diff --git a/src/commands/channels/capabilities.test.ts b/src/commands/channels/capabilities.test.ts
index d3c2553996fa..16ebde9b0ce2 100644
--- a/src/commands/channels/capabilities.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/channels/capabilities.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { createRequireRecord } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/test-fixtures";
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { getChannelPlugin, listChannelPlugins } from "../../channels/plugins/index.js";
 import type { ChannelPlugin } from "../../channels/plugins/types.public.js";
+import { ExpectedCliError } from "../../cli/failure-output.js";
 import { DEFAULT_ACCOUNT_ID } from "../../routing/session-key.js";
 import { channelsCapabilitiesCommand } from "./capabilities.js";
 
@@ -191,6 +192,77 @@ describe("channelsCapabilitiesCommand", () => {
     expect(logs).toStrictEqual([JSON.stringify({ channels: [] }, null, 2)]);
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    {
+      name: "account without a channel",
+      options: { account: "ghost", json: true },
+      message: "--account requires a specific --channel. Run openclaw channels list to choose one.",
+      discoversChannels: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "account with all channels",
+      options: { channel: "all", account: "ghost" },
+      message: "--account requires a specific --channel. Run openclaw channels list to choose one.",
+      discoversChannels: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "target without a channel",
+      options: { target: "channel:1", json: true },
+      message: "--target requires a specific --channel. Run openclaw channels list to choose one.",
+      discoversChannels: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "target with all channels",
+      options: { channel: "all", target: "channel:1" },
+      message: "--target requires a specific --channel. Run openclaw channels list to choose one.",
+      discoversChannels: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "account before target when both lack a channel",
+      options: { account: "ghost", target: "channel:1" },
+      message: "--account requires a specific --channel. Run openclaw channels list to choose one.",
+      discoversChannels: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "unknown channel after installable plugin lookup",
+      options: { channel: "definitely-not-a-channel", json: true },
+      message:
+        'Unknown channel "definitely-not-a-channel". Run `openclaw channels list --all` to see configured and installable channels.',
+      discoversChannels: true,
+    },
+  ])("rejects $name before resolving or probing an account", async (testCase) => {
+    const plugin = buildPlugin({ id: "slack" });
+    const listAccountIds = vi.fn(() => ["default"]);
+    const resolveAccount = vi.fn(() => ({ accountId: "default" }));
+    const probeAccount = vi.fn(async () => ({ ok: true }));
+    plugin.config.listAccountIds = listAccountIds;
+    plugin.config.resolveAccount = resolveAccount;
+    plugin.status = { probeAccount };
+    mocks.listReadOnlyChannelPluginsForConfig.mockReturnValue([plugin]);
+
+    const failure = channelsCapabilitiesCommand(testCase.options, runtime);
+
+    await expect(failure).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(ExpectedCliError);
+    await expect(failure).rejects.toMatchObject({
+      message: testCase.message,
+      humanOutput: testCase.message,
+      machineOutput: testCase.message,
+    });
+    expect(logs).toStrictEqual([]);
+    expect(errors).toStrictEqual([]);
+    expect(mocks.listReadOnlyChannelPluginsForConfig).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(
+      testCase.discoversChannels ? 1 : 0,
+    );
+    expect(mocks.resolveInstallableChannelPlugin).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(
+      testCase.discoversChannels ? 1 : 0,
+    );
+    expect(listAccountIds).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(resolveAccount).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(probeAccount).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(mocks.replaceConfigFile).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(mocks.refreshPluginRegistryAfterConfigMutation).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   it("rejects malformed timeouts before capability probes", async () => {
     const probeAccount = vi.fn(async () => ({ ok: true }));
     const plugin = buildPlugin({
diff --git a/src/commands/channels/capabilities.ts b/src/commands/channels/capabilities.ts
index 1860539d26af..d333309369ee 100644
--- a/src/commands/channels/capabilities.ts
+++ b/src/commands/channels/capabilities.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import type {
 } from "../../channels/plugins/types.public.js";
 import { formatCliCommand } from "../../cli/command-format.js";
 import { formatUnknownChannelMessage } from "../../cli/error-format.js";
+import { ExpectedCliError } from "../../cli/failure-output.js";
 import { parseTimeoutMsWithFallback } from "../../cli/parse-timeout.js";
 import { readConfigFileSnapshot } from "../../config/config.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
@@ -314,23 +315,10 @@ export async function channelsCapabilitiesCommand(
   const rawChannel = normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty(opts.channel);
   const rawTarget = normalizeOptionalString(opts.target) ?? "";
 
