diff --git a/scripts/watch-node.mjs b/scripts/watch-node.mjs
index e4598ae79fe..01ef9bba261 100644
--- a/scripts/watch-node.mjs
+++ b/scripts/watch-node.mjs
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ export async function runWatchMain(params = {}) {
         env: childEnv,
         stdio: "inherit",
       });
-      watchProcess.on("exit", () => {
+      watchProcess.on("exit", (exitCode, exitSignal) => {
         watchProcess = null;
         if (shuttingDown) {
           return;
@@ -90,7 +90,9 @@ export async function runWatchMain(params = {}) {
         if (restartRequested) {
           restartRequested = false;
           startRunner();
+          return;
         }
+        settle(exitSignal ? 1 : (exitCode ?? 1));
       });
     };
 
diff --git a/src/infra/watch-node.test.ts b/src/infra/watch-node.test.ts
index 81ff76f8de3..0f176d859ad 100644
--- a/src/infra/watch-node.test.ts
+++ b/src/infra/watch-node.test.ts
@@ -127,6 +127,25 @@ describe("watch-node script", () => {
     expect(fakeProcess.listenerCount("SIGTERM")).toBe(0);
   });
 
+  it("returns the child exit code when the runner exits on its own", async () => {
+    const { child, spawn, watcher, createWatcher, fakeProcess } = createWatchHarness();
+
+    const runPromise = runWatchMain({
+      args: ["gateway", "--force", "--help"],
+      createWatcher,
+      process: fakeProcess,
+      spawn,
+    });
+
+    child.emit("exit", 0, null);
+    const exitCode = await runPromise;
+
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(watcher.close).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(fakeProcess.listenerCount("SIGINT")).toBe(0);
+    expect(fakeProcess.listenerCount("SIGTERM")).toBe(0);
+  });
+
   it("ignores test-only changes and restarts on non-test source changes", async () => {
     const childA = Object.assign(new EventEmitter(), {
       kill: vi.fn(function () {
diff --git a/src/plugins/bundled-dir.test.ts b/src/plugins/bundled-dir.test.ts
index 8f3464fa8af..eff0f34a1c7 100644
--- a/src/plugins/bundled-dir.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/bundled-dir.test.ts
@@ -168,6 +168,20 @@ describe("resolveBundledPluginsDir", () => {
         expectedRelativeDir: path.join("dist", "extensions"),
       },
     ],
+    [
+      "prefers built dist/extensions in a git checkout outside vitest",
+      {
+        prefix: "openclaw-bundled-dir-git-built-",
+        hasExtensions: true,
+        hasSrc: true,
+        hasDistRuntimeExtensions: true,
+        hasDistExtensions: true,
+        hasGitCheckout: true,
+      },
+      {
+        expectedRelativeDir: path.join("dist-runtime", "extensions"),
+      },
+    ],
     [
       "prefers source extensions under vitest to avoid stale staged plugins",
       {
@@ -182,13 +196,11 @@ describe("resolveBundledPluginsDir", () => {
       },
     ],
     [
-      "prefers source extensions in a git checkout even without vitest env",
+      "falls back to source extensions in a git checkout when built trees are missing",
       {
         prefix: "openclaw-bundled-dir-git-",
         hasExtensions: true,
         hasSrc: true,
-        hasDistRuntimeExtensions: true,
-        hasDistExtensions: true,
         hasGitCheckout: true,
       },
       {
diff --git a/src/plugins/bundled-dir.ts b/src/plugins/bundled-dir.ts
index f66959acd7b..a58451fb8d9 100644
--- a/src/plugins/bundled-dir.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/bundled-dir.ts
@@ -31,10 +31,7 @@ function resolveBundledDirFromPackageRoot(
 ): string | undefined {
   const sourceExtensionsDir = path.join(packageRoot, "extensions");
   const builtExtensionsDir = path.join(packageRoot, "dist", "extensions");
-  if (
-    (preferSourceCheckout || isSourceCheckoutRoot(packageRoot)) &&
-    fs.existsSync(sourceExtensionsDir)
-  ) {
+  if (preferSourceCheckout && fs.existsSync(sourceExtensionsDir)) {
     return sourceExtensionsDir;
   }
   // Local source checkouts stage a runtime-complete bundled plugin tree under
@@ -47,6 +44,9 @@ function resolveBundledDirFromPackageRoot(
   if (fs.existsSync(builtExtensionsDir)) {
     return builtExtensionsDir;
   }
+  if (isSourceCheckoutRoot(packageRoot) && fs.existsSync(sourceExtensionsDir)) {
+    return sourceExtensionsDir;
+  }
   return undefined;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/discovery.test.ts b/src/plugins/discovery.test.ts
index 14fb724e205..3c6ddee5aac 100644
--- a/src/plugins/discovery.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/discovery.test.ts
@@ -385,6 +385,43 @@ describe("discoverOpenClawPlugins", () => {
     expectCandidateOrder(candidates, ["opik-openclaw"]);
   });
 
