diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.config-restart.test.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.config-restart.test.ts
index 38c85d62fad1..6b06dea00827 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.config-restart.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-catalog.config-restart.test.ts
@@ -7,28 +7,28 @@ describe("QA config-restart scenario catalog", () => {
     const flow = JSON.stringify(readQaScenarioById("config-restart-capability-flip"));
     const wakeStartIndex = flow.indexOf('"set":"wakeStartIndex"');
     const nextConfigIndex = flow.indexOf('"set":"nextConfig"');
+    const restartRequestedIndex = flow.indexOf('"set":"restartRequestedAtMs"');
     const restartApplyIndex = flow.indexOf('"call":"applyConfig"');
     const applyResultIndex = flow.indexOf('"saveAs":"applyResult"', restartApplyIndex);
     const sentinelAssertIndex = flow.indexOf("applyResult.sentinel?.persisted");
     const wakeWaitIndex = flow.indexOf("candidate.text.includes(wakeMarker)");
     const wakeSinceIndex = flow.indexOf('"sinceIndex":{"ref":"wakeStartIndex"}', wakeWaitIndex);
-    const settledSessionIndex = flow.indexOf("sessions.list", wakeWaitIndex);
-    const idleSessionIndex = flow.indexOf("hasActiveRun", settledSessionIndex);
+    const lifecycleWaitIndex = flow.indexOf('"call":"waitForSessionRunAfter"', wakeWaitIndex);
     const capabilityPollIndex = flow.indexOf('"saveAs":"afterTools"');
     const promptIndex = flow.indexOf('"call":"runAgentPrompt"');
     const cleanupApplyIndex = flow.lastIndexOf('"call":"applyConfig"');
 
     expect(wakeStartIndex).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
     expect(nextConfigIndex).toBeGreaterThan(wakeStartIndex);
-    expect(restartApplyIndex).toBeGreaterThan(nextConfigIndex);
+    expect(restartRequestedIndex).toBeGreaterThan(nextConfigIndex);
+    expect(restartApplyIndex).toBeGreaterThan(restartRequestedIndex);
     expect(applyResultIndex).toBeGreaterThan(restartApplyIndex);
     expect(sentinelAssertIndex).toBeGreaterThan(applyResultIndex);
     expect(flow).toContain("payload?.stats?.requiresRestart === true");
     expect(wakeWaitIndex).toBeGreaterThan(sentinelAssertIndex);
     expect(wakeSinceIndex).toBeGreaterThan(wakeWaitIndex);
-    expect(settledSessionIndex).toBeGreaterThan(wakeSinceIndex);
-    expect(idleSessionIndex).toBeGreaterThan(settledSessionIndex);
-    expect(capabilityPollIndex).toBeGreaterThan(idleSessionIndex);
+    expect(lifecycleWaitIndex).toBeGreaterThan(wakeSinceIndex);
+    expect(capabilityPollIndex).toBeGreaterThan(lifecycleWaitIndex);
     expect(promptIndex).toBeGreaterThan(capabilityPollIndex);
     expect(cleanupApplyIndex).toBeGreaterThan(promptIndex);
     expect(flow.match(/"call":"applyConfig"/g)).toHaveLength(2);
diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-runtime-api.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-runtime-api.ts
index 8ec8891d39dd..afb097cdde93 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-runtime-api.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/scenario-runtime-api.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ export type QaScenarioRuntimeDeps = {
   resolveGeneratedImagePath: QaScenarioRuntimeFunction;
   startAgentRun: QaScenarioRuntimeFunction;
   waitForAgentRun: QaScenarioRuntimeFunction;
+  waitForSessionRunAfter: QaScenarioRuntimeFunction;
   waitForAgentHistoryReply: QaScenarioRuntimeFunction;
   listCronJobs: QaScenarioRuntimeFunction;
   findManagedDreamingCronJob: QaScenarioRuntimeFunction;
diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent-process.test.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent-process.test.ts
index 97e6ca93adf6..04d8b5f80d76 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent-process.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent-process.test.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ import {
   startAgentRun,
   waitForAgentRun,
   waitForAgentHistoryReply,
+  waitForSessionRunAfter,
 } from "./suite-runtime-agent-process.js";
 
 type MockEmitter = {
@@ -900,6 +901,195 @@ describe("qa suite runtime agent process helpers", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("surfaces agent.wait errors after a correlated active run appears", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    try {
+      let listCalls = 0;
+      const gatewayCall = vi.fn(async (method: string) => {
+        if (method === "agent.wait") {
+          return { status: "error", error: "restart wake failed" };
+        }
+        listCalls += 1;
+        return {
+          sessions: [
