fix(agent): network-link gate before initial config fetch + post-registration recovery

Root cause (edu.kosh audit 2026-08-24, session ba828038): on boot-time relaunches
the agent starts before the Wi-Fi link is up. The Phase 4 config fetch had no
network gate (98f8114d only guarded Phase 6 registration), burned its 10/30/60s
retry budget into a dead link and stranded the whole session on built-in defaults
(ConfigVersion=0) — up to ~50% of that tenant's sessions, with no self-heal short
of a manual rotate_config action. Not a version regression: rates varied wildly
per day within the same agent build; the failed requests never reached the backend.

Two complementary layers:
- RemoteConfigService gates the initial fetch on the shared NetworkLinkWait poll
  (60s cap — longer than registration's 15s because the fetch runs first), so the
  retry budget starts on a live link. rotate_config stays ungated (latency-bound).
- Phase 6.5: after registration proves the backend reachable, TryRecoverConfigAsync
  refetches once and AgentRuntimeConfig.TryRecoverAfterRegistration re-applies the
  live config (same merge/integrity pipeline as Phase 4). LastFetch* keeps the
  original failure record; remote_config_fetch_failed reports it with a recovered
  flag at Info severity, agent_started flags remoteConfigRecovered.

Deliberately not re-run in recovery: kill-signal check (telemetry-channel control
signals cover post-registration kills) and endpoint migration (next start).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests/Configuration/RemoteConfigServiceRetryTests.cs

@@ -128,6 +128,94 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests.Configuration
             Assert.Equal(4, svc.LastFetchAttempts);
         }
 
+        // ── Network-link gate (edu.kosh audit 2026-08-24) ───────────────────
+
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task FetchConfig_InitialFetch_WaitsForNetworkLink()
+        {
+            // The initial startup fetch must gate on the link-level signal so the retry
+            // budget isn't burned into a NIC that is provably still down (agent relaunched
+            // at boot, Wi-Fi still associating).
+            var svc = NewService(BackendBehaviour.SuccessImmediately);
+
+            await svc.FetchConfigAsync(retryOnTransientErrors: true);
+
+            Assert.Equal(1, svc.NetworkLinkWaits);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task FetchConfig_RotatePath_SkipsNetworkLinkGate()
+        {
+            // rotate_config runs mid-session on a proven link and must stay latency-bounded.
+            var svc = NewService(BackendBehaviour.SuccessImmediately);
+
+            await svc.FetchConfigAsync(retryOnTransientErrors: false);
+
+            Assert.Equal(0, svc.NetworkLinkWaits);
+        }
+
+        // ── Post-registration recovery ──────────────────────────────────────
+
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task TryRecover_AfterFailedFetch_AppliesLiveConfig_KeepsFailureRecord()
+        {
+            // The core self-heal contract: registration proved the backend reachable, the
+            // recovery swaps in the live config — but the LastFetch* observability keeps
+            // describing the failed startup fetch so the wire event can report both.
+            var svc = NewService(BackendBehaviour.FailAllThenSucceed);
+            await svc.FetchConfigAsync(retryOnTransientErrors: true);
+            Assert.Equal(RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.UsedDefaults, svc.LastFetchOutcome);
+
+            var recovered = await svc.TryRecoverConfigAsync();
+
+            Assert.NotNull(recovered);
+            Assert.Equal(42, recovered.ConfigVersion);
+            Assert.Equal(42, svc.CurrentConfig.ConfigVersion);
+            Assert.True(svc.RecoveredAfterFetchFailure);
+            // Startup-failure record intact:
+            Assert.Equal(RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.UsedDefaults, svc.LastFetchOutcome);
+            Assert.Equal(1 + RemoteConfigService.InitialFetchRetryBackoff.Length, svc.LastFetchAttempts);
+            Assert.Equal(nameof(HttpRequestException), svc.LastFetchFailureType);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task TryRecover_AfterSuccessfulFetch_IsNoOp()
+        {
+            var svc = NewService(BackendBehaviour.SuccessImmediately);
+            await svc.FetchConfigAsync(retryOnTransientErrors: true);
+
+            var recovered = await svc.TryRecoverConfigAsync();
+
+            Assert.Null(recovered);
+            Assert.False(svc.RecoveredAfterFetchFailure);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task TryRecover_BeforeAnyFetch_IsNoOp()
+        {
+            var svc = NewService(BackendBehaviour.SuccessImmediately);
+
+            var recovered = await svc.TryRecoverConfigAsync();
+
+            Assert.Null(recovered);
+            Assert.False(svc.RecoveredAfterFetchFailure);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task TryRecover_WhenBackendStillFailing_KeepsFallback_NeverThrows()
+        {
+            var svc = NewService(BackendBehaviour.AlwaysTransientFailure);
+            var fallback = await svc.FetchConfigAsync(retryOnTransientErrors: true);
+            Assert.Equal(0, fallback.ConfigVersion);
+
+            var recovered = await svc.TryRecoverConfigAsync();
+
+            Assert.Null(recovered);
+            Assert.False(svc.RecoveredAfterFetchFailure);
+            Assert.Equal(0, svc.CurrentConfig.ConfigVersion); // fallback config untouched
+            Assert.Equal(RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.UsedDefaults, svc.LastFetchOutcome);
+        }
+
         // ── Outcome state defaults ──────────────────────────────────────────
 
