diff --git a/docs/channels/clickclack.md b/docs/channels/clickclack.md
index 40b549bcbf24..7846b1e5c630 100644
--- a/docs/channels/clickclack.md
+++ b/docs/channels/clickclack.md
@@ -469,7 +469,9 @@ Accepted bot messages also pass through OpenClaw's shared bot-pair loop guard.
 Use `botLoopProtection` on the account or `channels.defaults.botLoopProtection`
 to tune its window, budget, cooldown, or enabled state. Group-level `allowBots`
 and `botLoopProtection` values follow the same exact-channel, wildcard, then
-account-level precedence as the other group policies.
+account-level precedence as the other group policies. Top-level channel
+messages share a channel budget, while replies in different ClickClack threads
+use independent thread-root budgets.
 
 Older ClickClack responses may omit `author.kind`. Those messages intentionally
 remain on the legacy `allowFrom` path: `allowFrom: ["*"]` can admit them, and
diff --git a/extensions/clickclack/src/access.ts b/extensions/clickclack/src/access.ts
index 05edd9a966eb..f1efcd44b4a2 100644
--- a/extensions/clickclack/src/access.ts
+++ b/extensions/clickclack/src/access.ts
@@ -53,6 +53,18 @@ type ClickClackPreparedInboundRoute = {
   revoked: boolean;
 };
 
+function resolveClickClackBotLoopConversationId(params: {
+  message: ClickClackMessage;
+  isDirect: boolean;
+}): string {
+  if (params.message.parent_message_id && params.message.thread_root_id) {
+    return params.message.thread_root_id;
+  }
+  return params.isDirect
+    ? (params.message.direct_conversation_id ?? params.message.author_id)
+    : (params.message.channel_id ?? params.message.thread_root_id ?? params.message.author_id);
+}
+
 function resolveAccountAgentRoute(params: {
   cfg: OpenClawConfig;
   account: ResolvedClickClackAccount;
@@ -235,11 +247,10 @@ export async function resolveClickClackInboundAccess(params: {
           // The workspace is the shared boundary; account IDs would let the
           // same conversation evade the budget by alternating receivers.
           scopeId: params.account.workspace,
-          conversationId: preparedRoute.isDirect
-            ? (params.message.direct_conversation_id ?? params.message.author_id)
-            : (params.message.channel_id ??
-              params.message.thread_root_id ??
-              params.message.author_id),
+          conversationId: resolveClickClackBotLoopConversationId({
+            message: params.message,
+            isDirect: preparedRoute.isDirect,
+          }),
           senderId: params.message.author_id,
           receiverId: params.account.botUserId,
           eventId: params.message.id,
diff --git a/extensions/clickclack/src/group-policy.ts b/extensions/clickclack/src/group-policy.ts
index a568a96b9728..fbbf989cb891 100644
--- a/extensions/clickclack/src/group-policy.ts
+++ b/extensions/clickclack/src/group-policy.ts
@@ -50,9 +50,7 @@ export function resolveClickClackBotPolicy(params: {
   // account-wide override.
   const groups = channelKey ? account.groups : undefined;
   const wildcard = groups?.["*"];
-  const exact = channelKey
-    ? Object.entries(groups ?? {}).find(([key]) => key.trim() === channelKey)?.[1]
-    : undefined;
+  const exact = channelKey ? groups?.[channelKey] : undefined;
   return {
     allowBots: exact?.allowBots ?? wildcard?.allowBots ?? account.allowBots ?? false,
     botLoopProtection: mergePairLoopGuardConfig(
diff --git a/extensions/clickclack/src/inbound.mention-gating.test.ts b/extensions/clickclack/src/inbound.mention-gating.test.ts
index 67089ff71f4c..98a4dd6082d5 100644
--- a/extensions/clickclack/src/inbound.mention-gating.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/clickclack/src/inbound.mention-gating.test.ts
@@ -286,11 +286,45 @@ describe("ClickClack inbound mention gating", () => {
       conversationId: "chn_1",
       senderId: "usr_sender",
       receiverId: "usr_receiver",
+      eventId: "msg_1",
       defaultsConfig: { maxEventsPerWindow: 7 },
       defaultEnabled: true,
     });
   });
 
+  it("isolates bot loop budgets by ClickClack thread root", async () => {
+    const runtime = createRuntime();
+    setClickClackRuntime(runtime);
+    const account = createAgentAccount({ allowFrom: ["usr_sender"], allowBots: true });
+    const author = createAuthor({ id: "usr_sender", kind: "bot", handle: "sender" });
+
+    const threadA = await resolveClickClackInboundAccess({
+      account,
+      config: {} satisfies CoreConfig,
+      message: createMessage({
+        id: "msg_thread_a_reply",
+        author_id: "usr_sender",
+        parent_message_id: "msg_thread_a",
+        thread_root_id: "msg_thread_a",
+        author,
+      }),
+    });
+    const threadB = await resolveClickClackInboundAccess({
+      account,
+      config: {} satisfies CoreConfig,
+      message: createMessage({
+        id: "msg_thread_b_reply",
+        author_id: "usr_sender",
+        parent_message_id: "msg_thread_b",
+        thread_root_id: "msg_thread_b",
+        author,
+      }),
+    });
+
+    expect(threadA.botLoopProtection?.conversationId).toBe("msg_thread_a");
+    expect(threadB.botLoopProtection?.conversationId).toBe("msg_thread_b");
+  });
+
   it("does not let bot opt-in bypass the wildcard human allowFrom default", async () => {
     const runtime = createRuntime();
     setClickClackRuntime(runtime);