diff --git a/src/agents/embedded-agent-runner/run/assistant-failover.ts b/src/agents/embedded-agent-runner/run/assistant-failover.ts
index 6d199af365c1..d178a68a20cf 100644
--- a/src/agents/embedded-agent-runner/run/assistant-failover.ts
+++ b/src/agents/embedded-agent-runner/run/assistant-failover.ts
@@ -213,7 +213,14 @@ export async function handleAssistantFailover(params: {
     const markFailedProfilePromise = markFailedProfile();
     if (timeoutFailure && !params.isProbeSession && failedProfileId) {
       const timeoutLabel = terminal.idleTimedOut ? "idle timeout (model silent)" : "timed out";
-      params.warn(`Profile ${failedProfileId} ${timeoutLabel}. Trying next account...`);
+      // Only promise a next account when one was actually selected. Credentials
+      // that config does not authorize are not rotation targets, so this can end
+      // with no further account even when one exists in the environment.
+      params.warn(
+        rotated
+          ? `Profile ${failedProfileId} ${timeoutLabel}. Trying next account...`
+          : `Profile ${failedProfileId} ${timeoutLabel}. No further authorized account for this provider; create a backup auth profile and add its id to auth.order to enable failover.`,
+      );
     }
     if (params.cloudCodeAssistFormatError && failedProfileId) {
       params.warn(
diff --git a/src/agents/model-auth-availability.test.ts b/src/agents/model-auth-availability.test.ts
index 51b4c4d5b1c6..dc5804c61ccb 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-auth-availability.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-auth-availability.test.ts
@@ -499,14 +499,18 @@ describe("createModelAuthAvailabilityResolver", () => {
       route: subscriptionRoute,
       mode: "oauth",
     },
-  ])("selects $label", ({ cfg, env, mode, profile, profileId, route }) => {
-    expect(evaluate({ cfg, env, store: authStore({ [profileId]: profile }) })).toMatchObject({
-      availability: true,
-      evidence: "environment",
-      selectedAuthMode: mode,
-      selectedRoute: route,
-    });
-  });
+    // An environment credential named nowhere in config is not authorized to
+    // stand in for a declared profile, including a declared profile that turned
+    // out to be unusable. Availability mirrors the runtime rule here so status
+    // does not advertise a credential the run would refuse to use.
+  ])(
+    "reports $label unavailable rather than substituting an ambient credential",
+    ({ cfg, env, profile, profileId }) => {
+      expect(evaluate({ cfg, env, store: authStore({ [profileId]: profile }) })).toMatchObject({
+        availability: false,
+      });
+    },
+  );
 
   it.each([
     { env: { OPENAI_API_KEY: "resolved-key" }, availability: true },
diff --git a/src/agents/model-auth-availability.ts b/src/agents/model-auth-availability.ts
index f37de0accd30..e7df215cd3cb 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-auth-availability.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-auth-availability.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ import {
   buildProviderModelAuthSourcePlan,
   fromProviderModelAuthReadiness,
   toProviderModelAuthReadiness,
+  type ProviderModelAuthAuthorization,
   type ProviderModelAuthEvidence,
   type ProviderModelAuthProfileSource,
 } from "./provider-model-auth-source-plan.js";
@@ -611,11 +612,15 @@ export function createModelAuthAvailabilityResolver(
       selectedAuthMode: configured?.auth,
     };
   };
-  const directSource = (evaluation: AuthSourceEvaluation) =>
+  const directSource = (
+    evaluation: AuthSourceEvaluation,
+    authorization: ProviderModelAuthAuthorization = "declared",
+  ) =>
     buildProviderModelAuthDirectSource({
       mode: evaluation.selectedAuthMode,
       availability: evaluation.availability,
       evidence: evaluation.evidence ?? "none",
+      authorization,
     });
   const automaticProfileSource = (
     provider: string,
@@ -677,14 +682,28 @@ export function createModelAuthAvailabilityResolver(
       (hasDirectMaterial && shouldPreferExplicitConfigApiKeyAuth(params.cfg, provider));
     const environment = envAuth(provider);
     const environmentMode = environment ? (configured?.auth ?? environment.mode) : undefined;
+    // Mirrors the runtime classification in runtime-plan/prepare-auth.ts: a
+    // credential is ambient only when it came from the environment and the
+    // provider entry declares no apiKey material pointing at it. Availability
+    // and runtime must agree, or status advertises a credential the run will
+    // refuse (or the reverse).
