diff --git a/scripts/test-parallel.mjs b/scripts/test-parallel.mjs
index 94d2a173a0e..8c63e61aeb4 100644
--- a/scripts/test-parallel.mjs
+++ b/scripts/test-parallel.mjs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import fs from "node:fs";
 import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { channelTestPrefixes } from "../vitest.channel-paths.mjs";
+import { isUnitConfigTestFile } from "../vitest.unit-paths.mjs";
 import {
   loadTestRunnerBehavior,
   loadUnitTimingManifest,
@@ -16,10 +17,11 @@ const pnpm = "pnpm";
 const behaviorManifest = loadTestRunnerBehavior();
 const existingFiles = (entries) =>
   entries.map((entry) => entry.file).filter((file) => fs.existsSync(file));
-const unitBehaviorIsolatedFiles = existingFiles(behaviorManifest.unit.isolated);
-const unitSingletonIsolatedFiles = existingFiles(behaviorManifest.unit.singletonIsolated);
-const unitThreadSingletonFiles = existingFiles(behaviorManifest.unit.threadSingleton);
-const unitVmForkSingletonFiles = existingFiles(behaviorManifest.unit.vmForkSingleton);
+const existingUnitConfigFiles = (entries) => existingFiles(entries).filter(isUnitConfigTestFile);
+const unitBehaviorIsolatedFiles = existingUnitConfigFiles(behaviorManifest.unit.isolated);
+const unitSingletonIsolatedFiles = existingUnitConfigFiles(behaviorManifest.unit.singletonIsolated);
+const unitThreadSingletonFiles = existingUnitConfigFiles(behaviorManifest.unit.threadSingleton);
+const unitVmForkSingletonFiles = existingUnitConfigFiles(behaviorManifest.unit.vmForkSingleton);
 const unitBehaviorOverrideSet = new Set([
   ...unitBehaviorIsolatedFiles,
   ...unitSingletonIsolatedFiles,
@@ -237,10 +239,7 @@ const parseEnvNumber = (name, fallback) => {
   return Number.isFinite(parsed) && parsed >= 0 ? parsed : fallback;
 };
 const allKnownUnitFiles = allKnownTestFiles.filter((file) => {
-  if (file.endsWith(".live.test.ts") || file.endsWith(".e2e.test.ts")) {
-    return false;
-  }
-  return inferTarget(file).owner !== "gateway";
+  return isUnitConfigTestFile(file);
 });
 const defaultHeavyUnitFileLimit =
   testProfile === "serial" ? 0 : testProfile === "low" ? 20 : highMemLocalHost ? 80 : 60;
@@ -730,10 +729,12 @@ const runOnce = (entry, extraArgs = []) =>
 
 const run = async (entry, extraArgs = []) => {
   const explicitFilterCount = countExplicitEntryFilters(entry.args);
-  // Wrapper-generated singleton/small-file lanes should not ask Vitest to shard
-  // into more buckets than there are explicit test filters.
+  // Vitest requires the shard count to stay strictly below the number of
+  // resolved test files, so explicit-filter lanes need a `< fileCount` cap.
   const effectiveShardCount =
-    explicitFilterCount === null ? shardCount : Math.min(shardCount, explicitFilterCount);
+    explicitFilterCount === null
+      ? shardCount
+      : Math.min(shardCount, Math.max(1, explicitFilterCount - 1));
 