         [Fact]
@@ -145,6 +233,8 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests.Configuration
             SuccessImmediately,
             AlwaysTransientFailure,
             FailTwiceThenSucceed,
+            /// <summary>All 4 initial attempts fail; the NEXT call (the recovery fetch) succeeds.</summary>
+            FailAllThenSucceed,
             AlwaysAuthFailure401,
             AlwaysReturnNull,
         }
@@ -177,6 +267,9 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests.Configuration
                 _behaviour = behaviour;
             }
 
+            /// <summary>Number of times the network-link gate seam was awaited.</summary>
+            public int NetworkLinkWaits { get; private set; }
+
             protected override Task<AgentConfigResponse> CallBackendAsync()
             {
                 _calls++;
@@ -188,6 +281,10 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests.Configuration
                         if (_calls < 3)
                             throw new HttpRequestException("simulated cold-start timeout");
                         return Task.FromResult(new AgentConfigResponse { ConfigVersion = 42 });
+                    case BackendBehaviour.FailAllThenSucceed:
+                        if (_calls <= 1 + RemoteConfigService.InitialFetchRetryBackoff.Length)
+                            throw new HttpRequestException("simulated dead network link");
+                        return Task.FromResult(new AgentConfigResponse { ConfigVersion = 42 });
                     case BackendBehaviour.AlwaysTransientFailure:
                         throw new HttpRequestException("simulated network failure");
                     case BackendBehaviour.AlwaysAuthFailure401:
@@ -202,6 +299,13 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests.Configuration
             // Zero-delay so the suite finishes in ms instead of the live 10/30/60 s schedule.
             protected override Task DelayBetweenAttemptsAsync(TimeSpan delay) => Task.CompletedTask;
 
+            // Record + skip the real link poll so the suite is deterministic on offline CI.
+            protected override Task WaitForNetworkLinkAsync()
+            {
+                NetworkLinkWaits++;
+                return Task.CompletedTask;
+            }
+
             // In-memory + per-instance cache so a prior test's successful fetch can't
             // bleed into a later test that expects UsedDefaults.
             private AgentConfigResponse? _cached;

src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests/Program/LifecycleEmittersRemoteConfigTests.cs

@@ -182,6 +182,73 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests.Program
             Assert.Equal("FromCache", data["outcome"]);
         }
 