+    const ambientEnvironmentCredential =
+      !required && environmentMode !== undefined && environmentMode !== "aws-sdk"
+        ? !hasDirectMaterial
+        : false;
     const direct =
       !required && environmentMode
         ? buildProviderModelAuthDirectSource({
             mode: environmentMode,
             availability: modeAllowed(provider, target, environmentMode),
             evidence: environmentMode === "aws-sdk" ? "aws-sdk" : "environment",
+            authorization: ambientEnvironmentCredential ? "ambient" : "declared",
           })
-        : directSource(unprofiledEvaluation(provider, target));
+        : ((evaluation) =>
+            directSource(
+              evaluation,
+              evaluation.evidence === "environment" && !hasDirectMaterial ? "ambient" : "declared",
+            ))(unprofiledEvaluation(provider, target));
     const hasDirectFallback = hasDirectMaterial || direct.evidence !== "none";
     return {
       binding,
diff --git a/src/agents/provider-model-auth-source-plan.ts b/src/agents/provider-model-auth-source-plan.ts
index 4d40fb3202ce..190dfbd23e7f 100644
--- a/src/agents/provider-model-auth-source-plan.ts
+++ b/src/agents/provider-model-auth-source-plan.ts
@@ -18,11 +18,24 @@ export type ProviderModelAuthProfileSource = {
   cooldown: "active" | "clear";
 };
 
+/**
+ * Whether config authorizes this credential, as opposed to where it was found.
+ *
+ * `evidence` is provenance and is reported as such by status/probe surfaces; it
+ * cannot carry authorization, because a *declared* credential can legitimately
+ * be discovered in the environment (a `${VAR}` marker or a SecretRef naming a
+ * canonical variable). `"ambient"` means the opposite: the credential appears in
+ * neither the provider entry nor `auth.profiles`/`auth.order`, so nothing in
+ * config points at it and it may bill an account the operator never named here.
+ */
+export type ProviderModelAuthAuthorization = "declared" | "ambient";
+
 export type ProviderModelAuthDirectSource = {
   kind: "direct";
   mode?: string;
   readiness: ProviderModelAuthReadiness;
   evidence: ProviderModelAuthEvidence;
+  authorization: ProviderModelAuthAuthorization;
 };
 
 export type ProviderModelAuthSource =
@@ -61,6 +74,14 @@ export type ProviderModelAuthSourcePlan =
       orderedProfiles: readonly ProviderModelAuthProfileSource[];
       allowCooldown: boolean;
       fallback?: ProviderModelAuthDirectSource;
+      /**
+       * How many profiles the operator declared for this provider, before any
+       * readiness, cooldown or route-compatibility filtering. Route filtering
+       * rebuilds the plan from a narrowed profile list, so `profiles.kind` alone
+       * cannot distinguish "operator declared nothing" (zero-config) from
+       * "everything the operator declared was filtered out".
+       */
+      declaredProfileCount: number;
     };
 
 export function toProviderModelAuthReadiness(
@@ -80,12 +101,19 @@ export function buildProviderModelAuthDirectSource(params: {
   mode?: string;
   availability?: boolean;
   evidence: ProviderModelAuthEvidence;
+  /**
+   * Required, not defaulted: a permissive default would silently give every
+   * unaudited construction site full standing, which is exactly how a source
+   * escapes the ambient-credential rule. Make each caller state it.
