diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.test.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.test.ts
index c90f3139f892..b1a550863386 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.test.ts
@@ -369,19 +369,22 @@ describe("Gateway child fixture helpers", () => {
     });
   });
 
-  it("resolves source and built Gateway CLI commands", async () => {
+  it("resolves the repo runner before a built Gateway CLI fallback", async () => {
     const repoRoot = await tempDirs.makeTempDir("qa-gateway-command-");
-    await mkdir(path.join(repoRoot, "src"), { recursive: true });
-    await writeFile(path.join(repoRoot, "src", "entry.ts"), "export {};\n", "utf8");
+    await mkdir(path.join(repoRoot, "scripts"), { recursive: true });
+    const runnerPath = path.join(repoRoot, "scripts", "run-node.mjs");
+    await writeFile(runnerPath, "export {};\n", "utf8");
 
     expect(testing.resolveQaGatewayChildCommand(repoRoot)).toEqual({
       executablePath: process.execPath,
-      argsPrefix: ["--import", "tsx", path.join(repoRoot, "src", "entry.ts")],
+      argsPrefix: [runnerPath],
       cwd: repoRoot,
+      usePackagedPlugins: true,
     });
 
     await mkdir(path.join(repoRoot, "dist"), { recursive: true });
     await writeFile(path.join(repoRoot, "dist", "index.js"), "export {};\n", "utf8");
+    await rm(path.join(repoRoot, "scripts"), { recursive: true });
     expect(testing.resolveQaGatewayChildCommand(repoRoot)).toEqual({
       executablePath: process.execPath,
       argsPrefix: [path.join(repoRoot, "dist", "index.js")],
@@ -463,6 +466,7 @@ describe("buildQaRuntimeEnv", () => {
       "/repo/.artifacts/qa-runtime/openclaw-qa-suite-test",
     );
     expect(env.OPENCLAW_QA_ALLOW_LOCAL_IMAGE_PROVIDER).toBe("1");
+    expect(env.OPENCLAW_BUILD_PRIVATE_QA).toBe("1");
     expect(env.OPENCLAW_ALLOW_SLOW_REPLY_TESTS).toBe("1");
     expect(env.OPENCLAW_BUNDLED_PLUGINS_DIR).toBe("/tmp/openclaw-qa/bundled-plugins");
     expect(env.OPENCLAW_COMPATIBILITY_HOST_VERSION).toBe("2026.4.8");
diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.ts
index 9e1714cfadbc..0de107a189ce 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.ts
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ function createQaGatewayEmptyTransport() {
 }
 
 function resolveQaGatewayChildCommand(repoRoot: string): QaGatewayChildCommand {
-  for (const relativePath of ["dist/index.mjs", "dist/index.js"]) {
+  for (const relativePath of ["scripts/run-node.mjs", "dist/index.mjs", "dist/index.js"]) {
     const entryPath = path.join(repoRoot, relativePath);
     if (existsSync(entryPath)) {
       return {
@@ -156,16 +156,9 @@ function resolveQaGatewayChildCommand(repoRoot: string): QaGatewayChildCommand {
     }
   }
 
-  const sourceEntryPath = path.join(repoRoot, "src/entry.ts");
-  if (existsSync(sourceEntryPath)) {
-    return {
-      executablePath: process.execPath,
-      argsPrefix: ["--import", "tsx", sourceEntryPath],
-      cwd: repoRoot,
-    };
-  }
-
-  throw new Error("OpenClaw CLI entry not found: expected dist/index.(m)js or src/entry.ts");
+  throw new Error(
+    "OpenClaw CLI entry not found: expected scripts/run-node.mjs or dist/index.(m)js",
+  );
 }
 
 async function runQaGatewayCliCommand(params: {
@@ -450,6 +443,7 @@ export function buildQaRuntimeEnv(params: {
   };
   const normalizedEnv = normalizeQaProviderModeEnv(env, params.providerMode);
   Object.assign(normalizedEnv, params.runtimeEnvPatch);
+  normalizedEnv.OPENCLAW_BUILD_PRIVATE_QA = "1";
   delete normalizedEnv[QA_LIVE_ANTHROPIC_SETUP_TOKEN_ENV];
   delete normalizedEnv[QA_LIVE_SETUP_TOKEN_VALUE_ENV];
   return scrubQaGatewayChildSecretEnv(normalizedEnv);