diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/compact.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/compact.ts
index 9bb06f43578f..b7be44f96f58 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/compact.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/compact.ts
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ import {
 } from "./tool-schema-runtime.js";
 import { splitSdkTools } from "./tool-split.js";
 import type { EmbeddedPiCompactResult } from "./types.js";
-import { describeUnknownError, mapThinkingLevel } from "./utils.js";
+import { mapThinkingLevel } from "./utils.js";
 import { flushPendingToolResultsAfterIdle } from "./wait-for-idle-before-flush.js";
 
 export type CompactEmbeddedPiSessionParams = {
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ export async function compactEmbeddedPiSessionDirect(
       authStorage.setRuntimeApiKey(runtimeModel.provider, runtimeApiKey);
     }
   } catch (err) {
-    const reason = describeUnknownError(err);
+    const reason = formatErrorMessage(err);
     return fail(reason);
   }
 
@@ -1103,7 +1103,7 @@ export async function compactEmbeddedPiSessionDirect(
           };
         } catch (err) {
           const fallbackThinking = pickFallbackThinkingLevel({
-            message: describeUnknownError(err),
+            message: formatErrorMessage(err),
             attempted: attemptedThinking,
           });
           if (fallbackThinking) {
@@ -1149,7 +1149,7 @@ export async function compactEmbeddedPiSessionDirect(
     }
   } catch (err) {
     const reason = resolveCompactionFailureReason({
-      reason: describeUnknownError(err),
+      reason: formatErrorMessage(err),
       safeguardCancelReason: consumeCompactionSafeguardCancelReason(compactionSessionManager),
     });
     return fail(reason);
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.ts
index b60cb1a00822..39a9dc790f12 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
 } from "../../context-engine/index.js";
 import { emitAgentPlanEvent } from "../../infra/agent-events.js";
 import { sleepWithAbort } from "../../infra/backoff.js";
+import { formatErrorMessage } from "../../infra/errors.js";
 import { getGlobalHookRunner } from "../../plugins/hook-runner-global.js";
 import { enqueueCommandInLane } from "../../process/command-queue.js";
 import { sanitizeForLog } from "../../terminal/ansi.js";
@@ -101,7 +102,6 @@ import {
 } from "./tool-result-truncation.js";
 import type { EmbeddedPiAgentMeta, EmbeddedPiRunResult } from "./types.js";
 import { createUsageAccumulator, mergeUsageIntoAccumulator } from "./usage-accumulator.js";
-import { describeUnknownError } from "./utils.js";
 
 type ApiKeyInfo = ResolvedProviderAuth;
 
