diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 34c4b1f63cf1..215b3e0f4bf6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Gateway: return the post-expiration pending-work revision from node drains so reconnecting nodes do not observe stale queue revisions after expired items are pruned.
 - Release/CI/E2E: keep temporary full-sync checkouts alive while slow Crabbox leases boot, so sparse worktree runs do not lose their sync source before file-list generation.
 - Release/CI/E2E: normalize inherited Linux `C.UTF-8` locale settings before raw AWS macOS Crabbox bootstrap commands, avoiding macOS locale warnings during package-manager hydration.
+- Release/CI/E2E: keep gateway watch regression checks from copying large static plugin assets inside the measured idle window.
 - Agents/providers: keep streaming tool-call argument parsing record-shaped when providers emit valid non-object JSON such as `null` or arrays.
 - Release/CI/E2E: reset incremental log readers when watched log files rotate without shrinking, so same-size replacements do not hide new readiness or RPC lines.
 - Talk: preserve explicit `null` payloads on controller-created turn and output-audio lifecycle events.
diff --git a/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.mjs b/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.mjs
index b3fac6c9fbd0..a17d272fe6ac 100644
--- a/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.mjs
+++ b/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.mjs
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ const WATCH_GATEWAY_SKIP_ENV = {
   OPENCLAW_SKIP_CHANNELS: "1",
   OPENCLAW_SKIP_CRON: "1",
   OPENCLAW_SKIP_GMAIL_WATCHER: "1",
+  OPENCLAW_RUNTIME_POSTBUILD_STATIC_ASSETS: "0",
   OPENCLAW_TEST_MINIMAL_GATEWAY: "1",
   NODE_ENV: "test",
 };
diff --git a/scripts/run-node.mjs b/scripts/run-node.mjs
index ae6cab838b66..1895521d867d 100644
--- a/scripts/run-node.mjs
+++ b/scripts/run-node.mjs
@@ -473,10 +473,22 @@ const listRequiredOpenClawExtensionAliasOutputs = (deps) => {
 };
 
 const listRequiredStaticExtensionAssetOutputs = (deps) => {
+  if (deps.env.OPENCLAW_RUNTIME_POSTBUILD_STATIC_ASSETS === "0") {
+    return [];
+  }
   const distRoot = resolveRuntimePostBuildDistRoot(deps);
+  const runtimeRoot = resolveRuntimePostBuildRuntimeRoot(deps);
+  const runtimeExtensionsRoot = path.join(runtimeRoot, "extensions");
+  const hasRuntimeOverlay = deps.fs.existsSync(runtimeExtensionsRoot);
   return discoverStaticExtensionAssets({ rootDir: deps.cwd, fs: deps.fs })
     .filter((asset) => deps.fs.existsSync(path.join(deps.cwd, asset.src)))
-    .map((asset) => path.join(distRoot, normalizePath(asset.dest).replace(/^dist\//u, "")))
+    .flatMap((asset) => {
+      const relativeOutput = normalizePath(asset.dest).replace(/^dist\//u, "");
+      return [
+        path.join(distRoot, relativeOutput),
+        ...(hasRuntimeOverlay ? [path.join(runtimeRoot, relativeOutput)] : []),
+      ];
+    })
     .toSorted((left, right) => left.localeCompare(right));
 };
 
