diff --git a/src/agents/live-target-matcher.test.ts b/src/agents/live-target-matcher.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..03564a8727b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/agents/live-target-matcher.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { createLiveTargetMatcher } from "./live-target-matcher.js";
+
+describe("createLiveTargetMatcher", () => {
+  it("matches Anthropic-owned models for the claude-cli provider filter", () => {
+    const matcher = createLiveTargetMatcher({
+      providerFilter: new Set(["claude-cli"]),
+      modelFilter: null,
+    });
+
+    expect(matcher.matchesProvider("anthropic")).toBe(true);
+    expect(matcher.matchesProvider("openai")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("matches Anthropic model refs for claude-cli explicit model filters", () => {
+    const matcher = createLiveTargetMatcher({
+      providerFilter: null,
+      modelFilter: new Set(["claude-cli/claude-sonnet-4-6"]),
+    });
+
+    expect(matcher.matchesModel("anthropic", "claude-sonnet-4-6")).toBe(true);
+    expect(matcher.matchesModel("anthropic", "claude-opus-4-6")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps direct provider/model matches working", () => {
+    const matcher = createLiveTargetMatcher({
+      providerFilter: new Set(["openrouter"]),
+      modelFilter: new Set(["openrouter/openai/gpt-5.4"]),
+    });
+
+    expect(matcher.matchesProvider("openrouter")).toBe(true);
+    expect(matcher.matchesModel("openrouter", "openai/gpt-5.4")).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/agents/live-target-matcher.ts b/src/agents/live-target-matcher.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..104b5af2eaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/agents/live-target-matcher.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import { resolveOwningPluginIdsForProvider } from "../plugins/providers.js";
+import { normalizeProviderId } from "./provider-id.js";
+
+type ModelTarget = {
+  raw: string;
+  provider?: string;
+  modelId: string;
+};
+
+function normalizeCsvSet(values: Set<string> | null): Set<string> | null {
+  if (!values) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  const normalized = new Set<string>();
+  for (const value of values) {
+    const trimmed = value.trim();
+    if (!trimmed) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    normalized.add(trimmed);
+  }
+  return normalized.size > 0 ? normalized : null;
+}
+
+function parseModelTarget(raw: string): ModelTarget | null {
+  const trimmed = raw.trim();
+  if (!trimmed) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  const slash = trimmed.indexOf("/");
+  if (slash === -1) {
+    return {
+      raw: trimmed,
+      modelId: trimmed.toLowerCase(),
+    };
+  }
+  const provider = normalizeProviderId(trimmed.slice(0, slash));
+  const modelId = trimmed
+    .slice(slash + 1)
+    .trim()
+    .toLowerCase();
+  if (!provider || !modelId) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  return {
+    raw: trimmed,
+    provider,
+    modelId,
+  };
+}
+
+function hasSharedOwner(
+  left: string,
+  right: string,
+  params: {
+    config?: OpenClawConfig;
+    workspaceDir?: string;
+    env?: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+    ownerCache: Map<string, readonly string[]>;
+  },
+): boolean {
+  const resolveOwners = (provider: string): readonly string[] => {
+    const normalized = normalizeProviderId(provider);
+    const cached = params.ownerCache.get(normalized);
+    if (cached) {
+      return cached;
+    }
+    const owners =
+      resolveOwningPluginIdsForProvider({
+        provider: normalized,
+        config: params.config,
+        workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
+        env: params.env,
+      }) ?? [];
+    params.ownerCache.set(normalized, owners);
+    return owners;
+  };
+
+  const leftOwners = resolveOwners(left);
+  const rightOwners = resolveOwners(right);
+  return leftOwners.some((owner) => rightOwners.includes(owner));
+}
+
+export function createLiveTargetMatcher(params: {
+  providerFilter: Set<string> | null;
+  modelFilter: Set<string> | null;
+  config?: OpenClawConfig;
+  workspaceDir?: string;
+  env?: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+}) {
+  const providerFilter = normalizeCsvSet(params.providerFilter);
+  const modelTargets = [...(normalizeCsvSet(params.modelFilter) ?? [])]
+    .map((value) => parseModelTarget(value))
+    .filter((value): value is ModelTarget => value !== null);
