diff --git a/src/lib/onboard/station-express-resume.test.ts b/src/lib/onboard/station-express-resume.test.ts
index 5247a870649..d6b1a0683e0 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboard/station-express-resume.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboard/station-express-resume.test.ts
@@ -645,6 +645,25 @@ describe("DGX Station Express resume (#7048)", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("rejects a mode-bound receipt with an unknown mode value (#8205)", () => {
+    const home = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-station-mode-bad-"));
+    const stateDir = path.join(home, ".nemoclaw");
+    fs.mkdirSync(stateDir, { mode: 0o700 });
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(stateDir, "station-express-resume"),
+      `${portReceiptText().trimEnd()}\nmode=bogus\n`,
+      { mode: 0o600 },
+    );
+
+    try {
+      expect(() =>
+        assertStationExpressInstallerResumeMatches(receiptGeneration, { HOME: home }),
+      ).toThrow("malformed");
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(home, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it("retires only the exact matching installer receipt generation", () => {
     const home = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-station-receipt-match-"));
     const stateDir = path.join(home, ".nemoclaw");
diff --git a/src/lib/onboard/station-express-resume.ts b/src/lib/onboard/station-express-resume.ts
index 85a2198a280..297530447e0 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboard/station-express-resume.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboard/station-express-resume.ts
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ const STATION_EXPRESS_RETIREMENT_CLAIM_SUFFIX_PATTERN = /^[A-Za-z0-9]+$/;
 const STATION_EXPRESS_RECEIPT_PORT_PATTERN = /^\d+$/;
 const STATION_EXPRESS_RECEIPT_AGENTS = new Set(["openclaw", "hermes", "langchain-deepagents-code"]);
 const STATION_EXPRESS_RECEIPT_POLICY_TIERS = new Set(["restricted", "balanced", "open"]);
+// Mirrors validate_station_install_mode() in scripts/install.sh.
+const STATION_EXPRESS_RECEIPT_MODES = new Set(["express", "provider"]);
 
 function isObject(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
   return typeof value === "object" && value !== null && !Array.isArray(value);
@@ -341,7 +343,30 @@ function readStationExpressInstallerResumeGeneration(stateFile: string): string
       lines[7].slice("dashboard_port=".length),
       lines[8].slice("vllm_port=".length),
     );
-  if (!legacyFormat && !currentFormat && !portFormat) {
+  // The current installer appends a tenth `mode=` field after the nine
+  // port-bound fields (scripts/install.sh save_station_express_resume). Accept
+  // that exact shape so completeSession() can validate and retire the receipt
+  // the same installer wrote, while still rejecting an unknown/expanded mode.
+  const modeFormat =
+    lines.length === 11 &&
+    lines[10] === "" &&
+    lines[3]?.startsWith("agent=") &&
+    STATION_EXPRESS_RECEIPT_AGENTS.has(lines[3].slice("agent=".length)) &&
+    lines[4]?.startsWith("sandbox=") &&
+    validSandboxName(lines[4].slice("sandbox=".length)) &&
+    lines[5]?.startsWith("policy_tier=") &&
+    STATION_EXPRESS_RECEIPT_POLICY_TIERS.has(lines[5].slice("policy_tier=".length)) &&
+    lines[6]?.startsWith("gateway_port=") &&
+    lines[7]?.startsWith("dashboard_port=") &&
+    lines[8]?.startsWith("vllm_port=") &&
+    validReceiptPorts(
+      lines[6].slice("gateway_port=".length),
+      lines[7].slice("dashboard_port=".length),
+      lines[8].slice("vllm_port=".length),
+    ) &&
+    lines[9]?.startsWith("mode=") &&
+    STATION_EXPRESS_RECEIPT_MODES.has(lines[9].slice("mode=".length));
+  if (!legacyFormat && !currentFormat && !portFormat && !modeFormat) {
     throw new Error("DGX Station Express installer resume state is malformed.");
   }
   const revision = lines[0]?.startsWith("revision=") ? lines[0].slice("revision=".length) : "";
diff --git a/test/install-station-resume-cleanup.test.ts b/test/install-station-resume-cleanup.test.ts
index 4cf42a4cb88..d91ed07ca3f 100644
--- a/test/install-station-resume-cleanup.test.ts
+++ b/test/install-station-resume-cleanup.test.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,94 @@ import path from "node:path";
 
