diff --git a/src/lib/actions/sandbox/process-recovery.test.ts b/src/lib/actions/sandbox/process-recovery.test.ts
index b814b0b0b9..4a757c15db 100644
--- a/src/lib/actions/sandbox/process-recovery.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/actions/sandbox/process-recovery.test.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,43 @@ describe("recreated sandbox OpenShell readiness", () => {
     expect(sleeps).toEqual([3]);
   });
 
+  it("rides out a transient Error phase past the old 30s budget by default (#7227)", () => {
+    // No timeoutSeconds option and no env override: the default recovery budget
+    // must be large enough (120s, aligned with connect's readiness wait) to keep
+    // retrying a cold-start phase:Error settling window that exceeds the old
+    // 30s / 11-attempt budget. The 12th probe (past the old 11-attempt cap) must
+    // still be reached, so the primary dashboard/API forward is not abandoned.
+    delete process.env.NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_RECOVERY_WAIT_SECONDS;
+    const errorPhase = {
+      status: 1,
+      output: OPENSHELL_TRANSIENT_ERROR_PHASE_STDERR.trim(),
+      stdout: "",
+      stderr: OPENSHELL_TRANSIENT_ERROR_PHASE_STDERR,
+    };
+    const captureOpenshellImpl = vi.fn();
+    for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 11; attempt += 1) {
+      captureOpenshellImpl.mockReturnValueOnce(errorPhase);
+    }
+    captureOpenshellImpl.mockReturnValueOnce({
+      status: 0,
+      output: "",
+      stdout: "",
+      stderr: "",
+    });
+
+    expect(
+      waitForRecreatedSandboxOpenShellReady("recreated-box", {
+        beforeProbe: () => true,
+        captureOpenshellImpl,
+        intervalSeconds: 3,
+        sleepImpl: () => {},
+        // no timeoutSeconds -> exercise the default budget; the old 30s default
+        // capped at 11 attempts and would have given up before the 12th probe.
+      }),
+    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(captureOpenshellImpl).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(12);
+  });
+
   it("retries the exact supervisor reconnect states exposed during direct recreation", () => {
     const reconnecting = [
       OPENSHELL_SUPERVISOR_NOT_CONNECTED_STDERR,
diff --git a/src/lib/actions/sandbox/process-recovery.ts b/src/lib/actions/sandbox/process-recovery.ts
index c3f0d58372..4c4f620cf0 100644
--- a/src/lib/actions/sandbox/process-recovery.ts
+++ b/src/lib/actions/sandbox/process-recovery.ts
@@ -700,6 +700,16 @@ function recreatedSandboxOpenShellReadinessFailureDetail(
   return openshellError ? `${detail} Last OpenShell readiness error: ${openshellError}` : detail;
 }
 
+// Default seconds to wait for OpenShell to re-register a recreated sandbox as
+// Ready before giving up and surfacing the manual-recover hint. Aligned with
+// `connect`'s readiness budget (`waitForSandboxReadyOrExit` defaults to 120s):
+// both prove the same post-recreate sandbox readiness, but this path used to
+// give up 4x sooner (30s), so a cold-start `phase: Error` settling window that
+// exceeded 30s but was within `connect`'s 120s left the primary dashboard/API
+// forward unstarted — exactly why `connect --probe-only` recovers what `start`
+// abandons (#7227). Env-tunable via NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_RECOVERY_WAIT_SECONDS.
+const GATEWAY_RECOVERY_WAIT_DEFAULT_SECONDS = 120;
+
 /**
  * Wait until OpenShell has re-registered a directly recreated sandbox as
  * ready. This probe deliberately has no direct-Docker or SSH fallback: it is
@@ -718,7 +728,10 @@ function waitForRecreatedSandboxOpenShellReadyResult(
     Number.isFinite(options.timeoutSeconds) &&
     options.timeoutSeconds >= 0
       ? options.timeoutSeconds
-      : readNonNegativeNumberEnv("NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_RECOVERY_WAIT_SECONDS", 30);
+      : readNonNegativeNumberEnv(
+          "NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_RECOVERY_WAIT_SECONDS",
+          GATEWAY_RECOVERY_WAIT_DEFAULT_SECONDS,
+        );
   const intervalSeconds = readNonNegativeNumberEnv(
     "NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_RECOVERY_POLL_INTERVAL_SECONDS",
     options.intervalSeconds ?? 3,
@@ -914,7 +927,7 @@ export function waitForRecoveredSandboxGateway(
     Number.isFinite(options.timeoutSeconds) &&
     options.timeoutSeconds >= 0
       ? options.timeoutSeconds
-      : 30;
+      : GATEWAY_RECOVERY_WAIT_DEFAULT_SECONDS;
   const timeoutSeconds = readNonNegativeNumberEnv(
     "NEMOCLAW_GATEWAY_RECOVERY_WAIT_SECONDS",
     requestedTimeoutSeconds,