diff --git a/src/gateway/control-ui-http-utils.ts b/src/gateway/control-ui-http-utils.ts
index cff5ea1b4f5f..74deeee39411 100644
--- a/src/gateway/control-ui-http-utils.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/control-ui-http-utils.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,27 @@ export function isReadHttpMethod(method: string | undefined): boolean {
   return method === "GET" || method === "HEAD";
 }
 
+/** Returns whether an Accept header permits an HTML document response. */
+export function acceptsControlUiHtmlResponse(accept: string | undefined): boolean {
+  const normalized = accept?.trim();
+  if (!normalized) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  return normalized.split(",").some((entry) => {
+    const [rawMediaType, ...parameters] = entry.split(";");
+    if (parameters.some((parameter) => /^\s*q\s*=\s*0(?:\.0{0,3})?\s*$/i.test(parameter))) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    const mediaType = rawMediaType?.trim().toLowerCase();
+    return (
+      mediaType === "*/*" ||
+      mediaType === "text/*" ||
+      mediaType === "text/html" ||
+      mediaType === "application/xhtml+xml"
+    );
+  });
+}
+
 /** Sends a plain-text response with the standard UTF-8 content type. */
 export function respondPlainText(res: ServerResponse, statusCode: number, body: string): void {
   res.statusCode = statusCode;
diff --git a/src/gateway/control-ui-routing.test.ts b/src/gateway/control-ui-routing.test.ts
index ac850a644f47..22633919fca4 100644
--- a/src/gateway/control-ui-routing.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/control-ui-routing.test.ts
@@ -44,6 +44,160 @@ describe("isControlUiApprovalDocumentPath", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("Control UI SPA fallback Accept routing", () => {
+  it.each([
+    {
+      name: "missing Accept header",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: undefined,
+      expected: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "empty Accept header",
+      basePath: "/openclaw",
+      pathname: "/openclaw/chat",
+      method: "HEAD",
+      accept: "  ",
+      expected: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "browser Accept header",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "text/html, application/xhtml+xml;q=0.9, application/xml;q=0.8",
+      expected: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "text wildcard at root",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "text/*",
+      expected: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "nonzero text wildcard under a base path",
+      basePath: "/openclaw",
+      pathname: "/openclaw/chat",
+      method: "HEAD",
+      accept: "application/json, text/*;q=0.5",
+      expected: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "zero-quality text wildcard rejection",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "text/*;q=0",
+      expected: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "zero-quality HTML rejection",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "text/html;q=0",
+      expected: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "rejected HTML entry with an accepting wildcard",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "text/html;q=0, */*",
+      expected: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "nonzero HTML quality",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "text/html;q=0.5",
+      expected: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "mixed-case zero-quality parameter",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "text/html; Q = 0",
+      expected: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "trailing-dot zero quality",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "text/html; q=0.",
+      expected: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "one-decimal zero quality",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "text/html;q=0.0",
+      expected: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "mixed-case XHTML three-decimal rejection",
+      basePath: "/openclaw",
+      pathname: "/openclaw/chat",
+      method: "HEAD",
+      accept: "application/json, Application/XHTML+XML ; q=0.000",
+      expected: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "zero-quality wildcard rejection",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "application/json, */*;q=0",
+      expected: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "JSON-only Accept header",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/chat",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "application/json",
+      expected: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "event-stream Accept header under a base path",
+      basePath: "/openclaw",
+      pathname: "/openclaw/chat",
+      method: "HEAD",
+      accept: "text/event-stream",
+      expected: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "plugin manager recovery at root",
+      basePath: "",
+      pathname: "/settings/plugins",
+      method: "GET",
+      accept: "application/json",
+      expected: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "plugin manager recovery under a base path",
+      basePath: "/openclaw",
+      pathname: "/openclaw/settings/plugins/",
+      method: "HEAD",
+      accept: "text/event-stream",
+      expected: true,
+    },
+  ])("classifies $name", ({ basePath, pathname, method, accept, expected }) => {
+    expect(classifyControlUiRequest({ basePath, pathname, search: "", method, accept })).toEqual({
+      kind: "serve",
+      spaFallback: expected,
+    });
+  });
+});
+
 describe("classifyControlUiRequest", () => {
   describe("root-mounted control ui", () => {
     it.each([
@@ -51,19 +205,19 @@ describe("classifyControlUiRequest", () => {
         name: "serves the root entrypoint",
         pathname: "/",
         method: "GET",
-        expected: { kind: "serve" as const },
+        expected: { kind: "serve" as const, spaFallback: true },
       },
       {
         name: "serves other read-only SPA routes",
         pathname: "/chat",
         method: "HEAD",
-        expected: { kind: "serve" as const },
+        expected: { kind: "serve" as const, spaFallback: true },
       },
       {
         name: "serves the plugin manager without claiming plugin HTTP routes",
         pathname: "/settings/plugins",
         method: "GET",
-        expected: { kind: "serve" as const },
+        expected: { kind: "serve" as const, spaFallback: true },
       },
       {
         name: "keeps health probes outside the SPA catch-all",
@@ -141,7 +295,7 @@ describe("classifyControlUiRequest", () => {
         name: "preserves SPA routes that only resemble the standalone MCP App namespace",
         pathname: "/__openclaw__/mcp-apps",
         method: "GET",
-        expected: { kind: "serve" as const },
+        expected: { kind: "serve" as const, spaFallback: true },
       },
       {
         name: "keeps MCP App descendants outside the SPA catch-all",
@@ -165,19 +319,19 @@ describe("classifyControlUiRequest", () => {
         name: "preserves SPA routes that only resemble probe paths",
         pathname: "/healthcheck",
         method: "GET",
-        expected: { kind: "serve" as const },
+        expected: { kind: "serve" as const, spaFallback: true },
       },
       {
         name: "preserves the SPA root that only resembles the OpenAI-compatible API",
         pathname: "/v12",
         method: "GET",
-        expected: { kind: "serve" as const },
+        expected: { kind: "serve" as const, spaFallback: true },
       },
       {
         name: "preserves SPA routes that only resemble the OpenAI-compatible API",
         pathname: "/v12/models",
         method: "GET",
-        expected: { kind: "serve" as const },
+        expected: { kind: "serve" as const, spaFallback: true },
       },
       {
         name: "returns not-found for legacy ui routes",
@@ -217,7 +371,7 @@ describe("classifyControlUiRequest", () => {
         pathname: "/openclaw/chat",
         search: "",
         method: "HEAD",
-        expected: { kind: "serve" as const },
+        expected: { kind: "serve" as const, spaFallback: true },
       },
       {
         name: "falls through unmatched paths",
diff --git a/src/gateway/control-ui-routing.ts b/src/gateway/control-ui-routing.ts
index 5d49dad5ab55..72cc7d96c59a 100644
--- a/src/gateway/control-ui-routing.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/control-ui-routing.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // Control UI route classifier for base-path and root-mounted SPA serving.
-import { isReadHttpMethod } from "./control-ui-http-utils.js";
+import { acceptsControlUiHtmlResponse, isReadHttpMethod } from "./control-ui-http-utils.js";
 import {
   classifyGatewayProbePath,
   classifyMcpAppStandalonePath,
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ type ControlUiRequestClassification =
   | { kind: "not-control-ui" }
   | { kind: "not-found" }
   | { kind: "redirect"; location: string }
-  | { kind: "serve" };
+  | { kind: "serve"; spaFallback: boolean };
 