+        // ── Post-registration recovery (Phase 6.5, edu.kosh audit 2026-08-24) ─
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void EmitFetchFailedIfAny_AfterRecovery_MarksRecoveredAndDemotesToInfo()
+        {
+            using var rig = new EmitterRig();
+            // Startup fetch failed (network link not up yet), then the post-registration
+            // recovery fetched ConfigVersion 39. The event must keep the original failure
+            // details AND mark the heal.
+            rig.RemoteConfig.SetFakeOutcome(
+                RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.UsedDefaults,
+                configVersion: 39, // CurrentConfig now holds the recovered config
+                attempts: 4,
+                failureType: "HttpRequestException",
+                failureMessage: "simulated dead network link",
+                recovered: true);
+
+            LifecycleEmitters.EmitRemoteConfigFetchFailedIfAny(
+                rig.Post, rig.AgentConfig, rig.RemoteConfig, rig.Logger);
+
+            var data = AssertSingleEmit(rig.Sink, expectedEventType: "remote_config_fetch_failed");
+            Assert.Equal("UsedDefaults", data["outcome"]); // startup failure record intact
+            Assert.Equal(4, data["attempts"]);
+            Assert.Equal(true, data["recovered"]);
+            Assert.Equal(39, data["recoveredConfigVersion"]);
+            Assert.Equal(nameof(EventSeverity.Info), rig.Sink.Posted[0].Payload!["severity"]);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void EmitFetchFailedIfAny_WithoutRecovery_StaysWarning()
+        {
+            using var rig = new EmitterRig();
+            rig.RemoteConfig.SetFakeOutcome(
+                RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.UsedDefaults,
+                configVersion: 0,
+                attempts: 4,
+                failureType: "HttpRequestException",
+                failureMessage: "still down");
+
+            LifecycleEmitters.EmitRemoteConfigFetchFailedIfAny(
+                rig.Post, rig.AgentConfig, rig.RemoteConfig, rig.Logger);
+
+            var data = AssertSingleEmit(rig.Sink, expectedEventType: "remote_config_fetch_failed");
+            Assert.False(data.ContainsKey("recovered"));
+            Assert.False(data.ContainsKey("recoveredConfigVersion"));
+            Assert.Equal(nameof(EventSeverity.Warning), rig.Sink.Posted[0].Payload!["severity"]);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void EmitAgentStarted_AfterRecovery_FlagsLiveConfig()
+        {
+            using var rig = new EmitterRig();
+            rig.RemoteConfig.SetFakeOutcome(
+                RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.UsedDefaults,
+                configVersion: 39,
+                recovered: true);
+
+            LifecycleEmitters.EmitAgentStarted(
+                rig.Post, rig.AgentConfig, rig.PreviousExit, "2.0.806", rig.RemoteConfig, rig.Logger);
+
+            var data = AssertSingleEmit(rig.Sink, expectedEventType: "agent_started");
+            Assert.Equal(39, data["configVersion"]);
+            Assert.Equal(true, data["remoteConfigFetched"]); // running on a live-fetched config
+            Assert.Equal("UsedDefaults", data["remoteConfigOutcome"]); // startup outcome stays honest
+            Assert.Equal(true, data["remoteConfigRecovered"]);
+        }
+
         // ── Helpers ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
         private static Dictionary<string, object> AssertSingleEmit(
@@ -258,8 +325,10 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Tests.Program
                 int attempts = 1,
                 string? failureType = null,
                 string? failureMessage = null,
-                int? authStatusCode = null)
+                int? authStatusCode = null,
+                bool recovered = false)
             {
+                typeof(RemoteConfigService).GetProperty(nameof(RecoveredAfterFetchFailure))?.SetValue(this, recovered);
                 // CurrentConfig is set via the protected SetConfig path — easiest:
                 // a real FetchConfigAsync replacement that just stashes a canned config.
                 typeof(RemoteConfigService).GetMethod("SetConfig",

src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core/Configuration/RemoteConfigService.cs

@@ -42,6 +42,15 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Configuration
             TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60),
         };
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Upper bound for the pre-fetch network-link wait on the initial startup fetch.
+        /// Deliberately longer than the registration gate's 15s: the fetch runs FIRST after a
+        /// boot-time relaunch, when Wi-Fi may still be associating (802.1X, OOBE), and a fetch
+        /// burned into a dead link strands the whole session on built-in defaults — edu.kosh
+        /// audit 2026-08-24: ~50% of sessions lost their tenant config exactly this way.
+        /// </summary>
+        internal static readonly TimeSpan InitialFetchNetworkLinkWaitMax = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60);
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets the current configuration (thread-safe)
         /// </summary>
@@ -76,6 +85,13 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Configuration
         /// <summary>HTTP status for auth failures (401/403), null otherwise.</summary>
         public int? LastFetchAuthStatusCode { get; private set; }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// True once <see cref="TryRecoverConfigAsync"/> replaced a failed startup fetch with a
+        /// live config. The <c>LastFetch*</c> properties intentionally keep describing the failed
+        /// startup fetch so the wire event can report both the original failure and the recovery.
+        /// </summary>
+        public bool RecoveredAfterFetchFailure { get; private set; }
+
         public RemoteConfigService(BackendApiClient apiClient, string tenantId, AgentLogger logger, EmergencyReporter emergencyReporter = null, DistressReporter distressReporter = null, AuthFailureTracker authFailureTracker = null)
         {
             _apiClient = apiClient ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(apiClient));
@@ -116,6 +132,18 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Configuration
             LastFetchFailureMessage = null;
             LastFetchAuthStatusCode = null;
 