+  const ownerCache = new Map<string, readonly string[]>();
+
+  return {
+    matchesProvider(provider: string): boolean {
+      if (!providerFilter) {
+        return true;
+      }
+      const normalizedProvider = normalizeProviderId(provider);
+      for (const requested of providerFilter) {
+        const normalizedRequested = normalizeProviderId(requested);
+        if (normalizedRequested === normalizedProvider) {
+          return true;
+        }
+        if (
+          hasSharedOwner(normalizedRequested, normalizedProvider, {
+            config: params.config,
+            workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
+            env: params.env,
+            ownerCache,
+          })
+        ) {
+          return true;
+        }
+      }
+      return false;
+    },
+    matchesModel(provider: string, modelId: string): boolean {
+      if (modelTargets.length === 0) {
+        return true;
+      }
+      const normalizedProvider = normalizeProviderId(provider);
+      const normalizedModelId = modelId.trim().toLowerCase();
+      const directRef = `${normalizedProvider}/${normalizedModelId}`;
+      for (const target of modelTargets) {
+        if (target.raw.toLowerCase() === directRef) {
+          return true;
+        }
+        if (target.modelId !== normalizedModelId) {
+          continue;
+        }
+        if (!target.provider) {
+          return true;
+        }
+        if (target.provider === normalizedProvider) {
+          return true;
+        }
+        if (
+          hasSharedOwner(target.provider, normalizedProvider, {
+            config: params.config,
+            workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
+            env: params.env,
+            ownerCache,
+          })
+        ) {
+          return true;
+        }
+      }
+      return false;
+    },
+  };
+}
diff --git a/src/agents/models.profiles.live.test.ts b/src/agents/models.profiles.live.test.ts
index 25d508f4bfa..77c453a2b32 100644
--- a/src/agents/models.profiles.live.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/models.profiles.live.test.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
   isAnthropicRateLimitError,
 } from "./live-auth-keys.js";
 import { isHighSignalLiveModelRef, selectHighSignalLiveItems } from "./live-model-filter.js";
+import { createLiveTargetMatcher } from "./live-target-matcher.js";
 import { isLiveProfileKeyModeEnabled, isLiveTestEnabled } from "./live-test-helpers.js";
 import { getApiKeyForModel, requireApiKey } from "./model-auth.js";
 import { shouldSuppressBuiltInModel } from "./model-suppression.js";
@@ -418,6 +419,12 @@ describeLive("live models (profile keys)", () => {
       const providers = parseProviderFilter(process.env.OPENCLAW_LIVE_PROVIDERS);
       const perModelTimeoutMs = toInt(process.env.OPENCLAW_LIVE_MODEL_TIMEOUT_MS, 30_000);
       const maxModels = toInt(process.env.OPENCLAW_LIVE_MAX_MODELS, 0);
+      const targetMatcher = createLiveTargetMatcher({
+        providerFilter: providers,
+        modelFilter: filter,
+        config: cfg,
+        env: process.env,
+      });
 
       const failures: Array<{ model: string; error: string }> = [];
       const skipped: Array<{ model: string; reason: string }> = [];
@@ -430,11 +437,11 @@ describeLive("live models (profile keys)", () => {
         if (shouldSuppressBuiltInModel({ provider: model.provider, id: model.id })) {
           continue;
         }
-        if (providers && !providers.has(model.provider)) {
+        if (!targetMatcher.matchesProvider(model.provider)) {
           continue;
         }
         const id = `${model.provider}/${model.id}`;
-        if (filter && !filter.has(id)) {
+        if (!targetMatcher.matchesModel(model.provider, model.id)) {
           continue;
         }
         if (!filter && useModern) {
diff --git a/src/gateway/gateway-models.profiles.live.test.ts b/src/gateway/gateway-models.profiles.live.test.ts
index 12a4434598e..01e57d61b24 100644
--- a/src/gateway/gateway-models.profiles.live.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/gateway-models.profiles.live.test.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import {
   isHighSignalLiveModelRef,
   selectHighSignalLiveItems,
 } from "../agents/live-model-filter.js";
+import { createLiveTargetMatcher } from "../agents/live-target-matcher.js";
 import { isLiveProfileKeyModeEnabled, isLiveTestEnabled } from "../agents/live-test-helpers.js";
 import { getApiKeyForModel } from "../agents/model-auth.js";