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ function backfillSessionKey(params: {
     return resolved.sessionKey?.trim() || undefined;
   } catch (err) {
     log.warn(
-      `[backfillSessionKey] Failed to resolve sessionKey for sessionId=${redactRunIdentifier(sanitizeForLog(params.sessionId))}: ${describeUnknownError(err)}`,
+      `[backfillSessionKey] Failed to resolve sessionKey for sessionId=${redactRunIdentifier(sanitizeForLog(params.sessionId))}: ${formatErrorMessage(err)}`,
     );
     return undefined;
   }
@@ -850,7 +850,7 @@ export async function runEmbeddedPiAgent(
           const contextOverflowError = !aborted
             ? (() => {
                 if (promptError) {
-                  const errorText = describeUnknownError(promptError);
+                  const errorText = formatErrorMessage(promptError);
                   if (isLikelyContextOverflowError(errorText)) {
                     return { text: errorText, source: "promptError" as const };
                   }
@@ -1092,7 +1092,7 @@ export async function runEmbeddedPiAgent(
             const promptErrorDetails = normalizedPromptFailover
               ? describeFailoverError(normalizedPromptFailover)
               : describeFailoverError(promptError);
-            const errorText = promptErrorDetails.message || describeUnknownError(promptError);
+            const errorText = promptErrorDetails.message || formatErrorMessage(promptError);
             if (await maybeRefreshRuntimeAuthForAuthError(errorText, runtimeAuthRetry)) {
               authRetryPending = true;
               continue;
@@ -1584,7 +1584,7 @@ export async function runEmbeddedPiAgent(
         if (params.cleanupBundleMcpOnRunEnd === true) {
           await disposeSessionMcpRuntime(params.sessionId).catch((error) => {
             log.warn(
-              `bundle-mcp cleanup failed after run for ${params.sessionId}: ${describeUnknownError(error)}`,
+              `bundle-mcp cleanup failed after run for ${params.sessionId}: ${formatErrorMessage(error)}`,
             );
           });
         }
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/attempt.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/attempt.ts
index 43c9cd1770e9..83ba25e4b4d0 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/attempt.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/attempt.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
 import { filterHeartbeatPairs } from "../../../auto-reply/heartbeat-filter.js";
 import { resolveHeartbeatPrompt } from "../../../auto-reply/heartbeat.js";
 import { resolveChannelCapabilities } from "../../../config/channel-capabilities.js";
+import { formatErrorMessage } from "../../../infra/errors.js";
 import { resolveHeartbeatSummaryForAgent } from "../../../infra/heartbeat-summary.js";
 import { getMachineDisplayName } from "../../../infra/machine-name.js";
 import {
@@ -151,7 +152,7 @@ import {
   normalizeProviderToolSchemas,
 } from "../tool-schema-runtime.js";
 import { splitSdkTools } from "../tool-split.js";
-import { describeUnknownError, mapThinkingLevel } from "../utils.js";
+import { mapThinkingLevel } from "../utils.js";
 import { flushPendingToolResultsAfterIdle } from "../wait-for-idle-before-flush.js";
 import {
   assembleAttemptContextEngine,
@@ -1992,7 +1993,7 @@ export async function runEmbeddedAttempt(
               provider: params.provider,
               model: params.modelId,
               api: params.model.api,
-              error: describeUnknownError(promptError),
+              error: formatErrorMessage(promptError),
             });
           } catch (entryErr) {
             log.warn(`failed to persist prompt error entry: ${String(entryErr)}`);
@@ -2071,7 +2072,7 @@ export async function runEmbeddedAttempt(
               {
                 messages: messagesSnapshot,
                 success: !aborted && !promptError,
-                error: promptError ? describeUnknownError(promptError) : undefined,
+                error: promptError ? formatErrorMessage(promptError) : undefined,
                 durationMs: Date.now() - promptStartedAt,
               },
               {
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/auth-controller.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/auth-controller.ts
index 154269d5ca24..b354f658953f 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/auth-controller.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run/auth-controller.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import type { Api, Model } from "@mariozechner/pi-ai";
 import type { ThinkLevel } from "../../../auto-reply/thinking.js";
+import { formatErrorMessage } from "../../../infra/errors.js";
 import { prepareProviderRuntimeAuth } from "../../../plugins/provider-runtime.js";
 import {
   type AuthProfileStore,
@@ -19,7 +20,6 @@ import {
   sanitizeRuntimeProviderRequestOverrides,
 } from "../../provider-request-config.js";
 import { clampRuntimeAuthRefreshDelayMs } from "../../runtime-auth-refresh.js";
-import { describeUnknownError } from "../utils.js";
 import {
   RUNTIME_AUTH_REFRESH_MARGIN_MS,
   RUNTIME_AUTH_REFRESH_MIN_DELAY_MS,
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ export function createEmbeddedRunAuthController(params: {
       .catch((err) => {
         const runtimeModel = params.getRuntimeModel();
         params.log.warn(
-          `Runtime auth refresh failed for ${runtimeModel.provider}: ${describeUnknownError(err)}`,
+          `Runtime auth refresh failed for ${runtimeModel.provider}: ${formatErrorMessage(err)}`,
         );
         throw err;
       })
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ export function createEmbeddedRunAuthController(params: {
     const fallbackMessage = `No available auth profile for ${provider} (all in cooldown or unavailable).`;
     const message =
       failoverParams.message?.trim() ||
-      (failoverParams.error ? describeUnknownError(failoverParams.error).trim() : "") ||
+      (failoverParams.error ? formatErrorMessage(failoverParams.error).trim() : "") ||
       fallbackMessage;
     const reason = resolveAuthProfileFailoverReason({
       allInCooldown: failoverParams.allInCooldown,
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/utils.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/utils.ts
index 991e767139b8..f6ac79ecd470 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/utils.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/utils.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import type { ThinkingLevel } from "@mariozechner/pi-agent-core";
 import type { ReasoningLevel, ThinkLevel } from "../../auto-reply/thinking.js";
-import { formatErrorMessage } from "../../infra/errors.js";
 
 export function mapThinkingLevel(level?: ThinkLevel): ThinkingLevel {
   // pi-agent-core supports "xhigh"; OpenClaw enables it for specific models.
@@ -17,8 +16,4 @@ export function mapThinkingLevel(level?: ThinkLevel): ThinkingLevel {
   return level;
 }
 