   if (effectiveShardCount <= 1) {
     if (shardIndexOverride !== null && shardIndexOverride > effectiveShardCount) {
diff --git a/test/vitest-unit-paths.test.ts b/test/vitest-unit-paths.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e8cbe961990
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/vitest-unit-paths.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { isUnitConfigTestFile } from "../vitest.unit-paths.mjs";
+
+describe("isUnitConfigTestFile", () => {
+  it("accepts unit-config src, test, and whitelisted ui tests", () => {
+    expect(isUnitConfigTestFile("src/infra/git-commit.test.ts")).toBe(true);
+    expect(isUnitConfigTestFile("test/format-error.test.ts")).toBe(true);
+    expect(isUnitConfigTestFile("ui/src/ui/views/chat.test.ts")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("rejects files excluded from the unit config", () => {
+    expect(
+      isUnitConfigTestFile("extensions/imessage/src/monitor.shutdown.unhandled-rejection.test.ts"),
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(isUnitConfigTestFile("src/agents/pi-embedded-runner.test.ts")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isUnitConfigTestFile("src/commands/onboard.test.ts")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isUnitConfigTestFile("ui/src/ui/views/other.test.ts")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isUnitConfigTestFile("src/infra/git-commit.live.test.ts")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isUnitConfigTestFile("src/infra/git-commit.e2e.test.ts")).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/vitest.unit-paths.mjs b/vitest.unit-paths.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c0becc4d048
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vitest.unit-paths.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import path from "node:path";
+
+export const unitTestIncludePatterns = [
+  "src/**/*.test.ts",
+  "test/**/*.test.ts",
+  "ui/src/ui/app-chat.test.ts",
+  "ui/src/ui/views/agents-utils.test.ts",
+  "ui/src/ui/views/chat.test.ts",
+  "ui/src/ui/views/usage-render-details.test.ts",
+  "ui/src/ui/controllers/agents.test.ts",
+  "ui/src/ui/controllers/chat.test.ts",
+];
+
+export const unitTestAdditionalExcludePatterns = [
+  "src/gateway/**",
+  "extensions/**",
+  "src/browser/**",
+  "src/line/**",
+  "src/agents/**",
+  "src/auto-reply/**",
+  "src/commands/**",
+];
+
+const sharedBaseExcludePatterns = [
+  "dist/**",
+  "apps/macos/**",
+  "apps/macos/.build/**",
+  "**/node_modules/**",
+  "**/vendor/**",
+  "dist/OpenClaw.app/**",
+  "**/*.live.test.ts",
+  "**/*.e2e.test.ts",
+];
+
+const normalizeRepoPath = (value) => value.split(path.sep).join("/");
+
+const matchesAny = (file, patterns) => patterns.some((pattern) => path.matchesGlob(file, pattern));
+
+export function isUnitConfigTestFile(file) {
+  const normalizedFile = normalizeRepoPath(file);
+  return (
+    matchesAny(normalizedFile, unitTestIncludePatterns) &&
+    !matchesAny(normalizedFile, sharedBaseExcludePatterns) &&
+    !matchesAny(normalizedFile, unitTestAdditionalExcludePatterns)
+  );
+}
diff --git a/vitest.unit.config.ts b/vitest.unit.config.ts
index 4d4fd934fe1..ab6757c3351 100644
--- a/vitest.unit.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.unit.config.ts
@@ -1,27 +1,19 @@
 import { defineConfig } from "vitest/config";
 import baseConfig from "./vitest.config.ts";
+import {
+  unitTestAdditionalExcludePatterns,
+  unitTestIncludePatterns,
+} from "./vitest.unit-paths.mjs";
 
 const base = baseConfig as unknown as Record<string, unknown>;
 const baseTest = (baseConfig as { test?: { include?: string[]; exclude?: string[] } }).test ?? {};
-const include = (
-  baseTest.include ?? ["src/**/*.test.ts", "extensions/**/*.test.ts", "test/format-error.test.ts"]
-).filter((pattern) => !pattern.includes("extensions/"));
 const exclude = baseTest.exclude ?? [];
 
 export default defineConfig({
   ...base,
   test: {
     ...baseTest,
-    include,
-    exclude: [
-      ...exclude,
-      "src/gateway/**",
-      "extensions/**",
-      "src/browser/**",
-      "src/line/**",
-      "src/agents/**",
-      "src/auto-reply/**",
-      "src/commands/**",
-    ],
+    include: unitTestIncludePatterns,
+    exclude: [...exclude, ...unitTestAdditionalExcludePatterns],
   },
 });