 import { shouldSuppressBuiltInModel } from "../agents/model-suppression.js";
@@ -823,39 +824,87 @@ async function getFreeGatewayPort(): Promise<number> {
   throw new Error("failed to acquire a free gateway port block");
 }
 
+function sleep(ms: number): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+}
+
 async function connectClient(params: { url: string; token: string }) {
+  const startedAt = Date.now();
+  let attempt = 0;
+  let lastError: Error | null = null;
+
+  while (Date.now() - startedAt < GATEWAY_LIVE_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS) {
+    attempt += 1;
+    const remainingMs = GATEWAY_LIVE_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS - (Date.now() - startedAt);
+    if (remainingMs <= 0) {
+      break;
+    }
+    try {
+      return await connectClientOnce({
+        ...params,
+        timeoutMs: Math.min(remainingMs, 10_000),
+      });
+    } catch (error) {
+      lastError = error instanceof Error ? error : new Error(String(error));
+      if (!isRetryableGatewayConnectError(lastError) || remainingMs <= 2_000) {
+        throw lastError;
+      }
+      await sleep(Math.min(500 * attempt, 2_000));
+    }
+  }
+
+  throw lastError ?? new Error("gateway connect timeout");
+}
+
+async function connectClientOnce(params: { url: string; token: string; timeoutMs: number }) {
   return await new Promise<GatewayClient>((resolve, reject) => {
     let settled = false;
-    const stop = (err?: Error, client?: GatewayClient) => {
+    let client: GatewayClient | undefined;
+    const stop = (err?: Error, connectedClient?: GatewayClient) => {
       if (settled) {
         return;
       }
       settled = true;
       clearTimeout(timer);
       if (err) {
+        if (client) {
+          void client.stopAndWait({ timeoutMs: 1_000 }).catch(() => {});
+        }
         reject(err);
       } else {
-        resolve(client as GatewayClient);
+        resolve(connectedClient as GatewayClient);
       }
     };
-    const client = new GatewayClient({
+    client = new GatewayClient({
       url: params.url,
       token: params.token,
       clientName: GATEWAY_CLIENT_NAMES.TEST,
       clientDisplayName: "vitest-live",
       clientVersion: "dev",
       mode: GATEWAY_CLIENT_MODES.TEST,
+      requestTimeoutMs: params.timeoutMs,
+      connectChallengeTimeoutMs: params.timeoutMs,
       onHelloOk: () => stop(undefined, client),
       onConnectError: (err) => stop(err),
       onClose: (code, reason) =>
         stop(new Error(`gateway closed during connect (${code}): ${reason}`)),
     });
-    const timer = setTimeout(() => stop(new Error("gateway connect timeout")), 10_000);
+    const timer = setTimeout(() => stop(new Error("gateway connect timeout")), params.timeoutMs);
     timer.unref();
     client.start();
   });
 }
 
+function isRetryableGatewayConnectError(error: Error): boolean {
+  const message = error.message.toLowerCase();
+  return (
+    message.includes("gateway closed during connect (1000)") ||
+    message.includes("gateway connect timeout") ||
+    message.includes("gateway connect challenge timeout") ||
+    message.includes("gateway request timeout for connect")
+  );
+}
+
 function extractTranscriptMessageText(message: unknown): string {
   if (!message || typeof message !== "object") {
     return "";
@@ -1841,8 +1890,14 @@ describeLive("gateway live (dev agent, profile keys)", () => {
         const useExplicit = Boolean(rawModels) && !useModern;
         const filter = useExplicit ? parseFilter(rawModels) : null;
         const maxModels = GATEWAY_LIVE_MAX_MODELS;
+        const targetMatcher = createLiveTargetMatcher({
+          providerFilter: PROVIDERS,
+          modelFilter: filter,
+          config: cfg,
+          env: process.env,
+        });
         const wanted = filter
-          ? all.filter((m) => filter.has(`${m.provider}/${m.id}`))
+          ? all.filter((m) => targetMatcher.matchesModel(m.provider, m.id))
           : all.filter((m) => isHighSignalLiveModelRef({ provider: m.provider, id: m.id }));
 
         const candidates: Array<Model<Api>> = [];
@@ -1851,7 +1906,7 @@ describeLive("gateway live (dev agent, profile keys)", () => {
           if (shouldSuppressBuiltInModel({ provider: model.provider, id: model.id })) {
             continue;
           }
-          if (PROVIDERS && !PROVIDERS.has(model.provider)) {
+          if (!targetMatcher.matchesProvider(model.provider)) {
             continue;
           }
           const modelRef = `${model.provider}/${model.id}`;