diff --git a/src/lib/onboard/machine/handlers/sandbox-messaging.test.ts b/src/lib/onboard/machine/handlers/sandbox-messaging.test.ts
index ce7e784b1ca..eceece82f44 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboard/machine/handlers/sandbox-messaging.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboard/machine/handlers/sandbox-messaging.test.ts
@@ -390,13 +390,13 @@ describe("reconcileReusedSandboxMessaging", () => {
 
   it("omits a retired host-backed channel from a reused sandbox selection (#9283)", () => {
     const plan = discordPlan(hashCredential("previous-discord-token") ?? "");
-    const clearPlanEnv = vi.fn();
+    const deps = { clearPlanEnv: vi.fn(), note: vi.fn(), writePlanToEnv: vi.fn() };
     vi.stubEnv("DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN", "");
 
     const result = reconcileReusedSandboxMessaging(
       structuredClone(plan),
       { name: "openclaw" },
-      { clearPlanEnv, note: vi.fn(), writePlanToEnv: vi.fn() },
+      deps,
       plan,
     );
 
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ describe("reconcileReusedSandboxMessaging", () => {
       selectedChannels: [],
       changed: true,
     });
-    expect(clearPlanEnv).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(deps.clearPlanEnv).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
   it("keeps a still-configured channel in a reused sandbox selection (#9283)", () => {
diff --git a/test/e2e/support/e2e-collaborator-permission-retry.test.ts b/test/e2e/support/e2e-collaborator-permission-retry.test.ts
index 635d785e2ae..fd352addd78 100644
--- a/test/e2e/support/e2e-collaborator-permission-retry.test.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/support/e2e-collaborator-permission-retry.test.ts
@@ -36,9 +36,9 @@ const AUTHORIZATION_STEPS: AuthorizationStep[] = [
     name: "Authorize release qualification waiver",
   },
   {
-    deniedMessage: "Launchable image publication requires a repository maintainer or administrator",
-    mismatchMessage: "Launchable image publication permission response did not match the actor",
-    name: "Authorize Launchable image publication",
+    deniedMessage: "Launchable E2E requires a repository maintainer or administrator",
+    mismatchMessage: "Launchable E2E permission response did not match the actor",
+    name: "Authorize Launchable E2E maintainer dispatch",
   },
 ];
 
diff --git a/test/inference-set-config-read-exit.test.ts b/test/inference-set-config-read-exit.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..34394346874
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/inference-set-config-read-exit.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { testTimeoutOptions } from "./helpers/timeouts";
+
+const CLI = path.join(import.meta.dirname, "..", "bin", "nemoclaw.js");
+const SANDBOX = "issue-9104-alpha";
+
+describe("inference set sandbox configuration read failures", () => {
+  let home: string;
+  let openshell: string;
+  let openshellLog: string;
+  let registryFile: string;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    home = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-9104-"));
+    openshell = path.join(home, "openshell");
+    openshellLog = path.join(home, "openshell.log");
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      openshell,
+      [
+        "#!/usr/bin/env bash",
+        `printf '%s\\n' "$*" >> ${JSON.stringify(openshellLog)}`,
+        "printf '%s\\n' 'exec session setup failed: container not ready' >&2",
+        "exit 1",
+      ].join("\n"),
+      { mode: 0o755 },
+    );
+
+    const registryDir = path.join(home, ".nemoclaw");
+    fs.mkdirSync(registryDir, { recursive: true });
+    registryFile = path.join(registryDir, "sandboxes.json");
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      registryFile,
+      JSON.stringify({
+        sandboxes: {
+          [SANDBOX]: {
+            agent: "openclaw",
+            gpuEnabled: false,
+            model: "nvidia/llama-3.3-nemotron-super-49b-v1",
+            name: SANDBOX,
+            policies: [],
+            provider: "nvidia-prod",
+          },
+        },
+        defaultSandbox: SANDBOX,
+      }),
+      { mode: 0o600 },
+    );
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    fs.rmSync(home, { force: true, recursive: true });
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    [
+      "global",
+      [
+        "inference",
+        "set",
+        "--provider",
+        "nvidia-prod",
+        "--model",
+        "nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-omni-30b-a3b-reasoning",
+        "--sandbox",
+        SANDBOX,
+        "--no-verify",
+      ],
+    ],
+    [
+      "sandbox-first",
+      [
+        SANDBOX,
+        "inference",
+        "set",
+        "--provider",
+        "nvidia-prod",
+        "--model",
+        "nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-omni-30b-a3b-reasoning",
+        "--no-verify",
+      ],
+    ],
+  ])(
+    "%s inference set exits with status 1 when OpenShell cannot read the sandbox configuration (#9104)",
+    testTimeoutOptions(30_000),
+    (_grammar, argv) => {
+      const registryBefore = fs.readFileSync(registryFile, "utf8");
+      const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [CLI, ...argv], {
+        encoding: "utf8",
+        env: {
+          ...process.env,
+          HOME: home,
+          NEMOCLAW_OPENSHELL_BIN: openshell,
+          NEMOCLAW_STATUS_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS: "2000",
+          NEMOCLAW_TEST_NO_SLEEP: "1",
+        },
+        killSignal: "SIGKILL",
+        timeout: 30_000,
+      });
+      const output = `${result.stdout ?? ""}\n${result.stderr ?? ""}`;
+
+      expect(result.error).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(result.signal).toBeNull();
+      expect(output).toContain("Cannot read openclaw config (/sandbox/.openclaw/openclaw.json)");
+      expect(output).not.toContain("Setting OpenShell inference route");
+      expect(fs.readFileSync(registryFile, "utf8")).toBe(registryBefore);
+      const openshellCalls = fs.readFileSync(openshellLog, "utf8").trim().split("\n");
+      expect(openshellCalls).toHaveLength(1);
+      expect(openshellCalls[0]).toContain("sandbox exec");
+      expect(openshellCalls[0]).toContain("cat /sandbox/.openclaw/openclaw.json");
+      expect(openshellCalls).not.toContainEqual(expect.stringMatching(/\binference set\b/u));
+      expect(result.status).toBe(1);
+    },
+  );
+});