diff --git a/src/channels/plugins/legacy-config.test.ts b/src/channels/plugins/legacy-config.test.ts
index d2afd0f0a18..bd7f98c432c 100644
--- a/src/channels/plugins/legacy-config.test.ts
+++ b/src/channels/plugins/legacy-config.test.ts
@@ -105,4 +105,34 @@ describe("collectChannelLegacyConfigRules", () => {
       pluginIds: ["custom-chat"],
     });
   });
+
+  it("scopes channel legacy scans to touched channels during dry-run validation", () => {
+    loadBundledChannelDoctorContractApiMock.mockImplementation((channelId: string) => ({
+      legacyConfigRules: [
+        {
+          path: ["channels", channelId],
+          message: `legacy ${channelId} rule`,
+        },
+      ],
+    }));
+
+    const rules = collectChannelLegacyConfigRules(
+      {
+        channels: {
+          discord: {},
+          telegram: {},
+        },
+      },
+      [["channels", "discord", "token"]],
+    );
+
+    expect(rules).toEqual([
+      {
+        path: ["channels", "discord"],
+        message: "legacy discord rule",
+      },
+    ]);
+    expect(loadBundledChannelDoctorContractApiMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(loadBundledChannelDoctorContractApiMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith("discord");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/channels/plugins/legacy-config.ts b/src/channels/plugins/legacy-config.ts
index 92bfa60e173..884c6c6fb84 100644
--- a/src/channels/plugins/legacy-config.ts
+++ b/src/channels/plugins/legacy-config.ts
@@ -17,8 +17,59 @@ function collectConfiguredChannelIds(raw: unknown): ChannelId[] {
     .map((channelId) => channelId as ChannelId);
 }
 
-export function collectChannelLegacyConfigRules(raw?: unknown): LegacyConfigRule[] {
-  const channelIds = collectConfiguredChannelIds(raw);
+function shouldIncludeLegacyRuleForTouchedPaths(
+  rulePath: readonly string[],
+  touchedPaths?: ReadonlyArray<ReadonlyArray<string>>,
+): boolean {
+  if (!touchedPaths || touchedPaths.length === 0) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  return touchedPaths.some((touchedPath) => {
+    const sharedLength = Math.min(rulePath.length, touchedPath.length);
+    for (let index = 0; index < sharedLength; index += 1) {
+      if (rulePath[index] !== touchedPath[index]) {
+        return false;
+      }
+    }
+    return true;
+  });
+}
+
+function collectRelevantChannelIdsForTouchedPaths(params: {
+  raw?: unknown;
+  touchedPaths?: ReadonlyArray<ReadonlyArray<string>>;
+}): ChannelId[] {
+  const channelIds = collectConfiguredChannelIds(params.raw);
+  if (!params.touchedPaths || params.touchedPaths.length === 0) {
+    return channelIds;
+  }
+
+  const touchedChannelIds = new Set<ChannelId>();
+  for (const touchedPath of params.touchedPaths) {
+    const [first, second] = touchedPath;
+    if (first !== "channels") {
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (!second) {
+      return channelIds;
+    }
+    if (second === "defaults") {
+      continue;
+    }
+    touchedChannelIds.add(second as ChannelId);
+  }
+
+  if (touchedChannelIds.size === 0) {
+    return [];
+  }
+  return channelIds.filter((channelId) => touchedChannelIds.has(channelId));
+}
+
+export function collectChannelLegacyConfigRules(
+  raw?: unknown,
+  touchedPaths?: ReadonlyArray<ReadonlyArray<string>>,
+): LegacyConfigRule[] {
+  const channelIds = collectRelevantChannelIdsForTouchedPaths({ raw, touchedPaths });
   const rules: LegacyConfigRule[] = [];
   const unresolvedChannelIds: ChannelId[] = [];
   for (const channelId of channelIds) {
@@ -42,6 +93,9 @@ export function collectChannelLegacyConfigRules(raw?: unknown): LegacyConfigRule
 
   const seen = new Set<string>();
   return rules.filter((rule) => {
+    if (!shouldIncludeLegacyRuleForTouchedPaths(rule.path, touchedPaths)) {
+      return false;
+    }
     const key = `${rule.path.join(".")}::${rule.message}`;
     if (seen.has(key)) {
       return false;
diff --git a/src/cli/config-cli.ts b/src/cli/config-cli.ts
index 04f75dd2ab4..b08200ca6f7 100644
--- a/src/cli/config-cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli/config-cli.ts
@@ -921,8 +921,13 @@ function selectDryRunRefsForResolution(params: { refs: SecretRef[]; allowExecInD
   return { refsToResolve, skippedExecRefs };
 }
 
-function collectDryRunSchemaErrors(config: OpenClawConfig): ConfigSetDryRunError[] {
-  const validated = validateConfigObjectRaw(config);
+function collectDryRunSchemaErrors(params: {
+  config: OpenClawConfig;
+  operations: ReadonlyArray<ConfigSetOperation>;
+}): ConfigSetDryRunError[] {
+  const validated = validateConfigObjectRaw(params.config, {
+    touchedPaths: params.operations.map((operation) => operation.setPath),
+  });
   if (validated.ok) {
     return [];
   }
@@ -1062,7 +1067,12 @@ export async function runConfigSet(opts: {
         );
       }
       if (requiresFullSchemaValidation) {
-        errors.push(...collectDryRunSchemaErrors(nextConfig));
+        errors.push(
+          ...collectDryRunSchemaErrors({
+            config: nextConfig,
+            operations,
+          }),
+        );
       }
       if (hasJsonMode || hasBuilderMode) {
         errors.push(
diff --git a/src/config/legacy.ts b/src/config/legacy.ts
index 0664d307880..79bac2bd033 100644
--- a/src/config/legacy.ts
+++ b/src/config/legacy.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ export function findLegacyConfigIssues(
   raw: unknown,
   sourceRaw?: unknown,
   extraRules: LegacyConfigRule[] = [],
+  touchedPaths?: ReadonlyArray<ReadonlyArray<string>>,
 ): LegacyConfigIssue[] {
   if (!raw || typeof raw !== "object") {
     return [];
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ export function findLegacyConfigIssues(
   const issues: LegacyConfigIssue[] = [];
   for (const rule of [
     ...LEGACY_CONFIG_RULES,
-    ...collectChannelLegacyConfigRules(raw),
+    ...collectChannelLegacyConfigRules(raw, touchedPaths),
     ...extraRules,
   ]) {
     const cursor = getPathValue(root, rule.path);
diff --git a/src/config/validation.ts b/src/config/validation.ts
index 05f5266c24c..13a18d987eb 100644
--- a/src/config/validation.ts
+++ b/src/config/validation.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
 } from "../plugins/config-state.js";
 import {
   collectRelevantDoctorPluginIds,
+  collectRelevantDoctorPluginIdsForTouchedPaths,
   listPluginDoctorLegacyConfigRules,
 } from "../plugins/doctor-contract-registry.js";
 import { resolveManifestCommandAliasOwner } from "../plugins/manifest-command-aliases.runtime.js";
@@ -571,12 +572,21 @@ function validateGatewayTailscaleBind(config: OpenClawConfig): ConfigValidationI
  */
 export function validateConfigObjectRaw(
   raw: unknown,
+  opts?: {
+    touchedPaths?: ReadonlyArray<ReadonlyArray<string>>;
+  },
 ): { ok: true; config: OpenClawConfig } | { ok: false; issues: ConfigValidationIssue[] } {
   const policyIssues = collectUnsupportedSecretRefPolicyIssues(raw);
+  const doctorPluginIds = opts?.touchedPaths
+    ? collectRelevantDoctorPluginIdsForTouchedPaths({
+        raw,
+        touchedPaths: opts.touchedPaths,
+      })
+    : collectRelevantDoctorPluginIds(raw);
   const extraLegacyRules = listPluginDoctorLegacyConfigRules({
-    pluginIds: collectRelevantDoctorPluginIds(raw),
+    pluginIds: doctorPluginIds,
   });
-  const legacyIssues = findLegacyConfigIssues(raw, raw, extraLegacyRules);
+  const legacyIssues = findLegacyConfigIssues(raw, raw, extraLegacyRules, opts?.touchedPaths);
   if (legacyIssues.length > 0) {
     return {
       ok: false,
diff --git a/src/plugins/doctor-contract-registry.test.ts b/src/plugins/doctor-contract-registry.test.ts
index 3e3662e05a7..f8a22fc11c7 100644
--- a/src/plugins/doctor-contract-registry.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/doctor-contract-registry.test.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ const tempDirs: string[] = [];
 const mocks = getRegistryJitiMocks();
 