-export function describeUnknownError(error: unknown): string {
-  return formatErrorMessage(error);
-}
-
 export type { ReasoningLevel, ThinkLevel };
diff --git a/src/cli/command-secret-gateway.ts b/src/cli/command-secret-gateway.ts
index 6186e335068a..d79ba70369ec 100644
--- a/src/cli/command-secret-gateway.ts
+++ b/src/cli/command-secret-gateway.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import { resolveSecretInputRef } from "../config/types.secrets.js";
 import { callGateway } from "../gateway/call.js";
 import { validateSecretsResolveResult } from "../gateway/protocol/index.js";
+import { formatErrorMessage } from "../infra/errors.js";
 import { resolveManifestContractOwnerPluginId } from "../plugins/manifest-registry.js";
 import {
   analyzeCommandSecretAssignmentsFromSnapshot,
@@ -13,7 +14,6 @@ import { collectConfigAssignments } from "../secrets/runtime-config-collectors.j
 import { createResolverContext } from "../secrets/runtime-shared.js";
 import { resolveRuntimeWebTools } from "../secrets/runtime-web-tools.js";
 import { assertExpectedResolvedSecretValue } from "../secrets/secret-value.js";
-import { describeUnknownError } from "../secrets/shared.js";
 import {
   discoverConfigSecretTargetsByIds,
   type DiscoveredConfigSecretTarget,
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ function collectInactiveSurfacePathsFromDiagnostics(diagnostics: string[]): Set<
 }
 
 function isUnsupportedSecretsResolveError(err: unknown): boolean {
-  const message = describeUnknownError(err).toLowerCase();
+  const message = formatErrorMessage(err).toLowerCase();
   if (!message.includes("secrets.resolve")) {
     return false;
   }
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ async function resolveCommandSecretRefsLocally(params: {
         throw error;
       }
       localResolutionDiagnostics.push(
-        `${params.commandName}: failed to resolve web tool secrets locally (${describeUnknownError(error)}).`,
+        `${params.commandName}: failed to resolve web tool secrets locally (${formatErrorMessage(error)}).`,
       );
     }
   }
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ async function resolveTargetSecretLocally(params: {
   } catch (error) {
     if (!enforcesResolvedSecrets(params.mode)) {
       params.localResolutionDiagnostics.push(
-        `${params.commandName}: failed to resolve ${params.target.path} locally (${describeUnknownError(error)}).`,
+        `${params.commandName}: failed to resolve ${params.target.path} locally (${formatErrorMessage(error)}).`,
       );
     }
   }
@@ -725,7 +725,7 @@ export async function resolveCommandSecretRefsViaGateway(params: {
         resolvedConfig: fallback.resolvedConfig,
         diagnostics: dedupeDiagnostics([
           ...fallback.diagnostics,
-          `${params.commandName}: gateway secrets.resolve unavailable (${describeUnknownError(err)}); ${fallbackMessage}`,
+          `${params.commandName}: gateway secrets.resolve unavailable (${formatErrorMessage(err)}); ${fallbackMessage}`,
         ]),
         targetStatesByPath: fallback.targetStatesByPath,
         hadUnresolvedTargets: fallback.hadUnresolvedTargets,
@@ -735,12 +735,12 @@ export async function resolveCommandSecretRefsViaGateway(params: {
     }
     if (isUnsupportedSecretsResolveError(err)) {
       throw new Error(
-        `${params.commandName}: active gateway does not support secrets.resolve (${describeUnknownError(err)}). Update the gateway or run without SecretRefs.`,
+        `${params.commandName}: active gateway does not support secrets.resolve (${formatErrorMessage(err)}). Update the gateway or run without SecretRefs.`,
         { cause: err },
       );
     }
     throw new Error(
-      `${params.commandName}: failed to resolve secrets from the active gateway snapshot (${describeUnknownError(err)}). Start the gateway and retry.`,
+      `${params.commandName}: failed to resolve secrets from the active gateway snapshot (${formatErrorMessage(err)}). Start the gateway and retry.`,
       { cause: err },
     );
   }
@@ -757,7 +757,7 @@ export async function resolveCommandSecretRefsViaGateway(params: {
     } catch (err) {
       const path = pathSegments.join(".");
       throw new Error(
-        `${params.commandName}: failed to apply resolved secret assignment at ${path} (${describeUnknownError(err)}).`,
+        `${params.commandName}: failed to apply resolved secret assignment at ${path} (${formatErrorMessage(err)}).`,
         { cause: err },
       );
     }
@@ -837,7 +837,7 @@ export async function resolveCommandSecretRefsViaGateway(params: {
       scrubUnresolvedAssignments(resolvedConfig, analyzed.unresolved);
       diagnostics = dedupeDiagnostics([
         ...diagnostics,
-        `${params.commandName}: local fallback after incomplete gateway snapshot failed (${describeUnknownError(error)}).`,
+        `${params.commandName}: local fallback after incomplete gateway snapshot failed (${formatErrorMessage(error)}).`,
         ...buildUnresolvedDiagnostics(params.commandName, analyzed.unresolved, mode),
       ]);
     }
diff --git a/src/cli/exec-approvals-cli.ts b/src/cli/exec-approvals-cli.ts
index 61cccf068e77..d681e14150fd 100644
--- a/src/cli/exec-approvals-cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli/exec-approvals-cli.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import type { Command } from "commander";
 import JSON5 from "json5";
 import { readBestEffortConfig, type OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import { formatErrorMessage } from "../infra/errors.js";
 import {
   collectExecPolicyScopeSnapshots,
   type ExecPolicyScopeSnapshot,
@@ -17,7 +18,6 @@ import { defaultRuntime } from "../runtime.js";
 import { formatDocsLink } from "../terminal/links.js";
 import { getTerminalTableWidth, renderTable } from "../terminal/table.js";
 import { isRich, theme } from "../terminal/theme.js";
-import { describeUnknownError } from "./gateway-cli/shared.js";
 import { callGatewayFromCli } from "./gateway-rpc.js";
 import { nodesCallOpts, resolveNodeId } from "./nodes-cli/rpc.js";
 import type { NodesRpcOpts } from "./nodes-cli/types.js";
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ async function saveSnapshotTargeted(params: {
 }
 