+            // Initial startup fetch only: give a still-associating NIC a chance to come up
+            // before the first attempt. Without this the retry budget (10/30/60s) is burned
+            // into a provably dead link — the agent starts at boot, Wi-Fi associates minutes
+            // later, and the session runs on defaults although the backend was never the
+            // problem. The rotate_config path (retryOnTransientErrors:false) runs mid-session
+            // on a proven link and must stay latency-bounded, so it skips the gate.
+            if (retryOnTransientErrors)
+            {
+                try { await WaitForNetworkLinkAsync().ConfigureAwait(false); }
+                catch (Exception ex) { _logger.Debug($"Pre-fetch network wait failed ({ex.Message}) — fetching anyway."); }
+            }
+
             var maxAttempts = retryOnTransientErrors ? InitialFetchRetryBackoff.Length + 1 : 1;
             Exception lastException = null;
 
@@ -211,6 +239,52 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Configuration
             return defaults;
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Single-attempt recovery fetch for a session whose startup fetch failed. Called right
+        /// after session registration succeeded — registration proves the backend is reachable,
+        /// so the config that Phase 4 could not get is one cheap call away instead of the whole
+        /// session being stranded on cache/defaults (only a manual <c>rotate_config</c> action
+        /// could rescue it before this existed).
+        /// <para>
+        /// Unlike <see cref="FetchConfigAsync"/> this does NOT reset the <c>LastFetch*</c>
+        /// observability state — those keep describing the failed startup fetch so
+        /// <c>remote_config_fetch_failed</c> can report the original failure AND the recovery.
+        /// Returns the recovered config, or null when there is nothing to recover (startup fetch
+        /// succeeded / never ran) or the recovery attempt itself failed. Never throws.
+        /// </para>
+        /// </summary>
+        public async Task<AgentConfigResponse> TryRecoverConfigAsync()
+        {
+            if (LastFetchOutcome != RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.FromCache &&
+                LastFetchOutcome != RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.UsedDefaults)
+                return null;
+
+            try
+            {
+                _logger.Info("Retrying remote config fetch after successful session registration...");
+                var config = await CallBackendAsync().ConfigureAwait(false);
+                if (config == null)
+                {
+                    _logger.Warning("Config recovery fetch returned empty response — keeping fallback config.");
+                    return null;
+                }
+
+                _logger.Info($"Remote config recovered: ConfigVersion={config.ConfigVersion}, " +
+                             $"GatherRules={config.GatherRules?.Count ?? 0}");
+                LogCollectorSettings(config.Collectors);
+                SetConfig(config);
+                CacheConfig(config);
+                _authFailureTracker?.RecordSuccess();
+                RecoveredAfterFetchFailure = true;
+                return config;
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                _logger.Warning($"Config recovery fetch failed ({ex.Message}) — keeping fallback config.");
+                return null;
+            }
+        }
+
         private void SetConfig(AgentConfigResponse config)
         {
             lock (_configLock)
@@ -358,6 +432,15 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Configuration
         protected virtual Task DelayBetweenAttemptsAsync(TimeSpan delay)
             => Task.Delay(delay);
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Awaits the pre-fetch network-link gate (initial startup fetch only). Production
+        /// polls the link-level signal via <see cref="NetworkLinkWait"/> bounded by
+        /// <see cref="InitialFetchNetworkLinkWaitMax"/>; tests subclass to record the call
+        /// and return immediately.
+        /// </summary>
+        protected virtual Task WaitForNetworkLinkAsync()
+            => NetworkLinkWait.WaitAsync(_logger, InitialFetchNetworkLinkWaitMax, "Remote config fetch");
+
         public void Dispose()
         {
             // Nothing to dispose