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 
+import { assertStationExpressInstallerResumeMatches } from "../src/lib/onboard/station-express-resume";
 import { INSTALLER_PAYLOAD, TEST_SYSTEM_PATH } from "./helpers/installer-sourced-env";
 
+const REPO_ROOT = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, "..");
+const STATION_REVISION = "a".repeat(40);
+const STATION_GENERATION = "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef";
+
+function writeStationExpressInstallerResume(mode: "express" | "provider") {
+  const home = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-station-resume-contract-"));
+  const result = spawnSync(
+    "bash",
+    [
+      "--noprofile",
+      "--norc",
+      "-c",
+      `
+source "$INSTALLER_UNDER_TEST" >/dev/null
+NEMOCLAW_VLLM_MODEL='nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b'
+NEMOCLAW_DASHBOARD_PORT='18790'
+NEMOCLAW_VLLM_PORT='18000'
+_STATION_INSTALL_MODE='${mode}'
+station_installer_revision() { printf '${STATION_REVISION}'; }
+station_express_resume_generation() { printf '${STATION_GENERATION}'; }
+save_station_express_resume
+`,
+    ],
+    {
+      cwd: REPO_ROOT,
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      env: {
+        HOME: home,
+        INSTALLER_UNDER_TEST: INSTALLER_PAYLOAD,
+        PATH: TEST_SYSTEM_PATH,
+      },
+      timeout: 15_000,
+      killSignal: "SIGKILL",
+    },
+  );
+  return { home, result, output: `${result.stdout}${result.stderr}` };
+}
+
+describe("DGX Station installer resume contract", () => {
+  it("accepts the express resume receipt written by the installer (#8205)", () => {
+    const { home, result, output } = writeStationExpressInstallerResume("express");
+
+    try {
+      expect(result.status, output).toBe(0);
+      expect(() =>
+        assertStationExpressInstallerResumeMatches(STATION_GENERATION, { HOME: home }),
+      ).not.toThrow();
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(home, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("accepts the provider resume receipt written by the installer (#8205)", () => {
+    const { home, result, output } = writeStationExpressInstallerResume("provider");
+
+    try {
+      expect(result.status, output).toBe(0);
+      expect(() =>
+        assertStationExpressInstallerResumeMatches(STATION_GENERATION, { HOME: home }),
+      ).not.toThrow();
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(home, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("rejects the installer receipt when the writer mode field drifts (#8205)", () => {
+    const { home, result, output } = writeStationExpressInstallerResume("express");
+    const stateFile = path.join(home, ".nemoclaw", "station-express-resume");
+
+    try {
+      expect(result.status, output).toBe(0);
+      const receipt = fs.readFileSync(stateFile, "utf8");
+      const driftedReceipt = receipt.replace(/^mode=/m, "install_mode=");
+      expect(driftedReceipt).not.toBe(receipt);
+      fs.writeFileSync(stateFile, driftedReceipt, { mode: 0o600 });
+
+      expect(() =>
+        assertStationExpressInstallerResumeMatches(STATION_GENERATION, { HOME: home }),
+      ).toThrow("malformed");
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(home, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});
+
 describe("DGX Station installer resume cleanup", () => {
   it("preserves pair and SSH-binding state when interactive host preflight skips onboarding", () => {
     const home = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-station-resume-cleanup-"));
@@ -37,7 +123,7 @@ printf 'PAIR=%s BINDING=%s EXPRESS=%s\n' \
 `,
       ],
       {
-        cwd: path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, ".."),
+        cwd: REPO_ROOT,
         encoding: "utf8",
         env: {
           ...process.env,