+   */
+  authorization: ProviderModelAuthAuthorization;
 }): ProviderModelAuthDirectSource {
   return {
     kind: "direct",
     mode: params.mode,
     readiness: toProviderModelAuthReadiness(params.availability),
     evidence: params.evidence,
+    authorization: params.authorization,
   };
 }
 
@@ -113,6 +141,8 @@ export function buildProviderModelAuthSourcePlan(params: {
   explicitOrder?: boolean;
   fallback?: ProviderModelAuthDirectSource;
   allowCooldown?: boolean;
+  /** Overrides the declared count when rebuilding a plan from filtered profiles. */
+  declaredProfileCount?: number;
 }): ProviderModelAuthSourcePlan {
   if (params.ownership) {
     return { kind: "required", ...params.ownership };
@@ -148,6 +178,7 @@ export function buildProviderModelAuthSourcePlan(params: {
     profiles,
     orderedProfiles: ordered,
     allowCooldown: params.allowCooldown === true,
+    declaredProfileCount: params.declaredProfileCount ?? ordered.length,
     ...(params.fallback ? { fallback: params.fallback } : {}),
   };
 }
diff --git a/src/agents/provider-model-route-auth.test.ts b/src/agents/provider-model-route-auth.test.ts
index c3f8cf6b06f9..90163e10d3c7 100644
--- a/src/agents/provider-model-route-auth.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/provider-model-route-auth.test.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
 } from "./provider-model-auth-source-plan.js";
 import {
   resolveProviderModelRouteMaterializationAuthMode,
+  selectProviderModelAuthSources,
   selectProviderModelRouteAuth,
 } from "./provider-model-route-auth.js";
 
@@ -38,12 +39,16 @@ function profile(
   return { kind: "profile", profileId, mode, readiness, cooldown };
 }
 
-function direct(mode: string): ProviderModelAuthDirectSource {
+function direct(
+  mode: string,
+  authorization: ProviderModelAuthDirectSource["authorization"] = "declared",
+): ProviderModelAuthDirectSource {
   return {
     kind: "direct",
     mode,
     readiness: "ready",
     evidence: "provider-config",
+    authorization,
   };
 }
 
@@ -406,3 +411,69 @@ describe("provider model route auth", () => {
     });
   });
 });
+
+describe("ambient credential admission", () => {
+  const ambient = (mode: string): ProviderModelAuthDirectSource => direct(mode, "ambient");
+  const ready = (profileId: string, mode: string) => profile(profileId, mode, "ready");
+  const select = (plan: Parameters<typeof selectProviderModelAuthSources>[0]["plan"]) =>
+    selectProviderModelAuthSources({ provider: "openai", plan });
+
+  it("drops an ambient fallback queued behind usable profiles", () => {
+    const decision = select(
+      buildProviderModelAuthSourcePlan({
+        profiles: [ready("openai:chatgpt", "oauth")],
+        fallback: ambient("api-key"),
+      }),
+    );
+
+    expect(decision).toMatchObject({ kind: "selected" });
+    expect(decision.kind === "selected" && decision.attempts).toMatchObject([{ kind: "profile" }]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a declared fallback queued behind usable profiles", () => {
+    const decision = select(
+      buildProviderModelAuthSourcePlan({
+        profiles: [ready("openai:chatgpt", "oauth")],
+        fallback: direct("api-key"),
+      }),
+    );
+
+    expect(decision.kind === "selected" && decision.attempts).toMatchObject([
+      { kind: "profile" },
+      { kind: "direct" },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps an ambient fallback when the provider declares no profiles", () => {
+    const decision = select(
+      buildProviderModelAuthSourcePlan({ profiles: [], fallback: ambient("api-key") }),
+    );
+
+    expect(decision.kind === "selected" && decision.attempts).toMatchObject([{ kind: "direct" }]);
+  });
+
+  it("does not substitute an ambient fallback for all-unavailable profiles", () => {
+    const decision = select(
+      buildProviderModelAuthSourcePlan({
+        profiles: [profile("openai:chatgpt", "oauth", "unavailable")],
+        fallback: ambient("api-key"),
+      }),
+    );
+
+    expect(decision.kind === "selected" && decision.attempts).toMatchObject([]);
+  });
+
+  it("does not re-admit an ambient fallback when route filtering empties the profile list", () => {
+    // Rebuild shape used by selectProviderModelRouteAuth when narrowing to a
+    // route-compatible subset: no profiles survive, but the operator declared one.