+  it("skips dependency and build directories while scanning workspace roots", () => {
+    const stateDir = makeTempDir();
+    const workspaceDir = path.join(stateDir, "workspace");
+    const workspacePluginDir = path.join(workspaceDir, "packages", "workspace-plugin");
+    const nestedNodeModulesDir = path.join(workspaceDir, "node_modules", "openclaw");
+    const nestedDistDir = path.join(workspaceDir, "dist", "extensions", "diffs");
+    mkdirSafe(path.join(workspacePluginDir, "src"));
+    mkdirSafe(path.join(nestedNodeModulesDir, "src"));
+    mkdirSafe(nestedDistDir);
+
+    createPackagePluginWithEntry({
+      packageDir: workspacePluginDir,
+      packageName: "@openclaw/workspace-plugin",
+      pluginId: "workspace-plugin",
+    });
+
+    createPackagePluginWithEntry({
+      packageDir: nestedNodeModulesDir,
+      packageName: "openclaw",
+      pluginId: "node-modules-copy",
+    });
+
+    writePluginManifest({ pluginDir: nestedDistDir, id: "dist-copy" });
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(nestedDistDir, "index.js"),
+      "module.exports = { id: 'dist-copy', register() {} };",
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+
+    const { candidates } = discoverOpenClawPlugins({
+      workspaceDir,
+      env: buildDiscoveryEnv(stateDir),
+    });
+
+    expectCandidateOrder(candidates, ["workspace-plugin"]);
+  });
+
   it.each([
     {
       name: "derives unscoped ids for scoped packages",
diff --git a/src/plugins/discovery.ts b/src/plugins/discovery.ts
index 307ae359306..531b0051ecd 100644
--- a/src/plugins/discovery.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/discovery.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,18 @@ import { resolvePluginCacheInputs, resolvePluginSourceRoots } from "./roots.js";
 import type { PluginBundleFormat, PluginDiagnostic, PluginFormat, PluginOrigin } from "./types.js";
 
 const EXTENSION_EXTS = new Set([".ts", ".js", ".mts", ".cts", ".mjs", ".cjs"]);
+const SCANNED_DIRECTORY_IGNORE_NAMES = new Set([
+  ".git",
+  ".hg",
+  ".svn",
+  ".turbo",
+  ".yarn",
+  ".yarn-cache",
+  "build",
+  "coverage",
+  "dist",
+  "node_modules",
+]);
 
 export type PluginCandidate = {
   idHint: string;
@@ -292,6 +304,9 @@ function shouldIgnoreScannedDirectory(dirName: string): boolean {
   if (!normalized) {
     return true;
   }
+  if (SCANNED_DIRECTORY_IGNORE_NAMES.has(normalized)) {
+    return true;
+  }
   if (normalized.endsWith(".bak")) {
     return true;
   }