src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core/Monitoring/Transport/NetworkLinkWait.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+using System;
+using System.Net.NetworkInformation;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Logging;
+
+namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Monitoring.Transport
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Boot-time NIC grace shared by every first-contact backend call (remote-config fetch,
+    /// session registration, emergency-break reporter pattern): polls the cheap link-level
+    /// signal once per second for at most <paramref name="maxWait"/>. It cannot prove backend
+    /// reachability — the callers' retry loops handle that — it only keeps retry budgets from
+    /// being burned into a link that is provably still down (BootTrigger relaunch after a
+    /// mid-enrollment reboot, Wi-Fi still associating; tenant aebdce78 audits 2026-08-23/24).
+    /// Free on the normal path — a live link returns immediately. Probe errors end the wait,
+    /// never the caller's operation.
+    /// </summary>
+    internal static class NetworkLinkWait
+    {
+        internal static async Task WaitAsync(AgentLogger logger, TimeSpan maxWait, string context)
+        {
+            if (NetworkInterface.GetIsNetworkAvailable()) return;
+
+            logger?.Info($"{context}: no network link yet — waiting up to {maxWait.TotalSeconds:F0}s.");
+            var deadline = DateTime.UtcNow + maxWait;
+            while (DateTime.UtcNow < deadline)
+            {
+                await Task.Delay(1000).ConfigureAwait(false);
+                if (NetworkInterface.GetIsNetworkAvailable())
+                {
+                    logger?.Info($"{context}: network link is up.");
+                    return;
+                }
+            }
+            logger?.Warning($"{context}: still no network link after {maxWait.TotalSeconds:F0}s — attempting anyway.");
+        }
+    }
+}

src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core/Security/SessionRegistrationHelper.cs

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 using System;
-using System.Net.NetworkInformation;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Configuration;
 using AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Logging;
@@ -165,29 +164,12 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Core.Security
             => Task.Delay(((int)Math.Pow(2, attempt)) * 1000);
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Boot-time NIC grace (same pattern as the emergency-break reporter): polls the cheap
-        /// link-level signal once per second for at most <see cref="NetworkLinkWaitMax"/>. It
-        /// cannot prove backend reachability — the retry loop handles that — it only keeps the
-        /// first attempts from being burned into a link that is provably still down. Probe
+        /// Boot-time NIC grace before the first registration attempt — shared polling loop in
+        /// <see cref="NetworkLinkWait"/>, bounded by <see cref="NetworkLinkWaitMax"/>. Probe
         /// errors end the wait, never the registration.
         /// </summary>
-        internal static async Task WaitForNetworkLinkAsync(AgentLogger logger)
-        {
-            if (NetworkInterface.GetIsNetworkAvailable()) return;
-
-            logger?.Info($"Session registration: no network link yet — waiting up to {NetworkLinkWaitMax.TotalSeconds:F0}s.");
-            var deadline = DateTime.UtcNow + NetworkLinkWaitMax;
-            while (DateTime.UtcNow < deadline)
-            {
-                await Task.Delay(1000).ConfigureAwait(false);
-                if (NetworkInterface.GetIsNetworkAvailable())
-                {
-                    logger?.Info("Session registration: network link is up.");
-                    return;
-                }
-            }
-            logger?.Warning($"Session registration: still no network link after {NetworkLinkWaitMax.TotalSeconds:F0}s — attempting anyway.");
-        }
+        internal static Task WaitForNetworkLinkAsync(AgentLogger logger)
+            => NetworkLinkWait.WaitAsync(logger, NetworkLinkWaitMax, "Session registration");
 
         private static SessionRegistration BuildRegistration(
             AgentConfiguration agentConfig,