+    const decision = select(
+      buildProviderModelAuthSourcePlan({
+        profiles: [],
+        declaredProfileCount: 1,
+        fallback: ambient("api-key"),
+      }),
+    );
+
+    expect(decision.kind === "selected" && decision.attempts).toMatchObject([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/agents/provider-model-route-auth.ts b/src/agents/provider-model-route-auth.ts
index 1e4f1d46e37b..4125479207e0 100644
--- a/src/agents/provider-model-route-auth.ts
+++ b/src/agents/provider-model-route-auth.ts
@@ -178,6 +178,22 @@ export function selectProviderModelAuthSources(params: {
       ...(profiles.kind === "all-unavailable" ? { source: profiles.first } : {}),
     };
   }
+  // An ambient credential — one config names nowhere — may serve a provider the
+  // operator left entirely unconfigured (the documented zero-config
+  // `PROVIDER_API_KEY` path), but it must never *succeed* a credential the
+  // operator did declare. Those can bill different accounts, so that transition
+  // needs a declaration, not a discovery. `auth.order` filtering already refuses
+  // to silently try a declared profile the operator omitted from an explicit
+  // order (docs/auth-credential-semantics.md, "Explicit auth order filtering");
+  // an undeclared credential cannot rank above that.
+  //
+  // `declaredProfileCount` rather than `profiles.kind`: route filtering rebuilds
+  // this plan from a narrowed profile list, so an operator who declared only
+  // route-incompatible profiles must not be treated as zero-config.
+  const authorizedFallback =
+    fallback?.authorization === "ambient" && params.plan.declaredProfileCount > 0
+      ? undefined
+      : fallback;
   if (profiles.kind === "usable") {
     const winner = selectReadyProfile(profiles.profiles);
     return {
@@ -185,15 +201,15 @@ export function selectProviderModelAuthSources(params: {
       selection: winner ? { kind: "selected", source: winner } : { kind: "none" },
       attempts: [
         ...profiles.profiles.map((source) => ({ kind: "profile" as const, source })),
-        ...(fallback ? [directAttempt(fallback)] : []),
+        ...(authorizedFallback ? [directAttempt(authorizedFallback)] : []),
       ],
     };
   }
-  if (fallback) {
+  if (authorizedFallback) {
     return {
       kind: "selected",
-      selection: { kind: "selected", source: fallback },
-      attempts: [directAttempt(fallback)],
+      selection: { kind: "selected", source: authorizedFallback },
+      attempts: [directAttempt(authorizedFallback)],
     };
   }
   return {
@@ -306,6 +322,10 @@ export function selectProviderModelRouteAuth(params: {
           ),
           explicitOrder: params.sourcePlan.profiles.explicitOrder,
           allowCooldown: params.sourcePlan.allowCooldown,
+          // Preserve what the operator actually declared. Filtering to a
+          // route-compatible subset must not make a configured provider look
+          // zero-config and thereby re-admit an ambient credential.
+          declaredProfileCount: params.sourcePlan.declaredProfileCount,
           ...(params.sourcePlan.fallback ? { fallback: params.sourcePlan.fallback } : {}),
         })
       : params.sourcePlan;
diff --git a/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.ambient-credential.test.ts b/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.ambient-credential.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7d4846257c9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.ambient-credential.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/types.openclaw.js";
+import type { AuthProfileStore } from "../auth-profiles.js";
+import { prepareAgentRuntimeAuth } from "./prepare-auth.js";
+
+vi.mock("../../plugins/provider-runtime.js", () => ({
+  buildProviderMissingAuthMessageWithPlugin: () => undefined,
+  resolveProviderSyntheticAuthWithPlugin: () => undefined,
+  shouldDeferProviderSyntheticProfileAuthWithPlugin: () => undefined,
+}));
+
+// Regression coverage for #117956: metered API usage on a route whose only
+// declared credential was a subscription auth profile.
+//
+// Reported shape: the `anthropic` plugin disabled, so `claude-cli` resolves as a
+// bare custom provider entry (no `api`, no `baseUrl`, no `apiKey`); a single
+// subscription OAuth profile; no `auth.order`; and `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` present
+// in the process environment for other, separately-named consumers. The
+// environment credential was appended as a second physical attempt and became
+// the live credential once the run rotated off the profile.