-  if (opts.account && (!rawChannel || rawChannel === "all")) {
-    runtime.error(
-      danger(
-        `--account requires a specific --channel. Run ${formatCliCommand("openclaw channels list")} to choose one.`,
-      ),
-    );
-    runtime.exit(1);
-    return;
-  }
-  if (rawTarget && (!rawChannel || rawChannel === "all")) {
-    runtime.error(
-      danger(
-        `--target requires a specific --channel. Run ${formatCliCommand("openclaw channels list")} to choose one.`,
-      ),
-    );
-    runtime.exit(1);
-    return;
+  if ((!rawChannel || rawChannel === "all") && (opts.account || rawTarget)) {
+    const option = opts.account ? "--account" : "--target";
+    const message = `${option} requires a specific --channel. Run ${formatCliCommand("openclaw channels list")} to choose one.`;
+    throw new ExpectedCliError({ message, humanOutput: danger(message), machineOutput: message });
   }
 
   const plugins = listReadOnlyChannelPluginsForConfig(cfg, {
@@ -371,9 +359,8 @@ export async function channelsCapabilitiesCommand(
       );
       return;
     }
-    runtime.error(danger(formatUnknownChannelMessage({ channel: rawChannel })));
-    runtime.exit(1);
-    return;
+    const message = formatUnknownChannelMessage({ channel: rawChannel });
+    throw new ExpectedCliError({ message, humanOutput: danger(message), machineOutput: message });
   }
 
   const reports: ChannelCapabilitiesReport[] = [];
diff --git a/test/cli-json-stdout.e2e.test.ts b/test/cli-json-stdout.e2e.test.ts
index c76ad27eb314..1622adbe608c 100644
--- a/test/cli-json-stdout.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/test/cli-json-stdout.e2e.test.ts
@@ -331,6 +331,84 @@ describe("cli json stdout contract", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    {
+      name: "account validation in human mode",
+      args: ["channels", "capabilities", "--account", "ghost"],
+      message: "--account requires a specific --channel. Run openclaw channels list to choose one.",
+      human: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "account validation with JSON before its option",
+      args: ["channels", "capabilities", "--json", "--account", "ghost"],
+      message: "--account requires a specific --channel. Run openclaw channels list to choose one.",
+    },
+    {
+      name: "target validation with JSON after its option and explicit Commander routing",
+      args: ["channels", "capabilities", "--target", "channel:1", "--json"],
+      message: "--target requires a specific --channel. Run openclaw channels list to choose one.",
+      commander: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "unknown channel validation with JSON before its option",
+      args: ["channels", "capabilities", "--json", "--channel", "definitely-not-a-channel"],
+      message:
+        'Unknown channel "definitely-not-a-channel". Run `openclaw channels list --all` to see configured and installable channels.',
+    },
+    {
+      name: "account validation through dual-TTY finalization",
+      args: ["channels", "capabilities", "--account", "ghost", "--json"],
+      message: "--account requires a specific --channel. Run openclaw channels list to choose one.",
+      tty: true,
+    },
+  ])(
+    "renders channels capabilities $name through the canonical failure owner",
+    async (testCase) => {
+      await withTempHome(
+        async (tempHome) => {
+          const preload = Buffer.from(
+            [
+              'import net from "node:net";',
+              'net.Socket.prototype.connect = function () { throw new Error("AUTOQA_NETWORK_FORBIDDEN"); };',
+              'globalThis.fetch = async () => { throw new Error("AUTOQA_NETWORK_FORBIDDEN"); };',
+              ...("tty" in testCase
+                ? [
+                    'Object.defineProperty(process.stdout, "isTTY", { value: true, configurable: true });',
+                    'Object.defineProperty(process.stderr, "isTTY", { value: true, configurable: true });',
+                  ]
+                : []),
+            ].join("\n"),
+          ).toString("base64");
+          const result = runBuiltCli(tempHome, testCase.args, {
+            NODE_OPTIONS: `--import=data:text/javascript;base64,${preload}`,
+            OPENCLAW_STATE_DIR: path.join(tempHome, "isolated-state"),
+            OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH: path.join(tempHome, "missing-openclaw.json"),
+            OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT: "29871",
+            ...("commander" in testCase ? { OPENCLAW_DISABLE_ROUTE_FIRST: "1" } : {}),
+            ...("tty" in testCase ? { FORCE_COLOR: "1" } : {}),
+          });
+
+          expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(1);
+          if ("human" in testCase) {
+            expect(result.stdout).toBe("");
+          } else {
+            expect(result.stdout, result.stderr).not.toMatch(/[\u001B\u0007]/u);
+            expect(JSON.parse(result.stdout)).toEqual({
+              ok: false,
+              error: { type: "cli_error", message: testCase.message },
+            });
+          }
+          expect(result.stderr).toContain(testCase.message);
+          expect(result.stderr).not.toContain("AUTOQA_NETWORK_FORBIDDEN");
+          if ("tty" in testCase) {
+            expect(result.stderr).toContain("\u001B[?25h");
+          }
+        },
+        { prefix: "openclaw-channels-capabilities-failure-e2e-" },
+      );
+    },
+  );
+
   it("returns one canonical document for a command that previously failed on stderr only", async () => {
     await withTempHome(
       async (tempHome) => {