src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2/Program.cs

@@ -274,6 +274,15 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2
             {
                 return registration.ExitCode;
             }
+
+            // Phase 6.5 (config self-heal): when the Phase 4 fetch ran before the network link
+            // was up, registration has just proven the backend reachable — retry the fetch once
+            // so the session runs on the live tenant config instead of cache/defaults.
+            // See AgentRuntimeConfig.TryRecoverAfterRegistration for what is deliberately
+            // NOT re-run here (kill-signal check, endpoint migration).
+            Runtime.AgentRuntimeConfig.TryRecoverAfterRegistration(
+                bootstrap.AgentConfig, auth, runtimeConfig, GetAgentVersion(), consoleMode, logger);
+
             // Phase 7+8 (orchestrator + shutdown lifecycle + onIngressReady wiring +
             // initial signal posts + analyzer/probes startup + shutdown.Wait + finally)
             // is encapsulated in AgentRuntimeHost. See Runtime/AgentRuntimeHost.cs.

src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2/Runtime/AgentRuntimeConfig.cs

@@ -69,6 +69,63 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Runtime
                 }
             }
 
+            var configMergeResult = ApplyFetchedConfig(agentConfig, remoteConfig, auth, agentVersion, consoleMode, logger);
+
+            return new RuntimeConfigBundle(remoteConfigService, remoteConfig, configMergeResult, pendingMigrationTarget: null);
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Phase 6.5 — config self-heal. When the Phase 4 fetch ran before the network link was
+        /// up (agent relaunched at boot, Wi-Fi still associating — edu.kosh audit 2026-08-24:
+        /// ~50% of sessions ran on ConfigVersion=0 exactly this way), a successful session
+        /// registration has just proven the backend reachable. Retry the fetch once and apply
+        /// the live tenant config instead of stranding the whole session on cache/defaults.
+        /// <para>
+        /// Deliberately NOT re-run here: the kill-signal check (post-registration kills arrive
+        /// via the telemetry-channel control signals on every upload response) and endpoint
+        /// migration (registration already succeeded against the current base URL; a migration
+        /// signal is honoured at the next agent start). Never throws — recovery is strictly
+        /// best-effort on top of an already-degraded-but-working fallback.
+        /// </para>
+        /// </summary>
+        public static void TryRecoverAfterRegistration(
+            AgentConfiguration agentConfig,
+            BackendAuthBundle auth,
+            RuntimeConfigBundle bundle,
+            string agentVersion,
+            bool consoleMode,
+            AgentLogger logger)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                var service = bundle?.RemoteConfigService;
+                if (service == null) return;
+
+                var recovered = service.TryRecoverConfigAsync().GetAwaiter().GetResult();
+                if (recovered == null) return;
+
+                var mergeResult = ApplyFetchedConfig(agentConfig, recovered, auth, agentVersion, consoleMode, logger);
+                bundle.ApplyRecovered(recovered, mergeResult);
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                logger.Warning($"Post-registration config recovery failed: {ex.Message}");
+            }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Applies a live-fetched config to the runtime: merge, tracker ceilings, log level,
+        /// integrity SHA + check, bootstrap-config cleanup. Shared by the Phase 4 startup path
+        /// and the post-registration recovery path so both apply identical semantics.
+        /// </summary>
+        private static RemoteConfigMergeResult ApplyFetchedConfig(
+            AgentConfiguration agentConfig,
+            AgentConfigResponse remoteConfig,
+            BackendAuthBundle auth,
+            string agentVersion,
+            bool consoleMode,
+            AgentLogger logger)
+        {
             // Project remote tenant-controlled knobs onto the runtime AgentConfiguration so that
             // downstream consumers (CleanupService, SummaryDialogLauncher, StartupEnvironmentProbes,
             // DiagnosticsPackageService, EnrollmentTerminationHandler, the logger, the watchdog)
@@ -91,7 +148,7 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Runtime
 
             TryCleanupBootstrapConfig(agentConfig, agentVersion, logger);
 