+const oauthStore = (expires: number): AuthProfileStore => ({
+  version: 1,
+  profiles: {
+    "anthropic:claude-cli": {
+      type: "oauth",
+      provider: "claude-cli",
+      access: "subscription-token",
+      refresh: "refresh-token",
+      expires,
+    },
+  } as unknown as AuthProfileStore["profiles"],
+});
+
+const config = {
+  plugins: { entries: { anthropic: { enabled: false } } },
+  models: {
+    providers: { "claude-cli": { models: [{ id: "claude-fable-5" }] } },
+  },
+  agents: {
+    defaults: {
+      model: { primary: "claude-cli/claude-fable-5" },
+      models: { "claude-cli/claude-fable-5": { alias: "fable5" } },
+    },
+  },
+} as unknown as OpenClawConfig;
+
+const ambientEnv = { ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: "ambient-anthropic-key" } as NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+
+describe("ambient provider credentials are not queued behind a declared profile", () => {
+  it.each([undefined, "anthropic-messages"])("modelApi=%s", (modelApi) => {
+    const prepared = prepareAgentRuntimeAuth({
+      provider: "claude-cli",
+      modelId: "claude-fable-5",
+      ...(modelApi ? { modelApi } : {}),
+      config,
+      env: ambientEnv,
+      authProfileStore: oauthStore(Date.now() + 3_600_000),
+    });
+
+    expect(prepared.attempts).toMatchObject([
+      { kind: "profile", profileId: "anthropic:claude-cli" },
+    ]);
+    expect(prepared.attempts.some((attempt) => attempt.kind === "direct")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  // Being unable to use what was declared is not authorization to use what was
+  // not: an unusable profile must surface rather than silently move the run to
+  // an account that appears nowhere in config.
+  it("does not substitute an ambient credential for an unusable declared profile", () => {
+    const prepared = prepareAgentRuntimeAuth({
+      provider: "claude-cli",
+      modelId: "claude-fable-5",
+      config,
+      env: ambientEnv,
+      authProfileStore: oauthStore(0),
+    });
+
+    expect(prepared.attempts.some((attempt) => attempt.kind === "direct")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  // Documented `auth.order` failover is unaffected: this change gates ambient
+  // credentials only, never declared profiles. Every profile named in the
+  // explicit order stays in the attempt list, in the order given, even when an
+  // ambient credential is present in the environment.
+  it("preserves declared auth.order failover across multiple profiles", () => {
+    const prepared = prepareAgentRuntimeAuth({
+      provider: "openai",
+      modelId: "gpt-5.5",
+      config: {
+        auth: { order: { openai: ["openai:primary", "openai:backup"] } },
+      } as OpenClawConfig,
+      env: { OPENAI_API_KEY: "ambient-platform-key" } as NodeJS.ProcessEnv,
+      authProfileStore: {
+        version: 1,
+        profiles: {
+          "openai:primary": {
+            type: "oauth",
+            provider: "openai",
+            access: "access-token",
+            refresh: "refresh-token",
+            expires: Date.now() + 600_000,
+          },
+          "openai:backup": {
+            type: "oauth",
+            provider: "openai",
+            access: "backup-token",
+            refresh: "backup-refresh",
+            expires: Date.now() + 600_000,
+          },
+        },
+        order: { openai: ["openai:primary", "openai:backup"] },
+      } as unknown as AuthProfileStore,
+    });
+
+    expect(
+      prepared.attempts.map((attempt) =>
+        attempt.kind === "profile" ? attempt.profileId : "direct",
+      ),
+    ).toEqual(["openai:primary", "openai:backup"]);
+  });
+
+  // The documented remedy for operators who relied on an ambient key as a
+  // backup: declare an API-key profile and order it after the subscription
+  // profile (docs/concepts/model-failover.md). That path must keep working.
