diff --git a/electron/utils/openclaw-auth.ts b/electron/utils/openclaw-auth.ts
index a5d95e3a..3a5e19d2 100644
--- a/electron/utils/openclaw-auth.ts
+++ b/electron/utils/openclaw-auth.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import {
 } from './provider-keys';
 import { normalizePiAiModelCost, type PiAiModelCostRates } from '../shared/pi-ai-model-cost';
 import { withConfigLock } from './config-mutex';
+import { ensureMemorySearchDisabledDefault, hasUserMemorySearchConfig } from './openclaw-memory-search';
 import { PORTS } from './config';
 import { getSetting } from './store';
 import {
@@ -2675,6 +2676,19 @@ export async function batchSyncConfigFields(token: string): Promise<void> {
       console.log('[batch-sync] Seeded agents.defaults.compaction.mode=safeguard');
     }
 
+    // ── Memory search default ──
+    // OpenClaw defaults to the openai embedding provider; without a key that
+    // yields doctor errors and a broken memory_search tool. Seed enabled=false
+    // only when the user has no memorySearch config anywhere AND no OpenAI key
+    // (i.e. the default embedding model is unusable). Existing user config is
+    // never modified.
+    if (!hasUserMemorySearchConfig(config)
+      && !(await getProviderApiKeyFromOpenClaw('openai'))
+      && ensureMemorySearchDisabledDefault(config)) {
+      modified = true;
+      console.log('[batch-sync] Seeded agents.defaults.memorySearch.enabled=false (no embedding provider configured)');
+    }
+
     // ── Custom provider contextWindow backfill ──
     const backfilledContextWindows = backfillCustomProviderModelContextWindows(config);
     if (backfilledContextWindows.length > 0) {
diff --git a/electron/utils/openclaw-memory-search.ts b/electron/utils/openclaw-memory-search.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..793145c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/electron/utils/openclaw-memory-search.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/**
+ * Memory search default seeding for openclaw.json.
+ *
+ * OpenClaw enables semantic memory search by default with the `openai`
+ * embedding provider, so a user without an OpenAI key gets doctor errors and
+ * a broken memory_search tool. ClawX seeds `agents.defaults.memorySearch =
+ * { enabled: false }` at Gateway prelaunch — but only when the user has no
+ * memorySearch config anywhere (global defaults or per-agent overrides).
+ * Existing user config is never modified.
+ */
+
+function isRecord(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
+  return Boolean(value) && typeof value === 'object' && !Array.isArray(value);
+}
+
+/**
+ * True when the user manages memorySearch themselves: either
+ * `agents.defaults.memorySearch` or any `agents.list[].memorySearch` exists.
+ */
+export function hasUserMemorySearchConfig(config: Record<string, unknown>): boolean {
+  const agents = isRecord(config.agents) ? config.agents : undefined;
+  if (!agents) return false;
+
+  const defaults = isRecord(agents.defaults) ? agents.defaults : undefined;
+  if (defaults && defaults.memorySearch !== undefined) return true;
+
+  const list = Array.isArray(agents.list) ? agents.list : [];
+  return list.some((entry) => isRecord(entry) && entry.memorySearch !== undefined);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Seed `agents.defaults.memorySearch = { enabled: false }` when the user has
+ * no memorySearch config at all. Mutates `config` in place and returns true
+ * when a change was made. Never touches existing memorySearch objects.
+ */
+export function ensureMemorySearchDisabledDefault(config: Record<string, unknown>): boolean {
+  if (hasUserMemorySearchConfig(config)) return false;
+
+  const agents = (isRecord(config.agents) ? config.agents : {}) as Record<string, unknown>;
+  const defaults = (isRecord(agents.defaults) ? agents.defaults : {}) as Record<string, unknown>;
+
+  defaults.memorySearch = { enabled: false };
+  agents.defaults = defaults;
+  config.agents = agents;
+  return true;
+}
diff --git a/tests/unit/openclaw-memory-search.test.ts b/tests/unit/openclaw-memory-search.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..46fb04fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/openclaw-memory-search.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  ensureMemorySearchDisabledDefault,
+  hasUserMemorySearchConfig,
+} from '@electron/utils/openclaw-memory-search';
+
+describe('openclaw-memory-search', () => {
+  it('seeds memorySearch.enabled=false when no memorySearch config exists', () => {
+    const config: Record<string, unknown> = {
+      agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: 'custom-customfc/gpt-5.5' } } },
+    };
+    expect(ensureMemorySearchDisabledDefault(config)).toBe(true);
+    expect(config).toEqual({
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          model: { primary: 'custom-customfc/gpt-5.5' },
+          memorySearch: { enabled: false },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('seeds on a completely empty config', () => {
+    const config: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+    expect(ensureMemorySearchDisabledDefault(config)).toBe(true);
+    expect(config).toEqual({
+      agents: { defaults: { memorySearch: { enabled: false } } },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('never touches existing defaults.memorySearch config', () => {
+    const config: Record<string, unknown> = {
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          memorySearch: {
+            provider: 'custom-customfc',
+            model: 'text-embedding-3-small',
+            fallback: 'none',
+            remote: { baseUrl: 'https://taolat.com/v1' },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const before = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(config));
+    expect(ensureMemorySearchDisabledDefault(config)).toBe(false);
+    expect(config).toEqual(before);
+  });
+
+  it('never seeds when a per-agent memorySearch override exists', () => {
+    const config: Record<string, unknown> = {
+      agents: {
+        defaults: { model: { primary: 'openai/gpt-4o' } },
+        list: [
+          { id: 'main' },
+          { id: 'research', memorySearch: { provider: 'openai' } },
+        ],
+      },
+    };
+    const before = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(config));
+    expect(ensureMemorySearchDisabledDefault(config)).toBe(false);
+    expect(config).toEqual(before);
+  });
+
+  it('treats explicit enabled=true as user config', () => {
+    const config: Record<string, unknown> = {
+      agents: { defaults: { memorySearch: { enabled: true } } },
+    };
+    expect(hasUserMemorySearchConfig(config)).toBe(true);
+    expect(ensureMemorySearchDisabledDefault(config)).toBe(false);
+    expect((config.agents as { defaults: { memorySearch: { enabled: boolean } } }).defaults.memorySearch.enabled).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('treats an empty memorySearch object as user config', () => {
+    const config: Record<string, unknown> = {
+      agents: { defaults: { memorySearch: {} } },
+    };
+    expect(hasUserMemorySearchConfig(config)).toBe(true);
+    expect(ensureMemorySearchDisabledDefault(config)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});