diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c64548aa5a0..2a08c7fb2e8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Gateway/session stores: regenerate the Swift push-test protocol models and align Windows native session-store realpath handling so protocol checks and sync session discovery stop drifting on Windows. (#44266) thanks @jalehman.
 - Context engine/session routing: forward optional `sessionKey` through context-engine lifecycle calls so plugins can see structured routing metadata during bootstrap, assembly, post-turn ingestion, and compaction. (#44157) thanks @jalehman.
 - Agents/failover: classify z.ai `network_error` stop reasons as retryable timeouts so provider connectivity failures trigger fallback instead of surfacing raw unhandled-stop-reason errors. (#43884) Thanks @hougangdev.
+- Config/Anthropic startup: inline Anthropic alias normalization during config load so gateway startup no longer crashes on dated Anthropic model refs like `anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514`. (#45520) Thanks @BunsDev.
 - Memory/session sync: add mode-aware post-compaction session reindexing with `agents.defaults.compaction.postIndexSync` plus `agents.defaults.memorySearch.sync.sessions.postCompactionForce`, so compacted session memory can refresh immediately without forcing every deployment into synchronous reindexing. (#25561) thanks @rodrigouroz.
 - Telegram/model picker: make inline model button selections persist the chosen session model correctly, clear overrides when selecting the configured default, and include effective fallback models in `/models` button validation. (#40105) Thanks @avirweb.
 - Telegram/native command sync: suppress expected `BOT_COMMANDS_TOO_MUCH` retry error noise, add a final fallback summary log, and document the difference between command-menu overflow and real Telegram network failures.
diff --git a/src/agents/model-selection.test.ts b/src/agents/model-selection.test.ts
index 35ac52dcf26..e2d90f355bc 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-selection.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-selection.test.ts
@@ -121,6 +121,12 @@ describe("model-selection", () => {
         defaultProvider: "anthropic",
         expected: { provider: "anthropic", model: "claude-sonnet-4-6" },
       },
+      {
+        name: "keeps dated anthropic model ids unchanged",
+        variants: ["anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514", "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"],
+        defaultProvider: "anthropic",
+        expected: { provider: "anthropic", model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514" },
+      },
       {
         name: "normalizes deprecated google flash preview ids",
         variants: ["google/gemini-3.1-flash-preview", "gemini-3.1-flash-preview"],
diff --git a/src/agents/model-selection.ts b/src/agents/model-selection.ts
index 7bbd8ed8ba7..6606b0bc4b4 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-selection.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-selection.ts
@@ -31,13 +31,6 @@ export type ModelAliasIndex = {
   byKey: Map<string, string[]>;
 };
 
-const ANTHROPIC_MODEL_ALIASES: Record<string, string> = {
-  "opus-4.6": "claude-opus-4-6",
-  "opus-4.5": "claude-opus-4-5",
-  "sonnet-4.6": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
-  "sonnet-4.5": "claude-sonnet-4-5",
-};
-
 function normalizeAliasKey(value: string): string {
   return value.trim().toLowerCase();
 }
@@ -151,7 +144,20 @@ function normalizeAnthropicModelId(model: string): string {
     return trimmed;
   }
   const lower = trimmed.toLowerCase();
-  return ANTHROPIC_MODEL_ALIASES[lower] ?? trimmed;
+  // Keep alias resolution local so bundled startup paths cannot trip a TDZ on
+  // a module-level alias table while config parsing is still initializing.
+  switch (lower) {
+    case "opus-4.6":
+      return "claude-opus-4-6";
+    case "opus-4.5":
+      return "claude-opus-4-5";
+    case "sonnet-4.6":
+      return "claude-sonnet-4-6";
+    case "sonnet-4.5":
+      return "claude-sonnet-4-5";
+    default:
+      return trimmed;
+  }
 }
 
 function normalizeProviderModelId(provider: string, model: string): string {
diff --git a/src/config/config.pruning-defaults.test.ts b/src/config/config.pruning-defaults.test.ts
index f2f66ce6bac..ad28175e5db 100644
--- a/src/config/config.pruning-defaults.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.pruning-defaults.test.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,33 @@ describe("config pruning defaults", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("adds cacheRetention defaults for dated Anthropic primary model refs", async () => {
+    await withTempHome(async (home) => {
+      await writeConfigForTest(home, {
+        auth: {
+          profiles: {
+            "anthropic:api": { provider: "anthropic", mode: "api_key" },
+          },
+        },
+        agents: {
+          defaults: {
+            model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514" },
+          },
+        },
+      });
+
+      const cfg = loadConfig();
+
+      expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.contextPruning?.mode).toBe("cache-ttl");
+      expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.contextPruning?.ttl).toBe("1h");
+      expect(cfg.agents?.defaults?.heartbeat?.every).toBe("30m");
+      expect(
+        cfg.agents?.defaults?.models?.["anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514"]?.params
+          ?.cacheRetention,
+      ).toBe("short");
+    });
+  });
+
   it("adds default cacheRetention for Anthropic Claude models on Bedrock", async () => {
     await withTempHome(async (home) => {
       await writeConfigForTest(home, {