: Date.now() + 60_000,
+        }),
+      }),
+    );
+
+    expect(overlaid.profiles["openai-codex:default"]).toMatchObject({
+      access: "healthy-local-access-token",
+      refresh: "healthy-local-refresh-token",
     });
-
-    expect(shouldPersist).toBe(false);
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles/oauth.openai-codex-refresh-fallback.test.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles/oauth.openai-codex-refresh-fallback.test.ts
index 273d1605be8..7961394688d 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles/oauth.openai-codex-refresh-fallback.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles/oauth.openai-codex-refresh-fallback.test.ts
@@ -312,11 +312,6 @@ describe("resolveApiKeyForProfile openai-codex refresh fallback", () => {
       refresh: "rotated-cli-refresh-token",
       accountId: "acct-rotated",
     });
-    expect(persisted.profiles[profileId]).not.toEqual(
-      expect.objectContaining({
-        managedBy: "codex-cli",
-      }),
-    );
     expect(persisted.profiles[profileId]).not.toEqual(
       expect.objectContaining({
         provider: "openai-codex",
@@ -325,6 +320,47 @@ describe("resolveApiKeyForProfile openai-codex refresh fallback", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("keeps healthy local Codex OAuth over fresher imported CLI credentials", async () => {
+    const profileId = "openai-codex:default";
+    saveAuthProfileStore(
+      {
+        version: 1,
+        profiles: {
+          [profileId]: {
+            type: "oauth",
+            provider: "openai-codex",
+            access: "healthy-local-access-token",
+            refresh: "healthy-local-refresh-token",
+            expires: Date.now() + 60_000,
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      agentDir,
+    );
+    readCodexCliCredentialsCachedMock.mockReturnValueOnce({
+      type: "oauth",
+      provider: "openai-codex",
+      access: "fresher-cli-access-token",
+      refresh: "fresher-cli-refresh-token",
+      expires: Date.now() + 86_400_000,
+      accountId: "acct-cli",
+    });
+
+    await expect(
+      resolveApiKeyForProfile({
+        store: ensureAuthProfileStore(agentDir),
+        profileId,
+        agentDir,
+      }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual({
+      apiKey: "healthy-local-access-token",
+      provider: "openai-codex",
+      email: undefined,
+    });
+
+    expect(refreshProviderOAuthCredentialWithPluginMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   it("keeps the canonical refresh token when imported Codex CLI state is stale", async () => {
     const profileId = "openai-codex:default";
     saveAuthProfileStore(
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles/oauth.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles/oauth.ts
index a7c7d9a0a0c..f1c8878930a 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles/oauth.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles/oauth.ts
@@ -152,13 +152,6 @@ function hasOAuthCredentialChanged(
   );
 }
 
-function clearExternalOAuthManager(
-  credential: OAuthCredential,
-): OAuthCredentials & { type: "oauth"; provider: string; email?: string } {
-  const { managedBy: _managedBy, ...canonicalCredential } = credential;
-  return canonicalCredential;
-}
-
 async function loadFreshStoredOAuthCredential(params: {
   profileId: string;
   agentDir?: string;
@@ -656,7 +649,7 @@ async function doRefreshOAuthTokenWithLock(params: {
       );
       if (pluginRefreshed) {
         const refreshedCredentials: OAuthCredential = {
-          ...clearExternalOAuthManager(cred),
+          ...cred,
           ...pluginRefreshed,
           type: "oauth",
         };
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles/persisted.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles/persisted.ts
index 7aa71a6684e..cfc1a10aae8 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles/persisted.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles/persisted.ts
@@ -192,10 +192,6 @@ export function buildPersistedAuthProfileSecretsStore(
       if (shouldPersistProfile && !shouldPersistProfile({ profileId, credential })) {
         return [];
       }
-      if (credential.type === "oauth" && credential.managedBy) {
-        const { managedBy: _managedBy, ...canonicalCredential } = credential;
-        return [[profileId, canonicalCredential]];
-      }
       if (credential.type === "api_key" && credential.keyRef && credential.key !== undefined) {
         const sanitized = { ...credential } as Record<string, unknown>;
         delete sanitized.key;
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles/types.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles/types.ts
index ee62b2b5880..0ee11504310 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles/types.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles/types.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/types.openclaw.js";
 import type { SecretRef } from "../../config/types.secrets.js";
 
 export type OAuthProvider = string;
-export type ExternalOAuthManager = "codex-cli" | "minimax-cli";
 
 export type OAuthCredentials = {
   access: string;
@@ -47,14 +46,6 @@ export type OAuthCredential = OAuthCredentials & {
   clientId?: string;
   email?: string;
   displayName?: string;
-  /**
-   * Compatibility/runtime metadata for CLI-managed OAuth entries.
-   *
-   * Core routing should prefer external-auth overlay contracts over direct
-   * branching on this field. Persisted stores may still carry it while older
-   * CLI sync paths remain supported.
-   */
-  managedBy?: ExternalOAuthManager;
 };
 
 export type AuthProfileCredential = ApiKeyCredential | TokenCredential | OAuthCredential;
diff --git a/src/agents/cli-auth-epoch.test.ts b/src/agents/cli-auth-epoch.test.ts
index 97e3d7e325c..6f9d860888c 100644
--- a/src/agents/cli-auth-epoch.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/cli-auth-epoch.test.ts
@@ -141,50 +141,4 @@ describe("resolveCliAuthEpoch", () => {
     expect(second).not.toBe(first);
     expect(third).not.toBe(second);
   });
-
-  it("ignores compatibility-only managedBy metadata on auth profiles", async () => {
-    let store: AuthProfileStore = {
-      version: 1,
-      profiles: {
-        "openai-codex:default": {
-          type: "oauth",
-          provider: "openai-codex",
-          access: "profile-access",
-          refresh: "profile-refresh",
-          expires: 1,
-          managedBy: "codex-cli",
-        },
-      },
-    };
-    setCliAuthEpochTestDeps({
-      loadAuthProfileStoreForRuntime: () => store,
-    });
-
-    const first = await resolveCliAuthEpoch({
-      provider: "codex-cli",
-      authProfileId: "openai-codex:default",
-    });
-
-    store = {
-      version: 1,
-      profiles: {
-        "openai-codex:default": {
-          type: "oauth",
-          provider: "openai-codex",
-          access: "profile-access",
-          refresh: "profile-refresh",
-          expires: 1,
-        },
-      },
-    };
-
-    const second = await resolveCliAuthEpoch({
-      provider: "codex-cli",
-      authProfileId: "openai-codex:default",
-    });
-
-    expect(first).toBeDefined();
-    expect(second).toBeDefined();
-    expect(second).toBe(first);
-  });
 });