diff --git a/src/gateway/server-plugin-bootstrap.ts b/src/gateway/server-plugin-bootstrap.ts
index 0d95d23606b..30c8a03048f 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-plugin-bootstrap.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-plugin-bootstrap.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ type GatewayPluginBootstrapParams = {
   log: GatewayPluginBootstrapLog;
   coreGatewayHandlers: Record<string, GatewayRequestHandler>;
   baseMethods: string[];
+  pluginIds?: string[];
   preferSetupRuntimeForChannelPlugins?: boolean;
   logDiagnostics?: boolean;
   beforePrimeRegistry?: (pluginRegistry: PluginRegistry) => void;
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ export function prepareGatewayPluginLoad(params: GatewayPluginBootstrapParams) {
     log: params.log,
     coreGatewayHandlers: params.coreGatewayHandlers,
     baseMethods: params.baseMethods,
+    pluginIds: params.pluginIds,
     preferSetupRuntimeForChannelPlugins: params.preferSetupRuntimeForChannelPlugins,
   });
   params.beforePrimeRegistry?.(loaded.pluginRegistry);
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-plugins.test.ts b/src/gateway/server-plugins.test.ts
index e62b539c5a8..d25609e4e6b 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-plugins.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-plugins.test.ts
@@ -257,6 +257,21 @@ describe("loadGatewayPlugins", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  test("reuses the provided startup plugin scope without recomputing it", async () => {
+    loadOpenClawPlugins.mockReturnValue(createRegistry([]));
+
+    loadGatewayPluginsForTest({
+      pluginIds: ["browser"],
+    });
+
+    expect(resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(loadOpenClawPlugins).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        onlyPluginIds: ["browser"],
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   test("loads gateway plugins from the auto-enabled config snapshot", async () => {
     const autoEnabledConfig = { channels: { slack: { enabled: true } }, autoEnabled: true };
     applyPluginAutoEnable.mockReturnValue({ config: autoEnabledConfig, changes: [] });
@@ -634,6 +649,28 @@ describe("loadGatewayPlugins", () => {
     expect(log.info).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  test("reuses the initial startup plugin scope during deferred reloads", async () => {
+    const { reloadDeferredGatewayPlugins } = serverPluginBootstrapModule;
+    loadOpenClawPlugins.mockReturnValue(createRegistry([]));
+
+    reloadDeferredGatewayPlugins({
+      cfg: {},
+      workspaceDir: "/tmp",
+      log: createTestLog(),
+      coreGatewayHandlers: {},
+      baseMethods: [],
+      pluginIds: ["discord"],
+      logDiagnostics: false,
+    });
+
+    expect(resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(loadOpenClawPlugins).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        onlyPluginIds: ["discord"],
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   test("runs registry hook before priming configured bindings", async () => {
     const { prepareGatewayPluginLoad } = serverPluginBootstrapModule;
     const order: string[] = [];
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-plugins.ts b/src/gateway/server-plugins.ts
index e599d32c18b..c312b620e42 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-plugins.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-plugins.ts
@@ -389,20 +389,24 @@ export function loadGatewayPlugins(params: {
   };
   coreGatewayHandlers: Record<string, GatewayRequestHandler>;
   baseMethods: string[];
+  pluginIds?: string[];
   preferSetupRuntimeForChannelPlugins?: boolean;
 }) {
   const resolvedConfig = applyPluginAutoEnable({
     config: params.cfg,
     env: process.env,
   }).config;
-  const pluginRegistry = loadOpenClawPlugins({
-    config: resolvedConfig,
-    workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
-    onlyPluginIds: resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds({
+  const pluginIds =
+    params.pluginIds ??
