diff --git a/src/plugins/compat/registry.test.ts b/src/plugins/compat/registry.test.ts
index 3683525d301e..86f21bf8766a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/compat/registry.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/compat/registry.test.ts
@@ -57,9 +57,11 @@ function expectNonEmptyStringList(values: readonly string[], label: string) {
 }
 
 function listTrackedSourceFiles(): string[] {
-  return (listGitTrackedFiles({ pathspecs: sourceRootsForDeprecatedCallGuard }) ?? []).filter(
-    (file) => /\.(?:ts|tsx|mts|cts)$/u.test(file),
-  );
+  const files = listGitTrackedFiles({ pathspecs: sourceRootsForDeprecatedCallGuard });
+  if (!files) {
+    throw new Error("unable to list tracked source files for the deprecated-call guard");
+  }
+  return files.filter((file) => /\.(?:ts|tsx|mts|cts)$/u.test(file));
 }
 
 describe("plugin compatibility registry", () => {
diff --git a/src/plugins/contracts/config-footprint-guardrails.test.ts b/src/plugins/contracts/config-footprint-guardrails.test.ts
index e0f6ecc0c534..87400f2999ed 100644
--- a/src/plugins/contracts/config-footprint-guardrails.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/contracts/config-footprint-guardrails.test.ts
@@ -257,7 +257,10 @@ describe("config footprint guardrails", () => {
     ]);
     const facadeImportPattern =
       /\bfrom\s*["'][^"']*(?:channel-config-primitives|bundled-channel-config-schema)(?:\.js)?["']/u;
-    const files = listGitTrackedFiles({ repoRoot: REPO_ROOT, pathspecs: "src" }) ?? [];
+    const files = listGitTrackedFiles({ repoRoot: REPO_ROOT, pathspecs: "src" });
+    if (!files) {
+      throw new Error("unable to list tracked source files for the config facade guard");
+    }
 
     const offenders = files.filter((file) => {
       if (!(file.endsWith(".ts") || file.endsWith(".tsx")) || allowedShellImporters.has(file)) {
diff --git a/src/plugins/contracts/model-catalog-core-imports.test.ts b/src/plugins/contracts/model-catalog-core-imports.test.ts
index 02847d1c0b49..9925531bd0c4 100644
--- a/src/plugins/contracts/model-catalog-core-imports.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/contracts/model-catalog-core-imports.test.ts
@@ -34,12 +34,14 @@ const LEGACY_MODEL_CATALOG_BRIDGES = new Map([
 ]);
 
 function listSourceFiles(): string[] {
-  return (
-    listGitTrackedFiles({
-      repoRoot: REPO_ROOT,
-      pathspecs: ["src", "extensions", "packages", "test"],
-    }) ?? []
-  )
+  const files = listGitTrackedFiles({
+    repoRoot: REPO_ROOT,
+    pathspecs: ["src", "extensions", "packages", "test"],
+  });
+  if (!files) {
+    throw new Error("unable to list tracked source files for the model-catalog import guard");
+  }
+  return files
     .filter((file) => /\.(?:[cm]?ts|tsx|mts|cts)$/u.test(file))
     .filter((file) => fs.existsSync(path.join(REPO_ROOT, file)));
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/contracts/plugin-sdk-package-contract-guardrails.test.ts b/src/plugins/contracts/plugin-sdk-package-contract-guardrails.test.ts
index 4095f5b116ce..fe600df1c353 100644
--- a/src/plugins/contracts/plugin-sdk-package-contract-guardrails.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/contracts/plugin-sdk-package-contract-guardrails.test.ts
@@ -465,11 +465,13 @@ function collectNewDeprecatedMemoryEmbeddingProviderApiFiles(): string[] {
 
 function collectNewDeprecatedMemoryEmbeddingProviderManifestFiles(): string[] {
   const files: string[] = [];
-  const manifestFiles =
-    listGitTrackedFiles({
-      repoRoot: REPO_ROOT,
-      pathspecs: "extensions/**/openclaw.plugin.json",
-    }) ?? [];
+  const manifestFiles = listGitTrackedFiles({
+    repoRoot: REPO_ROOT,
+    pathspecs: "extensions/**/openclaw.plugin.json",
+  });
+  if (!manifestFiles) {
+    throw new Error("unable to list plugin manifests for the deprecated manifest guard");
+  }
   for (const repoRelativePath of manifestFiles) {
     const source = fs.readFileSync(resolve(REPO_ROOT, repoRelativePath), "utf8");
     if (
diff --git a/src/test-utils/repo-files.test.ts b/src/test-utils/repo-files.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..aa18c35cf59b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test-utils/repo-files.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { withTempDir } from "./temp-dir.js";
+
+const spawnSyncMock = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn());
+
+vi.mock("node:child_process", () => ({
+  spawnSync: spawnSyncMock,
+}));
+
+import { listGitTrackedFiles } from "./repo-files.js";
+
+describe("listGitTrackedFiles", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    spawnSyncMock.mockReset();
+  });
+
+  it("bounds Git inventory lookup and returns sorted existing files", async () => {
+    await withTempDir("openclaw-repo-files-", async (repoRoot) => {
+      await fs.writeFile(path.join(repoRoot, "z.ts"), "");
+      await fs.writeFile(path.join(repoRoot, "a.ts"), "");
+      spawnSyncMock.mockReturnValue({
+        status: 0,
+        stdout: "z.ts\nmissing.ts\na.ts\n",
+      });
+
+      expect(listGitTrackedFiles({ repoRoot, pathspecs: "src" })).toEqual(["a.ts", "z.ts"]);
+      expect(spawnSyncMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        "git",
+        ["ls-files", "--", "src"],
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          cwd: repoRoot,
+          killSignal: "SIGKILL",
+          timeout: 5_000,
+        }),
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("caches a timed-out inventory lookup as unavailable", async () => {
+    await withTempDir("openclaw-repo-files-timeout-", async (repoRoot) => {
+      spawnSyncMock.mockReturnValue({
+        error: Object.assign(new Error("spawnSync git ETIMEDOUT"), { code: "ETIMEDOUT" }),
+        signal: "SIGKILL",
+        status: null,
+        stdout: "",
+      });
+      const params = { repoRoot, pathspecs: ["src", "extensions"] };
+
+      expect(listGitTrackedFiles(params)).toBeNull();
+      expect(listGitTrackedFiles(params)).toBeNull();
+      expect(spawnSyncMock).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/test-utils/repo-files.ts b/src/test-utils/repo-files.ts
index 10d79e69c5a7..9c5d50b1d467 100644
--- a/src/test-utils/repo-files.ts
+++ b/src/test-utils/repo-files.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
 
+const GIT_LS_FILES_TIMEOUT_MS = 5_000;
 const gitTrackedFilesCache = new Map<string, string[] | null>();
 
 function filterExistingRepoFiles(repoRoot: string, files: readonly string[]): string[] {
@@ -36,8 +37,11 @@ export function listGitTrackedFiles(params: {
   const result = spawnSync("git", ["ls-files", "--", ...pathspecs], {
     cwd: repoRoot,
     encoding: "utf8",
+    // Bound repository scans; SIGKILL avoids waiting on a hung Git process after timeout.
+    killSignal: "SIGKILL",
     maxBuffer: 16 * 1024 * 1024,
     stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "ignore"],
+    timeout: GIT_LS_FILES_TIMEOUT_MS,
   });
   if (result.status !== 0) {
     gitTrackedFilesCache.set(cacheKey, null);