diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 248ee48fdd0..3b558adc16e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Agents/MCP: dispose bundled MCP runtimes after one-shot `openclaw agent --local` runs finish, while preserving bundled MCP state across in-run retries so local JSON runs exit cleanly without restarting stateful MCP tools mid-run.
 - Gateway/OpenAI HTTP: restore default operator scopes for bearer-authenticated requests that omit `x-openclaw-scopes`, so headless `/v1/chat/completions` and session-history callers work again after the recent method-scope hardening. (#57596) Thanks @openperf.
 - Gateway/attachments: offload large inbound images without leaking `media://` markers into text-only runs, preserve mixed attachment order for model input/transcripts, and fail closed when model image capability cannot be resolved. (#55513) Thanks @Syysean.
+- Agents/subagents: fix interim subagent runtime display so `/subagents list` and `/subagents info` stop inflating short runtimes and show second-level durations correctly. (#57739) Thanks @samzong.
 
 ## 2026.3.28
 
diff --git a/src/agents/subagent-control.ts b/src/agents/subagent-control.ts
index 9127d88f113..fcc73f59ca1 100644
--- a/src/agents/subagent-control.ts
+++ b/src/agents/subagent-control.ts
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ export function buildSubagentList(params: {
           }),
       ),
     );
-    const runtime = formatDurationCompact(runtimeMs);
+    const runtime = formatDurationCompact(runtimeMs) ?? "n/a";
     const label = truncateLine(resolveSubagentLabel(entry), 48);
     const task = truncateLine(entry.task.trim(), params.taskMaxChars ?? 72);
     const line = `${index}. ${label} (${resolveModelDisplay(sessionEntry, entry.model)}, ${runtime}${usageText ? `, ${usageText}` : ""}) ${status}${task.toLowerCase() !== label.toLowerCase() ? ` - ${task}` : ""}`;
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-subagents/shared.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-subagents/shared.ts
index 3d2b9726da3..7da9ca3a69d 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-subagents/shared.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-subagents/shared.ts
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ export function formatSubagentListLine(params: {
   const usageText = formatTokenUsageDisplay(params.sessionEntry);
   const label = truncateLine(formatRunLabel(params.entry, { maxLength: 48 }), 48);
   const task = formatTaskPreview(params.entry.task);
-  const runtime = formatDurationCompact(params.runtimeMs);
+  const runtime = formatDurationCompact(params.runtimeMs) ?? "n/a";
   const status = resolveDisplayStatus(params.entry, {
     pendingDescendants: params.pendingDescendants,
   });
diff --git a/src/shared/subagents-format.test.ts b/src/shared/subagents-format.test.ts
index c058c19ccd1..1dac19dbbe4 100644
--- a/src/shared/subagents-format.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/subagents-format.test.ts
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ import {
 } from "./subagents-format.js";
 
 describe("shared/subagents-format", () => {
-  it("formats compact durations across minute, hour, and day buckets", () => {
-    expect(formatDurationCompact()).toBe("n/a");
-    expect(formatDurationCompact(30_000)).toBe("1m");
+  it("re-exports the canonical formatter with second-level precision", () => {
+    expect(formatDurationCompact()).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(formatDurationCompact(30_000)).toBe("30s");
+    expect(formatDurationCompact(90_000)).toBe("1m30s");
     expect(formatDurationCompact(60 * 60_000)).toBe("1h");
     expect(formatDurationCompact(61 * 60_000)).toBe("1h1m");
     expect(formatDurationCompact(24 * 60 * 60_000)).toBe("1d");
diff --git a/src/shared/subagents-format.ts b/src/shared/subagents-format.ts
index 643c4b58ca5..c24042a0a0d 100644
--- a/src/shared/subagents-format.ts
+++ b/src/shared/subagents-format.ts
@@ -1,20 +1,4 @@
-export function formatDurationCompact(valueMs?: number) {
-  if (!valueMs || !Number.isFinite(valueMs) || valueMs <= 0) {
-    return "n/a";
-  }
-  const minutes = Math.max(1, Math.round(valueMs / 60_000));
-  if (minutes < 60) {
-    return `${minutes}m`;
-  }
-  const hours = Math.floor(minutes / 60);
-  const minutesRemainder = minutes % 60;
-  if (hours < 24) {
-    return minutesRemainder > 0 ? `${hours}h${minutesRemainder}m` : `${hours}h`;
-  }
-  const days = Math.floor(hours / 24);
-  const hoursRemainder = hours % 24;
-  return hoursRemainder > 0 ? `${days}d${hoursRemainder}h` : `${days}d`;
-}
+export { formatDurationCompact } from "../infra/format-time/format-duration.ts";
 
 export function formatTokenShort(value?: number) {
   if (!value || !Number.isFinite(value) || value <= 0) {