diff --git a/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/CLIInstaller.swift b/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/CLIInstaller.swift
index 6b98f24f9d0c..f08761140066 100644
--- a/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/CLIInstaller.swift
+++ b/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/CLIInstaller.swift
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ enum CLIInstaller {
                 expectedVersion: GatewayEnvironment.expectedGatewayVersionString(),
                 preferredPaths: preferredPaths)
             if status.isReady {
-                self.rememberValidated(status)
+                self.rememberValidated(status, defaults: AppDefaults.standard)
                 return status
             }
             fallbackStatus = fallbackStatus ?? status
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ enum CLIInstaller {
             expectedVersion: expectedVersion,
             preferredPaths: preferredPaths)
         if status.isReady {
-            self.rememberValidated(status)
+            self.rememberValidated(status, defaults: AppDefaults.standard)
         }
         return status
     }
@@ -316,10 +316,14 @@ enum CLIInstaller {
         return environment
     }
 
-    private static func rememberValidated(_ status: Status) {
+    static func rememberValidated(_ status: Status, defaults: UserDefaults) {
         guard case let .ready(location, version) = status else { return }
-        AppDefaults.standard.set(location, forKey: cliValidatedExecutableKey)
-        AppDefaults.standard.set(version, forKey: cliValidatedVersionKey)
+        if defaults.string(forKey: cliValidatedExecutableKey) != location {
+            defaults.set(location, forKey: cliValidatedExecutableKey)
+        }
+        if defaults.string(forKey: cliValidatedVersionKey) != version {
+            defaults.set(version, forKey: cliValidatedVersionKey)
+        }
     }
 
     @discardableResult
diff --git a/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/NodeMode/MacNodeModeCoordinator.swift b/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/NodeMode/MacNodeModeCoordinator.swift
index d692136cf504..2de0ce6561e9 100644
--- a/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/NodeMode/MacNodeModeCoordinator.swift
+++ b/apps/macos/Sources/OpenClaw/NodeMode/MacNodeModeCoordinator.swift
@@ -936,6 +936,12 @@ extension MacNodeModeCoordinator {
         guard self.nodeHostWorkerRetryTask == nil else {
             throw MacNodeHostWorkerRetryPolicy.RetryBackoffPending()
         }
+        if let activeInput = self.activeNodeHostWorkerInput {
+            // Worker launch metadata is startup-scoped. Route retries reuse it instead of
+            // repeating CLI and runtime discovery until an explicit restart resets state.
+            try self.nodeHostWorkerRetryPolicy.prepareForStart(activeInput)
+            return try await nodeHostWorker.start(launch: activeInput.launch)
+        }
         let launch: MacNodeHostWorkerLaunch
         do {
             if let projectLaunch = try await CommandResolver.projectNodeHostWorkerLaunch() {
diff --git a/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/CLIInstallerTests.swift b/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/CLIInstallerTests.swift
index a24faffd4a5c..c2298f3ae538 100644
--- a/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/CLIInstallerTests.swift
+++ b/apps/macos/Tests/OpenClawIPCTests/CLIInstallerTests.swift
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import Foundation
+import os
 import Testing
 @testable import OpenClaw
 
@@ -291,6 +292,46 @@ struct CLIInstallerTests {
             defaults: defaults) == "2026.7.2")
     }
 
+    @Test func `validated CLI cache changes only when the ready tuple changes`() throws {
+        let suite = "CLIInstallerTests.validated-cache.\(UUID().uuidString)"
+        let defaults = try #require(UserDefaults(suiteName: suite))
+        defer { defaults.removePersistentDomain(forName: suite) }
+        let notificationCount = OSAllocatedUnfairLock(initialState: 0)
+        let initialLocation = "/Users/test/.local/bin/openclaw"
+        defaults.set(initialLocation, forKey: cliValidatedExecutableKey)
+        defaults.set("2026.8.1", forKey: cliValidatedVersionKey)
+        let observer = NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
+            forName: UserDefaults.didChangeNotification,
+            object: defaults,
+            queue: nil)
+        { _ in
+            notificationCount.withLock { $0 += 1 }
+        }
+        defer { NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(observer) }
+
+        CLIInstaller.rememberValidated(
+            .ready(location: initialLocation, version: "2026.8.1"),
+            defaults: defaults)
+
+        #expect(notificationCount.withLock { $0 } == 0)
+
+        let updatedLocation = "/opt/homebrew/bin/openclaw"
+        CLIInstaller.rememberValidated(
+            .ready(location: updatedLocation, version: "2026.8.1"),
+            defaults: defaults)
+
+        #expect(notificationCount.withLock { $0 } == 1)
+        #expect(defaults.string(forKey: cliValidatedExecutableKey) == updatedLocation)
+        #expect(defaults.string(forKey: cliValidatedVersionKey) == "2026.8.1")
+
+        CLIInstaller.rememberValidated(
+            .ready(location: updatedLocation, version: "2026.8.2"),
+            defaults: defaults)
+
+        #expect(notificationCount.withLock { $0 } == 2)
+        #expect(defaults.string(forKey: cliValidatedVersionKey) == "2026.8.2")
+    }
+
     @Test func `managed setup requires a parseable compatible version`() {
         let location = "/Users/test/.openclaw/bin/openclaw"