diff --git a/src/infra/run-node.test.ts b/src/infra/run-node.test.ts
index cce04ea2e604..8e0d90b4f5ee 100644
--- a/src/infra/run-node.test.ts
+++ b/src/infra/run-node.test.ts
@@ -2307,6 +2307,82 @@ describe("run-node script", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("reports missing static runtime overlay asset outputs when runtime stamps match HEAD", async () => {
+    await withTempDir({ prefix: "openclaw-run-node-" }, async (tmp) => {
+      await setupTrackedProject(tmp, {
+        files: {
+          [ROOT_SRC]: "export const value = 1;\n",
+          [DIFFS_PACKAGE]:
+            '{"openclaw":{"build":{"staticAssets":[{"source":"./assets/viewer-runtime.js","output":"assets/viewer-runtime.js"}]}}}\n',
+          [DIFFS_VIEWER_RUNTIME_SOURCE]: "export {};\n",
+          [DIST_DIFFS_VIEWER_RUNTIME]: "export {};\n",
+          [DIST_RUNTIME_DIFFS_VIEWER_RUNTIME]: "export {};\n",
+          [RUNTIME_POSTBUILD_STAMP]: '{"head":"abc123"}\n',
+        },
+        buildPaths: [
+          ROOT_SRC,
+          DIFFS_PACKAGE,
+          DIFFS_VIEWER_RUNTIME_SOURCE,
+          DIST_DIFFS_VIEWER_RUNTIME,
+          DIST_RUNTIME_DIFFS_VIEWER_RUNTIME,
+          DIST_ENTRY,
+          BUILD_STAMP,
+          RUNTIME_POSTBUILD_STAMP,
+        ],
+      });
+      await fs.rm(resolvePath(tmp, DIST_RUNTIME_DIFFS_VIEWER_RUNTIME));
+
+      const requirement = resolveRuntimePostBuildRequirement(
+        createBuildRequirementDeps(tmp, {
+          gitHead: "abc123\n",
+          gitStatus: "",
+        }),
+      );
+
+      expect(requirement).toEqual({
+        shouldSync: true,
+        reason: "missing_runtime_postbuild_output",
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("does not require static asset outputs when runtime static assets are disabled", async () => {
+    await withTempDir({ prefix: "openclaw-run-node-" }, async (tmp) => {
+      await setupTrackedProject(tmp, {
+        files: {
+          [ROOT_SRC]: "export const value = 1;\n",
+          [DIFFS_PACKAGE]:
+            '{"openclaw":{"build":{"staticAssets":[{"source":"./assets/viewer-runtime.js","output":"assets/viewer-runtime.js"}]}}}\n',
+          [DIFFS_VIEWER_RUNTIME_SOURCE]: "export {};\n",
+          [DIST_RUNTIME_EXTENSION_PACKAGE]: '{"openclaw":{"extensions":["./index.js"]}}\n',
+          [RUNTIME_POSTBUILD_STAMP]: '{"head":"abc123"}\n',
+        },
+        buildPaths: [
+          ROOT_SRC,
+          DIFFS_PACKAGE,
+          DIFFS_VIEWER_RUNTIME_SOURCE,
+          DIST_RUNTIME_EXTENSION_PACKAGE,
+          DIST_ENTRY,
+          BUILD_STAMP,
+          RUNTIME_POSTBUILD_STAMP,
+        ],
+      });
+
+      const requirement = resolveRuntimePostBuildRequirement(
+        createBuildRequirementDeps(tmp, {
+          env: { OPENCLAW_RUNTIME_POSTBUILD_STATIC_ASSETS: "0" },
+          gitHead: "abc123\n",
+          gitStatus: "",
+        }),
+      );
+
+      expect(requirement).toEqual({
+        shouldSync: false,
+        reason: "clean",
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
   it("does not require static asset outputs when the declared source is absent", async () => {
     await withTempDir({ prefix: "openclaw-run-node-" }, async (tmp) => {
       await setupTrackedProject(tmp, {
diff --git a/test/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.test.ts b/test/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.test.ts
index b909ee914991..c635686623bc 100644
--- a/test/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/check-gateway-watch-regression.test.ts
@@ -150,6 +150,12 @@ describe("check-gateway-watch-regression", () => {
         }),
     );
     const waitForGatewayReady = vi.fn(async () => false);
+    const spawn = vi.fn(() => {
+      process.nextTick(() => {
+        child.emit("error", new Error("spawn failed"));
+      });
+      return child;
+    });
 
     try {
       const result = await runTimedWatch(
@@ -162,12 +168,7 @@ describe("check-gateway-watch-regression", () => {
         outputDir,
         {
           allocateLoopbackPort: async () => 19042,
-          spawn: () => {
-            process.nextTick(() => {
-              child.emit("error", new Error("spawn failed"));
-            });
-            return child;
-          },
+          spawn,
           sleep,
           stopTimedWatchChild: stopChild,
           waitForGatewayReady,
@@ -180,6 +181,7 @@ describe("check-gateway-watch-regression", () => {
       expect(result.spawnError).toBe("spawn failed");
       expect(fs.existsSync(isolatedHomeDir)).toBe(false);
       expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(outputDir, "watch.home.txt"))).toBe(true);
+      expect(spawn.mock.calls[0]?.[2]?.env?.OPENCLAW_RUNTIME_POSTBUILD_STATIC_ASSETS).toBe("0");
       expect(waitForGatewayReady).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
       expect(stopChild).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     } finally {