+    resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds({
       config: resolvedConfig,
       workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
       env: process.env,
-    }),
+    });
+  const pluginRegistry = loadOpenClawPlugins({
+    config: resolvedConfig,
+    workspaceDir: params.workspaceDir,
+    onlyPluginIds: pluginIds,
     logger: {
       info: (msg) => params.log.info(msg),
       warn: (msg) => params.log.warn(msg),
diff --git a/src/gateway/server.impl.ts b/src/gateway/server.impl.ts
index 3fbb6b8b50b..916790d58f0 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server.impl.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server.impl.ts
@@ -54,7 +54,10 @@ import { scheduleGatewayUpdateCheck } from "../infra/update-startup.js";
 import { startDiagnosticHeartbeat, stopDiagnosticHeartbeat } from "../logging/diagnostic.js";
 import { createSubsystemLogger, runtimeForLogger } from "../logging/subsystem.js";
 import { resolveBundledPluginInstallCommandHint } from "../plugins/bundled-sources.js";
-import { resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIds } from "../plugins/channel-plugin-ids.js";
+import {
+  resolveConfiguredDeferredChannelPluginIds,
+  resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds,
+} from "../plugins/channel-plugin-ids.js";
 import { getGlobalHookRunner, runGlobalGatewayStopSafely } from "../plugins/hook-runner-global.js";
 import { createEmptyPluginRegistry } from "../plugins/registry.js";
 import { setActivePluginRegistry } from "../plugins/runtime.js";
@@ -582,6 +585,13 @@ export async function startGatewayServer(
         workspaceDir: defaultWorkspaceDir,
         env: process.env,
       });
+  const startupPluginIds = minimalTestGateway
+    ? []
+    : resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds({
+        config: gatewayPluginConfigAtStart,
+        workspaceDir: defaultWorkspaceDir,
+        env: process.env,
+      });
   const baseMethods = listGatewayMethods();
   const emptyPluginRegistry = createEmptyPluginRegistry();
   let pluginRegistry = emptyPluginRegistry;
@@ -593,6 +603,7 @@ export async function startGatewayServer(
       log,
       coreGatewayHandlers,
       baseMethods,
+      pluginIds: startupPluginIds,
       preferSetupRuntimeForChannelPlugins: deferredConfiguredChannelPluginIds.length > 0,
     }));
   } else {
@@ -1348,6 +1359,7 @@ export async function startGatewayServer(
           log,
           coreGatewayHandlers,
           baseMethods,
+          pluginIds: startupPluginIds,
           logDiagnostics: false,
         }));
       }
diff --git a/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.test.ts b/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.test.ts
index 43d9ba9344f..fa7fcfed613 100644
--- a/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.test.ts
@@ -133,30 +133,31 @@ describe("resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds", () => {
 
   it.each([
     [
-      "includes configured channels, explicit bundled sidecars, and enabled non-bundled sidecars",
+      "includes configured channels and explicitly enabled bundled sidecars",
       createStartupConfig({
         enabledPluginIds: ["demo-bundled-sidecar"],
         modelId: "demo-cli/demo-model",
       }),
-      [
-        "demo-channel",
-        "demo-default-on-sidecar",
-        "demo-provider-plugin",
-        "demo-bundled-sidecar",
-        "demo-global-sidecar",
-      ],
+      ["demo-channel", "demo-provider-plugin", "demo-bundled-sidecar"],
     ],
     [
-      "includes bundled plugins with enabledByDefault: true",
+      "skips bundled plugins with enabledByDefault: true until something references them",
       {} as OpenClawConfig,
-      ["demo-channel", "demo-default-on-sidecar", "demo-global-sidecar"],
+      ["demo-channel"],
     ],
     [
       "auto-loads bundled plugins referenced by configured provider ids",
       createStartupConfig({
         providerIds: ["demo-provider"],
       }),
-      ["demo-channel", "demo-default-on-sidecar", "demo-provider-plugin", "demo-global-sidecar"],
+      ["demo-channel", "demo-provider-plugin"],
+    ],
+    [
+      "keeps non-bundled sidecars out of startup unless explicitly enabled",
+      createStartupConfig({
+        enabledPluginIds: ["demo-global-sidecar"],
+      }),
+      ["demo-channel", "demo-global-sidecar"],
     ],
   ] as const)("%s", (_name, config, expected) => {
     expectStartupPluginIdsCase({ config, expected });
diff --git a/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.ts b/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.ts
index a6a268bef54..54915ca21c1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/channel-plugin-ids.ts
@@ -331,14 +331,10 @@ export function resolveGatewayStartupPluginIds(params: {
       if (!enabled) {
         return false;
       }
-      if (plugin.origin !== "bundled") {
-        return true;
-      }
       return (
         pluginsConfig.allow.includes(plugin.id) ||
         pluginsConfig.entries[plugin.id]?.enabled === true ||
-        pluginsConfig.slots.memory === plugin.id ||
-        plugin.enabledByDefault === true
+        pluginsConfig.slots.memory === plugin.id
       );
     })
     .map((plugin) => plugin.id);