-            return new RuntimeConfigBundle(remoteConfigService, remoteConfig, configMergeResult, pendingMigrationTarget: null);
+            return configMergeResult;
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -175,10 +232,21 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Runtime
     internal sealed class RuntimeConfigBundle
     {
         public RemoteConfigService RemoteConfigService { get; }
-        public AgentConfigResponse RemoteConfig { get; }
-        public RemoteConfigMergeResult MergeResult { get; }
+        public AgentConfigResponse RemoteConfig { get; private set; }
+        public RemoteConfigMergeResult MergeResult { get; private set; }
         public string PendingMigrationTarget { get; }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Swaps in the config recovered by <see cref="AgentRuntimeConfig.TryRecoverAfterRegistration"/>
+        /// so Phase 7+8 (orchestrator, collectors, gather rules, IME patterns, the
+        /// unrestricted-mode audit) run on the live tenant config instead of the fallback.
+        /// </summary>
+        public void ApplyRecovered(AgentConfigResponse recoveredConfig, RemoteConfigMergeResult mergeResult)
+        {
+            RemoteConfig = recoveredConfig;
+            MergeResult = mergeResult;
+        }
+
         public RuntimeConfigBundle(
             RemoteConfigService remoteConfigService,
             AgentConfigResponse remoteConfig,

src/Agent/AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2/Runtime/LifecycleEmitters.cs

@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Runtime
                 // prior to this, ConfigVersion=0 was only deducible by inferring from
                 // the absence of tenant-controlled knobs in the DataJson.
                 var outcome = remoteConfigService?.LastFetchOutcome ?? RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.NotAttempted;
+                var recovered = remoteConfigService?.RecoveredAfterFetchFailure == true;
                 var configVersion = remoteConfigService?.CurrentConfig?.ConfigVersion ?? 0;
 
                 var data = new Dictionary<string, object>
@@ -66,8 +67,12 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Runtime
                     { "diagnosticsUploadMode", agentConfig.DiagnosticsUploadMode ?? "Off" },
                     { "previousExitType", previousExit?.ExitType ?? "unknown" },
                     { "unrestrictedMode", agentConfig.UnrestrictedMode },
+                    // remoteConfigFetched answers "is the agent running on a live-fetched
+                    // config" — true also when the post-registration recovery replaced a
+                    // failed startup fetch (remoteConfigOutcome then still names the startup
+                    // failure; remoteConfigRecovered marks the heal).
                     { "configVersion", configVersion },
-                    { "remoteConfigFetched", outcome == RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.Succeeded },
+                    { "remoteConfigFetched", outcome == RemoteConfigFetchOutcome.Succeeded || recovered },
                     { "remoteConfigOutcome", outcome.ToString() },
                     // WinRT OOBE state sampled at this start. Together with previousExitType
                     // this makes late starts provable: "completed" on a first_run means OOBE
@@ -75,6 +80,9 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Runtime
                     { "oobeStateAtAgentStart", OobeStateReader.Read() },
                 };
 
+                if (recovered)
+                    data["remoteConfigRecovered"] = true;
+
                 if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(previousExit?.CrashExceptionType))
                     data["previousCrashException"] = previousExit.CrashExceptionType;
 
@@ -135,12 +143,25 @@ namespace AutopilotMonitor.Agent.V2.Runtime
                     ? $"Remote config fetch failed after {remoteConfigService.LastFetchAttempts} attempt(s); using cached config."
                     : $"Remote config fetch failed after {remoteConfigService.LastFetchAttempts} attempt(s); running with built-in defaults (ConfigVersion=0).";
 
+                // Post-registration recovery (Phase 6.5) replaced the fallback with a live
+                // fetch before this emitter ran: keep the failure details (the network-late
+                // condition is worth surfacing) but mark the heal and demote to Info — the
+                // session is NOT degraded.
+                var recovered = remoteConfigService.RecoveredAfterFetchFailure;
+                if (recovered)
+                {
+                    var recoveredVersion = remoteConfigService.CurrentConfig?.ConfigVersion ?? 0;
+                    data["recovered"] = true;
+                    data["recoveredConfigVersion"] = recoveredVersion;
+                    msg += $" Recovered after session registration (ConfigVersion={recoveredVersion}).";
+                }
+
                 post.Emit(new EnrollmentEvent
                 {
                     SessionId = agentConfig.SessionId,
                     TenantId = agentConfig.TenantId,
                     EventType = SharedConstants.EventTypes.RemoteConfigFetchFailed,
-                    Severity = EventSeverity.Warning,
+                    Severity = recovered ? EventSeverity.Info : EventSeverity.Warning,
                     Source = "Agent",
                     Phase = EnrollmentPhase.Unknown,
                     Message = msg,