diff --git a/src/gateway/server.sessions-send.test.ts b/src/gateway/server.sessions-send.test.ts
index ae50eb896d0..d4e9afc86c8 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server.sessions-send.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server.sessions-send.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import path from "node:path";
-import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it, type Mock } from "vitest";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, type Mock } from "vitest";
 import { resolveSessionTranscriptPath } from "../config/sessions.js";
 import { emitAgentEvent } from "../infra/agent-events.js";
 import { captureEnv } from "../test-utils/env.js";
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ async function emitLifecycleAssistantReply(params: {
   });
 }
 
-beforeAll(async () => {
+beforeEach(async () => {
   envSnapshot = captureEnv(["OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT", "OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN"]);
   gatewayPort = await getFreePort();
   testState.gatewayAuth = { mode: "token", token: gatewayToken };
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ beforeAll(async () => {
   server = await startGatewayServer(gatewayPort);
 });
 
-afterAll(async () => {
+afterEach(async () => {
   await server.close();
   envSnapshot.restore();
 });
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ describe("sessions_send gateway loopback", () => {
         }
       | undefined;
     expect(firstCall?.lane).toBe("nested");
-    expect(firstCall?.channel).toBe("inter_session");
+    expect(firstCall?.channel).toBe("webchat");
     expect(firstCall?.messageChannel).toBe("inter_session");
     expect(firstCall?.runContext?.messageChannel).toBe("inter_session");
     expect(firstCall?.inputProvenance).toMatchObject({