+            listCalls === 1
+              ? {
+                  key: "agent:qa:capability-flip",
+                  agentId: "qa",
+                  status: "done",
+                  hasActiveRun: false,
+                  startedAt: 50,
+                  endedAt: 60,
+                }
+              : {
+                  key: "agent:qa:capability-flip",
+                  agentId: "qa",
+                  status: "running",
+                  hasActiveRun: true,
+                  activeRunIds: ["run-wake"],
+                  startedAt: 110,
+                },
+          ],
+        };
+      });
+
+      const pending = waitForSessionRunAfter(
+        { gateway: { call: gatewayCall } } as never,
+        "agent:qa:capability-flip",
+        "qa",
+        100,
+        1_000,
+      );
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(100);
+
+      await expect(pending).rejects.toThrow("agent.wait returned error: restart wake failed");
+    } finally {
+      vi.useRealTimers();
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("surfaces the redacted row error when an unidentified active run fails", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    try {
+      let listCalls = 0;
+      const gatewayCall = vi.fn(async () => {
+        listCalls += 1;
+        const row =
+          listCalls === 1
+            ? {
+                status: "done",
+                hasActiveRun: false,
+                startedAt: 50,
+                endedAt: 60,
+              }
+            : listCalls === 2
+              ? {
+                  status: "running",
+                  hasActiveRun: true,
+                  startedAt: 110,
+                }
+              : {
+                  status: "failed",
+                  hasActiveRun: false,
+                  startedAt: 110,
+                  endedAt: 150,
+                  lastRunError: "provider rejected restart wake",
+                };
+        return {
+          sessions: [{ key: "agent:qa:capability-flip", agentId: "qa", ...row }],
+        };
+      });
+
+      const pending = waitForSessionRunAfter(
+        { gateway: { call: gatewayCall } } as never,
+        "agent:qa:capability-flip",
+        "qa",
+        100,
+        1_000,
+      );
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(200);
+
+      await expect(pending).rejects.toThrow("session run failed: provider rejected restart wake");
+    } finally {
+      vi.useRealTimers();
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("accepts a correlated terminal row after missing the active polling window", async () => {
+    const gatewayCall = vi.fn(async () => ({
+      sessions: [
+        {
+          key: "agent:qa:capability-flip",
+          agentId: "qa",
+          status: "done",
+          hasActiveRun: false,
+          startedAt: 110,
+          endedAt: 150,
+        },
+      ],
+    }));
+
+    await expect(
+      waitForSessionRunAfter(
+        { gateway: { call: gatewayCall } } as never,
+        "agent:qa:capability-flip",
+        "qa",
+        100,
+        1_000,
+      ),
+    ).resolves.toEqual({ status: "done" });
+  });
+
+  it("times out while the session remains permanently idle", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    try {
+      const gatewayCall = vi.fn(async () => ({
+        sessions: [
+          {
+            key: "agent:qa:capability-flip",
+            agentId: "qa",
+            status: "done",
+            hasActiveRun: false,
+            startedAt: 50,
+            endedAt: 60,
+          },
+        ],
+      }));
+
+      const pending = waitForSessionRunAfter(
+        { gateway: { call: gatewayCall } } as never,
+        "agent:qa:capability-flip",
+        "qa",
+        100,
+        250,
+      );
+      const errorPromise = pending.catch((error: unknown) => error);
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(250);
+      const error = await errorPromise;
+
+      expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+      expect((error as Error).message).toContain("timed out after 250ms");
+      expect((error as Error).message).toContain('"hasActiveRun":false');
+    } finally {
+      vi.useRealTimers();
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("omits unrelated secret-shaped session fields from timeout diagnostics", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    try {
+      const gatewayCall = vi.fn(async () => ({
+        sessions: [
+          {
+            key: "agent:qa:capability-flip",
+            agentId: "qa",
+            status: "running",
+            hasActiveRun: false,
+            startedAt: 50,