 const CONTROL_UI_PLUGIN_MANAGER_PATH = "/settings/plugins";
 
@@ -49,8 +49,13 @@ export function classifyControlUiRequest(params: {
   pathname: string;
   search: string;
   method: string | undefined;
+  accept?: string;
 }): ControlUiRequestClassification {
   const { basePath, pathname, search, method } = params;
+  // SPA fallback owns ambiguous browser reads, while plugin recovery is explicit.
+  // Decline only clearly non-HTML Accept values so headerless/wildcard clients keep working.
+  const spaFallback =
+    isControlUiPluginManagerRequest(params) || acceptsControlUiHtmlResponse(params.accept);
   if (!basePath) {
     if (pathname === "/ui" || pathname.startsWith("/ui/")) {
       return { kind: "not-found" };
@@ -80,7 +85,7 @@ export function classifyControlUiRequest(params: {
     if (!isReadHttpMethod(method)) {
       return { kind: "not-control-ui" };
     }
-    return { kind: "serve" };
+    return { kind: "serve", spaFallback };
   }
 
   if (!pathname.startsWith(`${basePath}/`) && pathname !== basePath) {
@@ -92,5 +97,5 @@ export function classifyControlUiRequest(params: {
   if (pathname === basePath) {
     return { kind: "redirect", location: `${basePath}/${search}` };
   }
-  return { kind: "serve" };
+  return { kind: "serve", spaFallback };
 }
diff --git a/src/gateway/control-ui.http.test.ts b/src/gateway/control-ui.http.test.ts
index c38c2bf41bb0..f64291209089 100644
--- a/src/gateway/control-ui.http.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/control-ui.http.test.ts
@@ -2680,6 +2680,35 @@ describe("handleControlUiHttpRequest", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("keeps JSON-Accept requests for explicit assets and plugin recovery routes", async () => {
+    await withControlUiRoot({
+      indexHtml: "<html><body>plugin-recovery</body></html>\n",
+      fn: async (tmp) => {
+        await writeAssetFile(tmp, "actual.txt", "inside-ok\n");
+
+        const asset = await runControlUiRequest({
+          url: "/assets/actual.txt",
+          method: "GET",
+          rootPath: tmp,
+          headers: { accept: "application/json" },
+        });
+        expect(asset.handled).toBe(true);
+        expect(asset.res.statusCode).toBe(200);
+        expect(responseBody(asset.end)).toBe("inside-ok\n");
+
+        const recovery = await runControlUiRequest({
+          url: "/settings/plugins",
+          method: "GET",
+          rootPath: tmp,
+          headers: { accept: "application/json" },
+        });
+        expect(recovery.handled).toBe(true);
+        expect(recovery.res.statusCode).toBe(200);
+        expect(responseBody(recovery.end)).toContain("plugin-recovery");
+      },
+    });
+  });
+
   it("compresses bundled assets and caches them immutably", async () => {
     await withControlUiRoot({
       fn: async (tmp) => {
diff --git a/src/gateway/control-ui.ts b/src/gateway/control-ui.ts
index c698d7e37ac1..82045926c581 100644
--- a/src/gateway/control-ui.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/control-ui.ts
@@ -1001,6 +1001,7 @@ export async function handleControlUiHttpRequest(
     pathname,
     search: url.search,
     method: req.method,
+    accept: req.headers?.accept,
   });
   if (route.kind === "not-control-ui") {
     return false;
@@ -1239,6 +1240,10 @@ export async function handleControlUiHttpRequest(
     return true;
   }
 