 let clearPluginDoctorContractRegistryCache: typeof import("./doctor-contract-registry.js").clearPluginDoctorContractRegistryCache;
+let collectRelevantDoctorPluginIdsForTouchedPaths: typeof import("./doctor-contract-registry.js").collectRelevantDoctorPluginIdsForTouchedPaths;
 let listPluginDoctorLegacyConfigRules: typeof import("./doctor-contract-registry.js").listPluginDoctorLegacyConfigRules;
 
 function makeTempDir(): string {
@@ -25,8 +26,11 @@ describe("doctor-contract-registry getJiti", () => {
   beforeEach(async () => {
     resetRegistryJitiMocks();
     vi.resetModules();
-    ({ clearPluginDoctorContractRegistryCache, listPluginDoctorLegacyConfigRules } =
-      await import("./doctor-contract-registry.js"));
+    ({
+      clearPluginDoctorContractRegistryCache,
+      collectRelevantDoctorPluginIdsForTouchedPaths,
+      listPluginDoctorLegacyConfigRules,
+    } = await import("./doctor-contract-registry.js"));
     clearPluginDoctorContractRegistryCache();
   });
 
@@ -56,4 +60,49 @@ describe("doctor-contract-registry getJiti", () => {
       }),
     );
   });
+
+  it("narrows touched-path doctor ids for scoped dry-run validation", () => {
+    expect(
+      collectRelevantDoctorPluginIdsForTouchedPaths({
+        raw: {
+          channels: {
+            discord: {},
+            telegram: {},
+          },
+          plugins: {
+            entries: {
+              "memory-wiki": {},
+            },
+          },
+          talk: {
+            voiceId: "legacy-voice",
+          },
+        },
+        touchedPaths: [
+          ["channels", "discord", "token"],
+          ["plugins", "entries", "memory-wiki", "enabled"],
+          ["talk", "voiceId"],
+        ],
+      }),
+    ).toEqual(["discord", "elevenlabs", "memory-wiki"]);
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to the full doctor-id set when touched paths are too broad", () => {
+    expect(
+      collectRelevantDoctorPluginIdsForTouchedPaths({
+        raw: {
+          channels: {
+            discord: {},
+            telegram: {},
+          },
+          plugins: {
+            entries: {
+              "memory-wiki": {},
+            },
+          },
+        },
+        touchedPaths: [["channels"]],
+      }),
+    ).toEqual(["discord", "memory-wiki", "telegram"]);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/plugins/doctor-contract-registry.ts b/src/plugins/doctor-contract-registry.ts
index b631b703ea0..c928634cec0 100644
--- a/src/plugins/doctor-contract-registry.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/doctor-contract-registry.ts
@@ -161,6 +161,42 @@ export function collectRelevantDoctorPluginIds(raw: unknown): string[] {
   return [...ids].toSorted();
 }
 
+export function collectRelevantDoctorPluginIdsForTouchedPaths(params: {
+  raw: unknown;
+  touchedPaths: ReadonlyArray<ReadonlyArray<string>>;
+}): string[] {
+  const root = asNullableRecord(params.raw);
+  if (!root) {
+    return [];
+  }
+
+  const ids = new Set<string>();
+  for (const touchedPath of params.touchedPaths) {
+    const [first, second, third] = touchedPath;
+    if (first === "channels") {
+      if (!second) {
+        return collectRelevantDoctorPluginIds(params.raw);
+      }
+      if (second !== "defaults") {
+        ids.add(second);
+      }
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (first === "plugins") {
+      if (second !== "entries" || !third) {
+        return collectRelevantDoctorPluginIds(params.raw);
+      }
+      ids.add(third);
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (first === "talk" && hasLegacyElevenLabsTalkFields(root)) {
+      ids.add("elevenlabs");
+    }
+  }
+
+  return [...ids].toSorted();
+}
+
 function getDoctorContractRecordCache(
   baseCacheKey: string,
 ): Map<string, PluginDoctorContractEntry | null> {