+  it("preserves a declared API-key backup ordered after a subscription profile", () => {
+    const prepared = prepareAgentRuntimeAuth({
+      provider: "openai",
+      modelId: "gpt-5.5",
+      config: {
+        auth: { order: { openai: ["openai:chatgpt", "openai:platform"] } },
+      } as OpenClawConfig,
+      env: { OPENAI_API_KEY: "ambient-platform-key" } as NodeJS.ProcessEnv,
+      authProfileStore: {
+        version: 1,
+        profiles: {
+          "openai:chatgpt": {
+            type: "oauth",
+            provider: "openai",
+            access: "access-token",
+            refresh: "refresh-token",
+            expires: Date.now() + 600_000,
+          },
+          "openai:platform": {
+            type: "api_key",
+            provider: "openai",
+            key: "declared-platform-key",
+          },
+        },
+        order: { openai: ["openai:chatgpt", "openai:platform"] },
+      } as unknown as AuthProfileStore,
+    });
+
+    expect(prepared.attempts.map((a) => (a.kind === "profile" ? a.profileId : "direct"))).toEqual([
+      "openai:chatgpt",
+      "openai:platform",
+    ]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.test.ts b/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.test.ts
index 3426447a739c..038b8c23160e 100644
--- a/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.test.ts
@@ -1290,9 +1290,51 @@ describe("prepareAgentRuntimeAuthPlan", () => {
     ).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  // Zero-config still works: when a provider has no usable auth profile at all,
+  // a bare `PROVIDER_API_KEY` remains the credential for the route. Refusing an
+  // undeclared credential is about not letting it silently *succeed a declared
+  // profile*, not about banning the documented zero-config path.
+  it("still uses an undeclared env key when the provider has no usable profile", () => {
+    const prepared = prepareAgentRuntimeAuth({
+      provider: "openai",
+      modelId: "gpt-5.5",
+      env: { OPENAI_API_KEY: "ambient-platform-key" },
+      authProfileStore: authStore({}),
+    });
+
+    expect(prepared.attempts).toMatchObject([{ kind: "direct" }]);
+    expect(prepared.attempts.some((attempt) => attempt.kind === "profile")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  // Declared apiKey material keeps normal direct-source standing, so the
+  // narrowing is scoped to credentials that appear nowhere in config.
+  it("still routes a declared provider apiKey with no profiles present", () => {
+    const prepared = prepareAgentRuntimeAuth({
+      provider: "openai",
+      modelId: "gpt-5.5",
+      config: {
+        models: {
+          providers: { openai: { apiKey: "configured-platform-key", baseUrl: "", models: [] } },
+        },
+      } as OpenClawConfig,
+      env: {},
+      authProfileStore: authStore({}),
+    });
+
+    expect(prepared.attempts).toMatchObject([{ kind: "direct" }]);
+  });
+
+  // An environment credential named nowhere in config is not an authorized
+  // route. `auth.order` filtering already refuses to silently try a *stored*
+  // profile the operator omitted from the explicit order
+  // (docs/auth-credential-semantics.md, "Explicit auth order filtering"), and
+  // docs/providers/openai.md reserves bare `OPENAI_API_KEY` for non-agent
+  // surfaces. An undeclared env key must therefore not be queued behind a
+  // declared profile, where it would silently absorb that profile's failures —
+  // potentially onto a different billing account.