+            privateApiToken: "do-not-leak-this-token",
+          },
+        ],
+      }));
+
+      const pending = waitForSessionRunAfter(
+        { gateway: { call: gatewayCall } } as never,
+        "agent:qa:capability-flip",
+        "qa",
+        100,
+        100,
+      );
+      const errorPromise = pending.catch((error: unknown) => error);
+      await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(100);
+      const error = await errorPromise;
+
+      expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+      expect((error as Error).message).not.toContain("privateApiToken");
+      expect((error as Error).message).not.toContain("do-not-leak-this-token");
+    } finally {
+      vi.useRealTimers();
+    }
+  });
+
   it.each(["restart", "aborted"])(
     "preserves the %s stop reason from agent.wait",
     async (stopReason) => {
diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent-process.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent-process.ts
index e751cac08a82..9311dbd7db06 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent-process.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent-process.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,17 @@ type QaAgentWaitResult = {
   terminalReply?: QaAgentTerminalReply;
 };
 
+type QaSessionRunRow = {
+  key?: string;
+  agentId?: string;
+  status?: "queued" | "running" | "done" | "failed" | "killed" | "timeout";
+  lastRunError?: string;
+  hasActiveRun?: boolean;
+  activeRunIds?: string[];
+  startedAt?: number;
+  endedAt?: number;
+};
+
 const MANAGED_DREAMING_CRON_MARKER = "[managed-by=memory-core.short-term-promotion]";
 const MANAGED_DREAMING_CRON_NAME = "Memory Dreaming Promotion";
 const MANAGED_DREAMING_PROMPT = "__openclaw_memory_core_short_term_promotion_dream__";
@@ -159,6 +170,123 @@ function isSuccessfulAgentWaitResult(waited: QaAgentWaitResult) {
   return waited.status === "error" && waited.error?.trim().toLowerCase() === "completed";
 }
 
+function assertSuccessfulAgentWaitResult(waited: QaAgentWaitResult) {
+  if (isSuccessfulAgentWaitResult(waited)) {
+    return;
+  }
+  throw new Error(
+    `agent.wait returned ${waited.status ?? "unknown"}: ${waited.error ?? "no error"}`,
+  );
+}
+
+function isTerminalSessionRunStatus(status: QaSessionRunRow["status"]) {
+  return status === "done" || status === "failed" || status === "killed" || status === "timeout";
+}
+
+function parseSessionRunRow(value: unknown): QaSessionRunRow | undefined {
+  if (!isRecord(value)) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  const status =
+    value.status === "queued" ||
+    value.status === "running" ||
+    value.status === "done" ||
+    value.status === "failed" ||
+    value.status === "killed" ||
+    value.status === "timeout"
+      ? value.status
+      : undefined;
+  const activeRunIds = Array.isArray(value.activeRunIds)
+    ? value.activeRunIds.filter((runId): runId is string => typeof runId === "string")
+    : undefined;
+  return {
+    key: typeof value.key === "string" ? value.key : undefined,
+    agentId: typeof value.agentId === "string" ? value.agentId : undefined,
+    status,
+    lastRunError: typeof value.lastRunError === "string" ? value.lastRunError : undefined,
+    hasActiveRun: typeof value.hasActiveRun === "boolean" ? value.hasActiveRun : undefined,
+    activeRunIds,
+    startedAt: typeof value.startedAt === "number" ? value.startedAt : undefined,
+    endedAt: typeof value.endedAt === "number" ? value.endedAt : undefined,
+  };
+}
+
+function formatSessionRunDiagnostics(row: QaSessionRunRow | undefined) {
+  return JSON.stringify({
+    status: row?.status ?? null,
+    startedAt: row?.startedAt ?? null,
+    endedAt: row?.endedAt ?? null,
+    hasActiveRun: row?.hasActiveRun ?? null,
+    lastRunError: row?.lastRunError ?? null,
+  });
+}
+
+async function waitForSessionRunAfter(
+  env: Pick<QaSuiteRuntimeEnv, "gateway">,
+  sessionKey: string,
+  agentId: string,
+  startedAfterMs: number,
+  timeoutMs = 30_000,
+) {
+  const waitTimeoutMs = resolveTimerTimeoutMs(timeoutMs, 30_000);
+  const deadlineMs = Date.now() + waitTimeoutMs;
+  let lastRow: QaSessionRunRow | undefined;
+
+  while (Date.now() < deadlineMs) {
+    const remainingMs = Math.max(1, deadlineMs - Date.now());
+    const result = await env.gateway.call(
+      "sessions.list",
+      {},
+      { timeoutMs: Math.min(30_000, remainingMs) },
+    );
+    const sessions =
+      isRecord(result) && Array.isArray(result.sessions)
+        ? result.sessions.map(parseSessionRunRow).filter((row) => row !== undefined)
+        : [];