 function formatCliError(err: unknown): string {
-  const msg = describeUnknownError(err);
+  const msg = formatErrorMessage(err);
   return msg.includes("\n") ? msg.split("\n")[0] : msg;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/cli/gateway-cli/run.ts b/src/cli/gateway-cli/run.ts
index 6e3245003542..9f4826f41bde 100644
--- a/src/cli/gateway-cli/run.ts
+++ b/src/cli/gateway-cli/run.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ import { withProgress } from "../progress.js";
 import { ensureDevGatewayConfig } from "./dev.js";
 import { runGatewayLoop } from "./run-loop.js";
 import {
-  describeUnknownError,
   extractGatewayMiskeys,
   maybeExplainGatewayServiceStop,
   parsePort,
@@ -559,7 +558,7 @@ async function runGatewayCommand(opts: GatewayRunOpts) {
     }
   } catch (err) {
     if (isGatewayLockError(err)) {
-      const errMessage = describeUnknownError(err);
+      const errMessage = formatErrorMessage(err);
       defaultRuntime.error(
         `Gateway failed to start: ${errMessage}\nIf the gateway is supervised, stop it with: ${formatCliCommand("openclaw gateway stop")}`,
       );
diff --git a/src/cli/gateway-cli/shared.ts b/src/cli/gateway-cli/shared.ts
index a7cce082c28c..848279e9b639 100644
--- a/src/cli/gateway-cli/shared.ts
+++ b/src/cli/gateway-cli/shared.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import {
   resolveGatewayWindowsTaskName,
 } from "../../daemon/constants.js";
 import { resolveGatewayService } from "../../daemon/service.js";
-import { formatErrorMessage } from "../../infra/errors.js";
 import { defaultRuntime } from "../../runtime.js";
 import { formatCliCommand } from "../command-format.js";
 import { parsePort } from "../shared/parse-port.js";
@@ -21,10 +20,6 @@ export const toOptionString = (value: unknown): string | undefined => {
   return undefined;
 };
 
