diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ad67c5d6694..31edbf32772 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Gateway/plugins: reuse the session workspace when building HTTP `/tools/invoke` tool lists and harden tool construction to infer the session agent workspace by default, so workspace plugins do not re-register on repeated HTTP tool calls. (#56101) thanks @neeravmakwana
 - Brave/web search: normalize unsupported Brave `country` filters to `ALL` before request and cache-key generation so locale-derived values like `VN` stop failing with upstream 422 validation errors. (#55695) Thanks @chen-zhang-cs-code.
 - Discord/replies: preserve leading indentation when stripping inline reply tags so reply-tagged plain text and fenced code blocks keep their formatting. (#55960) Thanks @Nanako0129.
+- Daemon/status: surface immediate gateway close reasons from lightweight probes and prefer those concrete auth or pairing failures over generic timeouts in `openclaw daemon status`. (#56282) Thanks @mbelinky.
 
 ## 2026.3.24
 
diff --git a/src/cli/daemon-cli/probe.test.ts b/src/cli/daemon-cli/probe.test.ts
index ed39db0271e..35e6b9e8fa6 100644
--- a/src/cli/daemon-cli/probe.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/daemon-cli/probe.test.ts
@@ -92,6 +92,26 @@ describe("probeGatewayStatus", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("prefers the close reason over a generic timeout when both are present", async () => {
+    callGatewayMock.mockReset();
+    probeGatewayMock.mockReset();
+    probeGatewayMock.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      ok: false,
+      error: "timeout",
+      close: { code: 1008, reason: "pairing required" },
+    });
+
+    const result = await probeGatewayStatus({
+      url: "ws://127.0.0.1:19191",
+      timeoutMs: 5_000,
+    });
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      ok: false,
+      error: "gateway closed (1008): pairing required",
+    });
+  });
+
   it("surfaces status RPC errors when requireRpc is enabled", async () => {
     callGatewayMock.mockReset();
     probeGatewayMock.mockReset();
diff --git a/src/cli/daemon-cli/probe.ts b/src/cli/daemon-cli/probe.ts
index 22ed7d32a99..16b809fc412 100644
--- a/src/cli/daemon-cli/probe.ts
+++ b/src/cli/daemon-cli/probe.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,18 @@
 import { withProgress } from "../progress.js";
 
+function resolveProbeFailureMessage(result: {
+  error?: string | null;
+  close?: { code: number; reason: string } | null;
+}): string {
+  const closeHint = result.close
+    ? `gateway closed (${result.close.code}): ${result.close.reason}`
+    : null;
+  if (closeHint && (!result.error || result.error === "timeout")) {
+    return closeHint;
+  }
+  return result.error ?? closeHint ?? "gateway probe failed";
+}
+
 export async function probeGatewayStatus(opts: {
   url: string;
   token?: string;
@@ -47,12 +60,9 @@ export async function probeGatewayStatus(opts: {
     if (result.ok) {
       return { ok: true } as const;
     }
-    const closeHint = result.close
-      ? `gateway closed (${result.close.code}): ${result.close.reason}`
-      : null;
     return {
       ok: false,
-      error: result.error ?? closeHint ?? "gateway probe failed",
+      error: resolveProbeFailureMessage(result),
     } as const;
   } catch (err) {
     return {
diff --git a/src/gateway/probe.test.ts b/src/gateway/probe.test.ts
index 04f965ab252..74a76cbca00 100644
--- a/src/gateway/probe.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/probe.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 const gatewayClientState = vi.hoisted(() => ({
   options: null as Record<string, unknown> | null,
   requests: [] as string[],
+  startMode: "hello" as "hello" | "close",
+  close: { code: 1008, reason: "pairing required" },
 }));
 
 const deviceIdentityState = vi.hoisted(() => ({
@@ -22,6 +24,13 @@ class MockGatewayClient {
   start(): void {
     void Promise.resolve()
       .then(async () => {
+        if (gatewayClientState.startMode === "close") {
+          const onClose = this.opts.onClose;
+          if (typeof onClose === "function") {
+            onClose(gatewayClientState.close.code, gatewayClientState.close.reason);
+          }
+          return;
+        }
         const onHelloOk = this.opts.onHelloOk;
         if (typeof onHelloOk === "function") {
           await onHelloOk();
@@ -59,6 +68,8 @@ const { clampProbeTimeoutMs, probeGateway } = await import("./probe.js");
 describe("probeGateway", () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     deviceIdentityState.throwOnLoad = false;
+    gatewayClientState.startMode = "hello";
+    gatewayClientState.close = { code: 1008, reason: "pairing required" };
   });
 
   it("clamps probe timeout to timer-safe bounds", () => {
@@ -172,4 +183,22 @@ describe("probeGateway", () => {
 
     expect(gatewayClientState.options?.tlsFingerprint).toBe("sha256:abc");
   });
+
+  it("surfaces immediate close failures before the probe timeout", async () => {
+    gatewayClientState.startMode = "close";
+
+    const result = await probeGateway({
+      url: "ws://127.0.0.1:18789",
+      auth: { token: "secret" },
+      timeoutMs: 5_000,
+      includeDetails: false,
+    });
+
+    expect(result).toMatchObject({
+      ok: false,
+      error: "gateway closed (1008): pairing required",
+      close: { code: 1008, reason: "pairing required" },
+    });
+    expect(gatewayClientState.requests).toEqual([]);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/gateway/probe.ts b/src/gateway/probe.ts
index 5ae951bf908..f2b67986d55 100644
--- a/src/gateway/probe.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/probe.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ export function clampProbeTimeoutMs(timeoutMs: number): number {
   return Math.min(MAX_TIMER_DELAY_MS, Math.max(MIN_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS, timeoutMs));
 }
 
+function formatProbeCloseError(close: GatewayProbeClose): string {
+  return `gateway closed (${close.code}): ${close.reason}`;
+}
+
 export async function probeGateway(opts: {
   url: string;
   auth?: GatewayProbeAuth;
@@ -113,6 +117,18 @@ export async function probeGateway(opts: {
       },
       onClose: (code, reason) => {
         close = { code, reason };
+        if (connectLatencyMs == null) {
+          settle({
+            ok: false,
+            connectLatencyMs,
+            error: formatProbeCloseError(close),
+            close,
+            health: null,
+            status: null,
+            presence: null,
+            configSnapshot: null,
+          });
+        }
       },
       onHelloOk: async () => {
         connectLatencyMs = Date.now() - startedAt;