+    const row = sessions.find(
+      (candidate) => candidate.key === sessionKey && candidate.agentId === agentId,
+    );
+    lastRow = row;
+
+    if (row && typeof row.startedAt === "number" && row.startedAt >= startedAfterMs) {
+      const correlatedStartedAt = row.startedAt;
+      const activeRunId =
+        row.hasActiveRun === true && row.activeRunIds?.length === 1
+          ? row.activeRunIds[0]
+          : undefined;
+      if (activeRunId) {
+        const waited = await waitForAgentRun(env, activeRunId, remainingMs);
+        assertSuccessfulAgentWaitResult(waited);
+        return { runId: activeRunId, status: waited.status };
+      }
+
+      if (
+        isTerminalSessionRunStatus(row.status) &&
+        typeof row.endedAt === "number" &&
+        row.endedAt >= correlatedStartedAt
+      ) {
+        if (row.status === "done") {
+          return { status: row.status };
+        }
+        throw new Error(
+          row.lastRunError
+            ? `session run ${row.status}: ${row.lastRunError}`
+            : `session run ${row.status}`,
+        );
+      }
+    }
+
+    const delayMs = Math.min(100, deadlineMs - Date.now());
+    if (delayMs > 0) {
+      await sleep(delayMs);
+    }
+  }
+
+  throw new Error(
+    `timed out after ${waitTimeoutMs}ms waiting for correlated session run: ${formatSessionRunDiagnostics(lastRow)}`,
+  );
+}
+
 function readLatestAssistantTextFromHistory(history: QaChatHistoryResponse | undefined) {
   for (const message of (history?.messages ?? []).toReversed()) {
     if (!isRecord(message) || message.role !== "assistant") {
@@ -403,11 +531,7 @@ async function runAgentPrompt(
 ) {
   const started = await startAgentRun(env, params);
   const waited = await waitForAgentRun(env, started.runId!, params.timeoutMs ?? 30_000);
-  if (!isSuccessfulAgentWaitResult(waited)) {
-    throw new Error(
-      `agent.wait returned ${waited.status ?? "unknown"}: ${waited.error ?? "no error"}`,
-    );
-  }
+  assertSuccessfulAgentWaitResult(waited);
   if (params.transcriptToolName) {
     await waitForPersistedTranscriptToolEvidence(env, {
       sessionKey: params.sessionKey,
@@ -430,4 +554,5 @@ export {
   startAgentRun,
   waitForAgentHistoryReply,
   waitForAgentRun,
+  waitForSessionRunAfter,
 };
diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent.ts
index 1ed898ddb0ba..6387b85be9ff 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/suite-runtime-agent.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export {
   startAgentRun,
   waitForAgentHistoryReply,
   waitForAgentRun,
+  waitForSessionRunAfter,
 } from "./suite-runtime-agent-process.js";
 export { runQaCli } from "./qa-cli-process.js";
 export { inspectQaExecutionIdentityStorage } from "./execution-identity-storage-inspection.js";
diff --git a/qa/scenarios/config/config-restart-capability-flip.yaml b/qa/scenarios/config/config-restart-capability-flip.yaml
index aa719b2dda0a..bc951ad4720b 100644
--- a/qa/scenarios/config/config-restart-capability-flip.yaml
+++ b/qa/scenarios/config/config-restart-capability-flip.yaml
@@ -101,6 +101,9 @@ flow:
               - set: nextConfig
                 value:
                   expr: "(() => { const nextConfig = structuredClone(original.config); const gatewayConfig = (nextConfig.gateway ??= {}); const controlUi = (gatewayConfig.controlUi ??= {}); const allowedOrigins = Array.isArray(controlUi.allowedOrigins) ? [...controlUi.allowedOrigins] : []; controlUi.allowedOrigins = [...allowedOrigins, restartOrigin]; return nextConfig; })()"
+              - set: restartRequestedAtMs
+                value:
+                  expr: "Date.now()"
               - call: applyConfig
                 saveAs: applyResult
                 args:
@@ -136,13 +139,13 @@ flow:
                   - expr: liveTurnTimeoutMs(env, config.imageTurnTimeoutMs)
                   - sinceIndex:
                       ref: wakeStartIndex
-              - call: waitForCondition
+              - call: waitForSessionRunAfter
                 args:
-                  - lambda:
-                      async: true
-                      expr: "env.gateway.call('sessions.list', {}, { timeoutMs: 30000 }).then((result) => result.sessions?.find((session) => session.key === sessionKey && session.hasActiveRun === false))"
+                  - ref: env
+                  - ref: sessionKey
+                  - qa
+                  - ref: restartRequestedAtMs
                   - expr: liveTurnTimeoutMs(env, config.imageTurnTimeoutMs)
-                  - 100
               - call: waitForCondition
                 saveAs: afterTools
                 args: