diff --git a/packages/ui/acp-agent/src/bin.ts b/packages/ui/acp-agent/src/bin.ts
index 1352cde0ed..24e31f3251 100644
--- a/packages/ui/acp-agent/src/bin.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/acp-agent/src/bin.ts
@@ -85,9 +85,13 @@ export function installFailLoud(): void {
  * `fiber` and producing no rejection — so the process would otherwise exit 0. A
  * started entry has a `fiber`; throw on any entry still missing one so `boot()`
  * rejects.
+ *
+ * A `disabled` entry is the one legitimate fiber-less state: `Entry.refresh()`
+ * deliberately skips `init()` for it, so it settles without a fiber by design —
+ * a valid "plugin turned off" config, not a failed import. Exclude it.
  */
 function assertEntriesLoaded(ctx: Context): void {
-  const failed = [...ctx.loader.entries()].filter(entry => entry.fiber === undefined)
+  const failed = [...ctx.loader.entries()].filter(entry => entry.fiber === undefined && !entry.disabled)
   if (failed.length > 0) {
     const names = failed.map(entry => entry.options.name).join(', ')
     throw new Error(`dsh-acp-agent: plugin(s) failed to load: ${names} (see the error(s) logged above)`)
diff --git a/packages/ui/stdio-agent/src/bin.ts b/packages/ui/stdio-agent/src/bin.ts
index dae0299f06..92cd9f5e90 100644
--- a/packages/ui/stdio-agent/src/bin.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/stdio-agent/src/bin.ts
@@ -66,9 +66,14 @@ export function installFailLoud(): void {
  * entry with `fiber === undefined` after the tree settled never loaded. Throw on
  * any such entry so `boot()` rejects (and the top-level `await` fails the process
  * non-zero) instead of returning a half-empty context.
+ *
+ * A `disabled` entry is the one legitimate fiber-less state: `Entry.refresh()`
+ * deliberately skips `init()` for it, so it settles without a fiber by design.
+ * That is a valid config (a consumer turning an optional plugin off), not a
+ * failed import — exclude it so the guard catches only real load failures.
  */
 function assertEntriesLoaded(ctx: Context): void {
-  const failed = [...ctx.loader.entries()].filter(entry => entry.fiber === undefined)
+  const failed = [...ctx.loader.entries()].filter(entry => entry.fiber === undefined && !entry.disabled)
   if (failed.length > 0) {
     const names = failed.map(entry => entry.options.name).join(', ')
     throw new Error(`dsh-stdio-agent: plugin(s) failed to load: ${names} (see the error(s) logged above)`)
diff --git a/packages/ui/stdio-agent/tests/built-bin.e2e.ts b/packages/ui/stdio-agent/tests/built-bin.e2e.ts
index cd6bfd6475..7605b35bb7 100644
--- a/packages/ui/stdio-agent/tests/built-bin.e2e.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/stdio-agent/tests/built-bin.e2e.ts
@@ -53,8 +53,13 @@ async function pkgName(absDir: string): Promise<string> {
  * Build a temp consumer dir: `node_modules` with the workspace + vendor packages
  * symlinked in, a `src/` carrying the example mock backend, and a `cordis.yml`
  * that wires them onto the stdio app. Returns the dir (caller removes it).
+ *
+ * `disabledBrokenEntry` appends an entry that points at a non-existent plugin but
+ * is marked `disabled: true`. The Loader leaves a disabled entry fiber-less by
+ * design, so it exercises that the fail-loud entry-load guard does NOT mistake a
+ * valid disabled entry for a failed import.
  */
-async function makeConsumer(welcome: string): Promise<string> {
+async function makeConsumer(welcome: string, disabledBrokenEntry = false): Promise<string> {
   const dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'stdio-built-bin-'))
   const nm = join(dir, 'node_modules')
   for (const rel of dshPackages) {
@@ -88,6 +93,9 @@ async function makeConsumer(welcome: string): Promise<string> {
     '    model: mock-echo',
     '    systemPrompt: \'demo\'',
     `    welcome: '${welcome}'`,
+    ...disabledBrokenEntry
+      ? ['- id: off', '  name: \'./src/does-not-exist.ts\'', '  disabled: true']
+      : [],
     '',
   ].join('\n'))
   return dir
@@ -143,6 +151,18 @@ describe.skipIf(!existsSync(stdioBin))('dsh-stdio-agent BUILT bin (node lib/bin.
     expect(code).toBe(0)
   }, 30_000)
 
+  it('boots cleanly when the config disables an (otherwise unresolvable) entry', async () => {
+    // A `disabled: true` entry settles without a fiber by design; the fail-loud
+    // entry-load guard must NOT mistake it for a failed import. Even though its
+    // plugin path does not exist, the app boots and the round-trip works.
+    consumer = await makeConsumer('DISABLED-OK ready.', true)
+    const { stdout, code, stderr } = await runBuiltBin(consumer, './cordis.yml', 'echo hi')
+    expect(stderr).not.toContain('failed to load')
+    expect(stdout).toContain('DISABLED-OK ready.')
+    expect(stdout).toContain('[tool result] ECHO: HI')
+    expect(code).toBe(0)
+  }, 30_000)
+
   it('fails LOUD (non-zero exit + stderr) on a config whose directory does not exist', async () => {
     // A consumer who typos the config path must get a clear failure, not silent
     // success. This dir does not exist, so the include PLUGIN itself fails to
diff --git a/scripts/verify-package-paths.ts b/scripts/verify-package-paths.ts
index 9f4a4aaa8e..7bec754dba 100644
--- a/scripts/verify-package-paths.ts
+++ b/scripts/verify-package-paths.ts
@@ -28,10 +28,13 @@
  * Scope mirrors the other doc gates plus repo-authored TypeScript: Markdown
  * across README/docs/packages/AGENTS, and `.ts` under packages/** and
  * examples/** (excluding built `lib/`, `*.d.ts`, and vendored upstream source).
- * A reference whose target path goes through a `lib/` segment is also skipped:
- * that is a build OUTPUT (`packages/ui/acp-agent/lib/bin.js`), emitted only by
- * `pnpm run build`, which CI runs AFTER this gate — flagging it would be a false
- * positive on a path that is correct but not yet on disk.
+ * A reference to a package's build OUTPUT (`packages/<group>/<pkg>/lib/…`,
+ * e.g. `packages/ui/acp-agent/lib/bin.js` cited by a built-bin smoke) is also
+ * skipped — it is emitted only by `pnpm run build`, which CI runs AFTER this
+ * gate, so flagging it would be a false positive on a path that is correct but
+ * not yet on disk. That skip is scoped to a REAL package root: a stale
+ * group-less `packages/acp-agent/lib/bin.js` is still flagged (its root does not
+ * exist — exactly the moved-package drift this gate catches).
  *
  * Run: `tsx scripts/verify-package-paths.ts`.
  */
@@ -115,13 +118,17 @@ function findViolations(absPath: string): Violation[] {
       // class may have swallowed (`packages/core/tools.` / `…/tools/`).
       const ref = m[0].replace(/[./]+$/, '')
       if (existsSync(resolve(root, ref))) continue
-      // A reference INTO a package's built `lib/` is a build-output path, not an
+      // A reference INTO a package's built `lib/` is a build OUTPUT, not an
       // authored-source location: it does not exist until `pnpm run build` emits
-      // it, and CI runs this gate BEFORE the build step. This gate reports stale
-      // SOURCE paths (a moved package), so skip `lib/` targets the same way the
-      // file scan excludes `lib/` files — a `packages/ui/acp-agent/lib/bin.js`
-      // citation in a built-bin smoke is correct, just not yet on disk at lint.
-      if (ref.split('/').includes('lib')) continue
+      // it, and CI runs this gate BEFORE the build step. Skip it — but ONLY when
+      // the `packages/<group>/<pkg>` ROOT it sits under is real and on disk, so
+      // `packages/ui/acp-agent/lib/bin.js` (correct, just not yet built) is
+      // exempt while a stale `packages/acp-agent/lib/bin.js` (group-less, the
+      // exact moved-package drift this gate exists to catch) still flags. A bare
+      // `lib` segment is not a blanket escape hatch.
+      const parts = ref.split('/')
+      const libAt = parts.indexOf('lib')
+      if (libAt === 3 && existsSync(resolve(root, parts.slice(0, 3).join('/')))) continue
       // Only a stale path to a REAL (moved) package is a violation; a segment
       // matching a live package name is the drift signal.
       const segments = ref.split('/').slice(1)