-export function describeUnknownError(err: unknown): string {
-  return formatErrorMessage(err);
-}
-
 export function extractGatewayMiskeys(parsed: unknown): {
   hasGatewayToken: boolean;
   hasRemoteToken: boolean;
diff --git a/src/secrets/audit.ts b/src/secrets/audit.ts
index 701a0cdd30e2..0c93c43187ab 100644
--- a/src/secrets/audit.ts
+++ b/src/secrets/audit.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { normalizeProviderId } from "../agents/model-selection.js";
 import { resolveStateDir, type OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import { coerceSecretRef } from "../config/types.secrets.js";
 import { resolveSecretInputRef, type SecretRef } from "../config/types.secrets.js";
+import { formatErrorMessage } from "../infra/errors.js";
 import { resolveConfigDir, resolveUserPath } from "../utils.js";
 import { runTasksWithConcurrency } from "../utils/run-with-concurrency.js";
 import { iterateAuthProfileCredentials } from "./auth-profiles-scan.js";
@@ -27,7 +28,6 @@ import {
   isExpectedResolvedSecretValue,
 } from "./secret-value.js";
 import { isNonEmptyString, isRecord } from "./shared.js";
-import { describeUnknownError } from "./shared.js";
 import {
   listAgentModelsJsonPaths,
   listAuthProfileStorePaths,
@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ async function collectUnresolvedRefFindings(params: {
         severity: "error",
         file: assignment.file,
         jsonPath: assignment.path,
-        message: `Failed to resolve ${assignment.ref.source}:${assignment.ref.provider}:${assignment.ref.id} (${describeUnknownError(resolveErr)}).`,
+        message: `Failed to resolve ${assignment.ref.source}:${assignment.ref.provider}:${assignment.ref.id} (${formatErrorMessage(resolveErr)}).`,
         provider: assignment.provider,
       });
       continue;
diff --git a/src/secrets/resolve.ts b/src/secrets/resolve.ts
index 103075b8cd96..49503618e7f8 100644
--- a/src/secrets/resolve.ts
+++ b/src/secrets/resolve.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import type {
   SecretRef,
   SecretRefSource,
 } from "../config/types.secrets.js";
+import { formatErrorMessage } from "../infra/errors.js";
 import { inspectPathPermissions, safeStat } from "../security/audit-fs.js";
 import { isPathInside } from "../security/scan-paths.js";
 import { resolveUserPath } from "../utils.js";
@@ -21,12 +22,7 @@ import {
   resolveDefaultSecretProviderAlias,
   secretRefKey,
 } from "./ref-contract.js";
-import {
-  describeUnknownError,
-  isNonEmptyString,
-  isRecord,
-  normalizePositiveInt,
-} from "./shared.js";
+import { isNonEmptyString, isRecord, normalizePositiveInt } from "./shared.js";
 
 const DEFAULT_PROVIDER_CONCURRENCY = 4;
 const DEFAULT_MAX_REFS_PER_PROVIDER = 512;
@@ -140,7 +136,7 @@ function throwUnknownProviderResolutionError(params: {
   throw providerResolutionError({
     source: params.source,
     provider: params.provider,
-    message: describeUnknownError(params.err),
+    message: formatErrorMessage(params.err),
     cause: params.err,
   });
 }
@@ -419,7 +415,7 @@ async function resolveFileRefs(params: {
         source: "file",
         provider: params.providerName,
         refId: ref.id,
-        message: describeUnknownError(err),
+        message: formatErrorMessage(err),
         cause: err,
       });
     }
diff --git a/src/secrets/shared.ts b/src/secrets/shared.ts
index 751cf6709923..98635ac25f9d 100644
--- a/src/secrets/shared.ts
+++ b/src/secrets/shared.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
-import { formatErrorMessage } from "../infra/errors.js";
 export { isRecord } from "../utils.js";
 
 export function isNonEmptyString(value: unknown): value is string {
@@ -60,7 +59,3 @@ export function writeTextFileAtomic(pathname: string, value: string, mode = 0o60
   fs.chmodSync(tempPath, mode);
   fs.renameSync(tempPath, pathname);
 }
-
-export function describeUnknownError(err: unknown): string {
-  return formatErrorMessage(err);
-}