   it.each([
     {
-      label: "OAuth profile then ambient Platform key",
+      label: "ambient Platform key behind an OAuth profile",
       env: { OPENAI_API_KEY: "ambient-platform-key" },
       profileId: "openai:chatgpt",
       profile: {
@@ -1302,10 +1344,10 @@ describe("prepareAgentRuntimeAuthPlan", () => {
         refresh: "refresh-token",
         expires: Date.now() + 60_000,
       },
-      requirements: ["subscription", "api-key"],
+      requirements: ["subscription"],
     },
     {
-      label: "Platform profile then ambient OAuth token",
+      label: "ambient OAuth token behind a Platform profile",
       config: {
         models: { providers: { openai: { auth: "oauth", baseUrl: "", models: [] } } },
       } as OpenClawConfig,
@@ -1316,32 +1358,23 @@ describe("prepareAgentRuntimeAuthPlan", () => {
         provider: "openai",
         key: "profile-platform-key",
       },
-      requirements: ["api-key", "subscription"],
+      requirements: ["api-key"],
     },
-  ])(
-    "prepares $label as distinct physical attempts",
-    ({ config, env, profile, profileId, requirements }) => {
-      const prepared = prepareAgentRuntimeAuth({
-        provider: "openai",
-        modelId: "gpt-5.5",
-        config,
-        env,
-        authProfileStore: authStore({ [profileId]: profile }, { openai: [profileId] }),
-      });
+  ])("does not queue $label", ({ config, env, profile, profileId, requirements }) => {
+    const prepared = prepareAgentRuntimeAuth({
+      provider: "openai",
+      modelId: "gpt-5.5",
+      config,
+      env,
+      authProfileStore: authStore({ [profileId]: profile }, { openai: [profileId] }),
+    });
 
-      expect(prepared.attempts.map((attempt) => attempt.plan.modelRoute?.authRequirement)).toEqual(
-        requirements,
-      );
-      expect(prepared.attempts).toMatchObject([
-        { kind: "profile", profileId },
-        {
-          kind: "direct",
-          allowAuthProfileFallback: false,
-          requiresPriorProfileAttempt: true,
-        },
-      ]);
-    },
-  );
+    expect(prepared.attempts.map((attempt) => attempt.plan.modelRoute?.authRequirement)).toEqual(
+      requirements,
+    );
+    expect(prepared.attempts).toMatchObject([{ kind: "profile", profileId }]);
+    expect(prepared.attempts.some((attempt) => attempt.kind === "direct")).toBe(false);
+  });
 
   it("resolves an env SecretRef on its prepared Platform route", async () => {
     vi.stubEnv("OPENAI_PLATFORM_KEY", "secret-ref-platform-key");
diff --git a/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.ts b/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.ts
index 7d23cb93fc3e..08c7cbe4c5bd 100644
--- a/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.ts
+++ b/src/agents/runtime-plan/prepare-auth.ts
@@ -339,7 +339,8 @@ export function prepareAgentRuntimeAuth(
       ? "runtime"
       : "provider-config",
     availability?: boolean,
-  ) => buildProviderModelAuthDirectSource({ mode, evidence, availability });
+    authorization: ProviderModelAuthDirectSource["authorization"] = "declared",
+  ) => buildProviderModelAuthDirectSource({ mode, evidence, availability, authorization });
   const directPlanningCandidate = harnessAllowsAuthProfileForwarding
     ? resolveProviderDirectAuthPlanningEvidence(
         authProfileSelectionProvider,
@@ -360,11 +361,19 @@ export function prepareAgentRuntimeAuth(
   const directPlanningMode = directPlanningEvidence
     ? (configuredAuthMode ?? directPlanningEvidence.mode)
     : undefined;
+  // Provenance ("where was it found") is not authorization ("may it be used
+  // here"). A credential found in the environment is still *declared* when the
+  // provider entry points at it — a literal apiKey, a `${VAR}` marker, or a
+  // SecretRef naming a canonical variable. Only a credential that nothing in
+  // config references is ambient, and only ambient credentials are restricted.
+  const fallbackIsAmbientCredential =
+    directPlanningEvidence?.kind === "environment" && !providerHasDirectMaterial;
   const fallbackDirectSource = directPlanningMode
     ? directSource(
         directPlanningMode,
         directPlanningEvidence?.kind === "environment" ? "environment" : "runtime",
         directPlanningEvidence?.kind === "environment" ? true : undefined,
+        fallbackIsAmbientCredential ? "ambient" : "declared",
       )
     : providerBindingNeedsNonProfileFallback
       ? directSource(selectedConfiguredAuthMode)
diff --git a/src/agents/simple-completion-runtime.ts b/src/agents/simple-completion-runtime.ts
index 672db1b2e29d..f1650085d133 100644
--- a/src/agents/simple-completion-runtime.ts
+++ b/src/agents/simple-completion-runtime.ts
@@ -331,6 +331,10 @@ export async function prepareSimpleCompletionModel(params: {
             mode: auth.mode,
             availability: true,
             evidence: "runtime",
+            // The credential is already resolved by the caller and wrapped as
+            // required provider-binding ownership below, so it is not an
+            // ambient discovery competing with declared profiles.
+            authorization: "declared",
           });
       const routeAuthDecision = selectOpenAIModelRouteAuth({
         resolution: routeResolution,