+  if (!route.spaFallback) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
   // SPA fallback (client-side router): serve index.html for unknown paths.
   const indexPath = path.join(root, "index.html");
   const safeIndex = resolveSafeControlUiFile(rootReal, indexPath, rejectHardlinks);
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-http.probe.test.ts b/src/gateway/server-http.probe.test.ts
index 465b3a5a04d0..414efff2a2f4 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-http.probe.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-http.probe.test.ts
@@ -166,6 +166,86 @@ describe("startup plugin HTTP routing", () => {
       });
     });
   });
+
+  it("uses Accept to route only the unclaimed Control UI SPA fallback", async () => {
+    await withMarkedControlUiRoot(async (controlUiRoot) => {
+      let sidecarsReady = false;
+      await withGatewayServer({
+        prefix: "startup-plugin-get-accept-root-control-ui",
+        resolvedAuth: AUTH_NONE,
+        overrides: {
+          controlUiEnabled: true,
+          controlUiBasePath: "",
+          controlUiRoot: { kind: "resolved", path: controlUiRoot },
+          handlePluginRequest: async () => false,
+          shouldEnforcePluginGatewayAuth: () => false,
+          isStartupPluginRuntimeReady: () => sidecarsReady,
+        },
+        run: async (server) => {
+          const htmlCases = [
+            {
+              name: "browser",
+              accept: "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8",
+            },
+            { name: "bare curl", accept: "*/*" },
+            { name: "missing header", accept: undefined },
+            { name: "empty header", accept: "" },
+            { name: "rejected HTML with wildcard", accept: "text/html;q=0, */*" },
+            { name: "nonzero HTML quality", accept: "text/html;q=0.5" },
+            { name: "text wildcard", accept: "text/*" },
+          ];
+          const nonHtmlCases = [
+            { name: "JSON", accept: "application/json" },
+            { name: "event stream", accept: "text/event-stream" },
+            { name: "zero-quality HTML", accept: "text/html;q=0" },
+            { name: "zero-quality wildcard", accept: "*/*;q=0" },
+            { name: "mixed-case zero quality", accept: "text/html;Q=0" },
+            { name: "zero-quality text wildcard", accept: "text/*;q=0" },
+          ];
+          for (const ready of [false, true]) {
+            sidecarsReady = ready;
+            for (const testCase of htmlCases) {
+              const { res, getBody } = await sendGatewayRequest(server, {
+                path: "/unclaimed-spa-route",
+                method: "GET",
+                headers: testCase.accept === undefined ? undefined : { accept: testCase.accept },
+              });
+
+              expect(res.statusCode, `${testCase.name} ready=${ready}`).toBe(200);
+              expect(getBody(), `${testCase.name} ready=${ready}`).toContain("spa fallback");
+            }
+
+            for (const testCase of nonHtmlCases) {
+              const response = createResponse();
+              await dispatchRequest(
+                server,
+                createRequest({
+                  path: "/unclaimed-spa-route",
+                  method: "GET",
+                  headers: { accept: testCase.accept },
+                }),
+                response.res,
+              );
+
+              expect(response.res.statusCode, `${testCase.name} ready=${ready}`).toBe(
+                ready ? 404 : 503,
+              );
+              expect(response.setHeader).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+                "Content-Type",
+                "text/plain; charset=utf-8",
+              );
+              expect(response.getBody()).toBe(ready ? "Not Found" : "Plugin runtime is starting");
+              if (ready) {
+                expect(response.setHeader).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith("Retry-After", "1");
+              } else {
+                expect(response.setHeader).toHaveBeenCalledWith("Retry-After", "1");
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        },
+      });
+    });
+  });
 });
 
 describe("standalone MCP App HTTP routing", () => {