diff --git a/src/cli/run-main.import-boundary.test.ts b/src/cli/run-main.import-boundary.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3c0a3af0dd6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cli/run-main.import-boundary.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+// Run-main owns these modules eagerly, so lazy imports only add ineffective bundle edges.
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+const source = readFileSync(new URL("./run-main.ts", import.meta.url), "utf8");
+
+describe("run-main import boundary", () => {
+  it("does not lazy-import its eager startup owners", () => {
+    for (const specifier of ["../config/paths.js", "./command-startup-policy.js"]) {
+      expect(source).toContain(`from "${specifier}"`);
+      expect(source).not.toContain(`import("${specifier}")`);
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/cli/run-main.ts b/src/cli/run-main.ts
index a5cb0469b9c6..160a3966331b 100644
--- a/src/cli/run-main.ts
+++ b/src/cli/run-main.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { normalizeOptionalString } from "@openclaw/normalization-core/string-coe
 import { truncateUtf16Safe } from "@openclaw/normalization-core/utf16-slice";
 import type { Command as CommanderCommand, Option as CommanderOption } from "commander";
 import { sanitizeTerminalText } from "../../packages/terminal-core/src/safe-text.js";
-import { resolveStateDir } from "../config/paths.js";
+import { resolveGatewayPort, resolveStateDir } from "../config/paths.js";
 import type { ConfigFileSnapshot, OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";
 import { isLoopbackAddress, isSecureWebSocketUrl } from "../gateway/net.js";
 import { normalizeWebSocketProtocol } from "../gateway/websocket-protocol.js";
@@ -172,7 +172,6 @@ async function tryRunGatewayRunFastPath(
     { addGatewayRunCommand },
     { VERSION },
     { emitCliBanner },
-    { resolveCliStartupPolicy },
     { ensureCliExecutionBootstrap },
     { defaultRuntime },
   ] = await startupTrace.measure("gateway-run-imports", () =>
@@ -181,13 +180,12 @@ async function tryRunGatewayRunFastPath(
       import("./gateway-cli/run-command.js"),
       import("../version.js"),
       import("./banner.js"),
-      import("./command-startup-policy.js"),
       import("./command-execution-startup.js"),
       import("../runtime.js"),
     ]),
   );
   const commandPath = resolveGatewayCatalogCommandPath(argv) ?? ["gateway"];
-  const startupPolicy = resolveCliStartupPolicy({
+  const startupPolicy = resolveCliStartupPolicyForArgv({
     argv,
     commandPath,
     jsonOutputMode: hasJsonOutputFlag(argv),
@@ -633,12 +631,10 @@ async function resolveLocalGatewayProbeTargets(
   config: OpenClawConfig,
 ): Promise<{ targets: GatewayProbeTarget[]; auth: GatewayProbeAuth }> {
   const [
-    { resolveGatewayPort },
     { resolveControlUiLinks },
     { resolveGatewayClientBootstrap },
     { readActiveGatewayLockPort },
   ] = await Promise.all([
-    import("../config/paths.js"),
     import("../gateway/control-ui-links.js"),
     import("../gateway/client-bootstrap.js"),
     import("../infra/gateway-lock.js"),
@@ -1617,9 +1613,9 @@ async function runCliWithPreparedOutputMode(
       });
       if (!shouldSkipPluginRegistration) {
         const config = await startupTrace.measure("register-plugin-commands", async () => {
-          const [{ registerPluginCliCommandsFromValidatedConfig }, { resolveCliStartupPolicy }] =
-            await Promise.all([import("../plugins/cli.js"), import("./command-startup-policy.js")]);
-          const startupPolicy = resolveCliStartupPolicy({
+          const { registerPluginCliCommandsFromValidatedConfig } =
+            await import("../plugins/cli.js");
+          const startupPolicy = resolveCliStartupPolicyForArgv({
             argv: parseArgv,
             commandPath: invocation.commandPath,
             jsonOutputMode: suppressStartupProgress,