diff --git a/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.config-guard.test.ts b/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.config-guard.test.ts
index fa1264544df..fdf1b7b5154 100644
--- a/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.config-guard.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.config-guard.test.ts
@@ -193,7 +193,8 @@ describe("config-guard gates repairNotLoaded (#43602 + #35862)", () => {
     });
 
     expect(repairNotLoaded).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-    expect(service.restart).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    // Repair already started the service; service.restart() is NOT called
+    expect(service.restart).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
   it("restart: aborts before repairNotLoaded when config is invalid", async () => {
diff --git a/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.test.ts b/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.test.ts
index 9cbcc163193..561351d6ae4 100644
--- a/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.test.ts
@@ -205,8 +205,9 @@ describe("runServiceRestart token drift", () => {
       });
 
       expect(repairNotLoaded).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-      // After successful repair, start should proceed to restart the service.
-      expect(service.restart).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      // Repair already started the service (bootstrap → kickstart), so
+      // service.restart() should NOT be called — avoids double-kickstart.
+      expect(service.restart).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
       const jsonLine = runtimeLogs.find((line) => line.trim().startsWith("{"));
       const payload = JSON.parse(jsonLine ?? "{}") as { result?: string };
       expect(payload.result).toBe("started");
@@ -307,6 +308,44 @@ describe("runServiceRestart token drift", () => {
       expect(repairNotLoaded).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     });
 
+    it("restart: does not double-log repair message in non-JSON mode", async () => {
+      service.isLoaded.mockResolvedValue(false);
+      const repairNotLoaded = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true });
+      const serviceWithRepair = { ...service, repairNotLoaded };
+
+      const result = await runServiceRestart({
+        serviceNoun: "Gateway",
+        service: serviceWithRepair,
+        renderStartHints: () => [],
+        opts: { json: false },
+        onNotLoaded: async () => null,
+      });
+
+      expect(result).toBe(true);
+      expect(repairNotLoaded).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      // The re-registered message should appear exactly once in non-JSON output
+      const reRegisterLogs = runtimeLogs.filter((line) => line.includes("re-registered"));
+      expect(reRegisterLogs).toHaveLength(1);
+    });
+
+    it("restart: does not call service.restart after successful repair (no double-kickstart)", async () => {
+      service.isLoaded.mockResolvedValue(false);
+      const repairNotLoaded = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true });
+      const serviceWithRepair = { ...service, repairNotLoaded };
+
+      await runServiceRestart({
+        serviceNoun: "Gateway",
+        service: serviceWithRepair,
+        renderStartHints: () => [],
+        opts: { json: true },
+        onNotLoaded: async () => null,
+      });
+
+      // repairLaunchAgentBootstrap already kickstarted the service.
+      // service.restart() should NOT be called — avoids redundant kill+restart.
+      expect(service.restart).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
     it("restart: falls through to hints when repair returns ok:false", async () => {
       service.isLoaded.mockResolvedValue(false);
       const repairNotLoaded = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: false });
diff --git a/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.ts b/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.ts
index 389d9609153..344ddfe84f3 100644
--- a/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.ts
+++ b/src/cli/daemon-cli/lifecycle-core.ts
@@ -219,12 +219,20 @@ export async function runServiceStart(params: {
     try {
       const repair = await params.service.repairNotLoaded({ env: process.env });
       if (repair.ok) {
-        loaded = true;
+        // repairLaunchAgentBootstrap already started the service (enable →
+        // bootstrap → kickstart).  Emit success and return — calling
+        // service.restart() here would be a redundant kill+restart cycle.
+        const message = `${params.serviceNoun} was not loaded — re-registered from existing service definition.`;
+        emit({
+          ok: true,
+          result: "started",
+          message,
+          service: buildDaemonServiceSnapshot(params.service, true),
+        });
         if (!json) {
-          defaultRuntime.log(
-            `${params.serviceNoun} was not loaded — re-registered from existing service definition.`,
-          );
+          defaultRuntime.log(message);
         }
+        return;
       }
     } catch {
       // Best-effort repair; fall through to normal not-loaded handling.
@@ -416,17 +424,20 @@ export async function runServiceRestart(params: {
       // No running process to signal, but the service definition may still
       // exist on disk (e.g. macOS LaunchAgent unloaded after sleep/idle).
       // Re-register it so `restart` can proceed normally.  See #43602.
+      //
+      // repairLaunchAgentBootstrap already starts the service (enable →
+      // bootstrap → kickstart), so we do NOT set `loaded = true` here —
+      // that would cause the `if (loaded)` branch below to call
+      // `service.restart()`, issuing a redundant kill+restart cycle.
+      // Instead we record the result via `handledNotLoaded` and let the
+      // end-of-function emit path handle messaging.
       try {
         const repair = await params.service.repairNotLoaded({ env: process.env });
         if (repair.ok) {
-          loaded = true;
           handledNotLoaded = {
             result: "restarted",
             message: `${params.serviceNoun} was not loaded — re-registered from existing service definition.`,
           };
-          if (!json) {
-            defaultRuntime.log(handledNotLoaded.message);
-          }
         }
       } catch {
         // Best-effort repair; fall through to normal not-loaded handling.