diff --git a/src/main/services/infrastructure/CliInstallerService.ts b/src/main/services/infrastructure/CliInstallerService.ts
index 1bbf7d43..c377081a 100644
--- a/src/main/services/infrastructure/CliInstallerService.ts
+++ b/src/main/services/infrastructure/CliInstallerService.ts
@@ -1024,6 +1024,7 @@ export class CliInstallerService {
    * on timeout, getStatus() returns whatever fields were populated so far.
    *
    * Flow: binary resolve → --version (sequential) → Promise.all([auth, GCS]) (parallel)
+   * Lightweight multimodel startup status stops after binary resolution; full status hydrates health.
    */
   private async gatherStatus(
     ref: { current: CliInstallationStatus },
@@ -1050,6 +1051,18 @@ export class CliInstallerService {
     diag.binaryResolveMs = Date.now() - binaryResolveStartedAt;
     if (binaryPath) {
       r.binaryPath = binaryPath;
+      if (r.flavor === 'agent_teams_orchestrator' && providerStatusMode === 'defer') {
+        const recoveredHealthyStatus = this.getRecoverableHealthyStatus(binaryPath);
+        diag.versionProbeMs = 0;
+        r.installed = true;
+        r.installedVersion = recoveredHealthyStatus?.installedVersion ?? null;
+        r.launchError = null;
+        r.authStatusChecking = false;
+        this.markProvidersDeferred(r);
+        this.publishStatusSnapshotIfCurrent(r, generation);
+        return;
+      }
+
       const versionProbeStartedAt = Date.now();
       const versionProbe = await this.probeCliVersion(binaryPath);
       diag.versionProbeMs = Date.now() - versionProbeStartedAt;
@@ -1059,13 +1072,6 @@ export class CliInstallerService {
         r.launchError = null;
         r.authStatusChecking = true;
 
-        if (r.flavor === 'agent_teams_orchestrator' && providerStatusMode === 'defer') {
-          r.authStatusChecking = false;
-          this.markProvidersDeferred(r);
-          this.publishStatusSnapshotIfCurrent(r, generation);
-          return;
-        }
-
         this.rememberHealthyStatus(r);
         this.publishStatusSnapshotIfCurrent(r, generation);
 
diff --git a/src/shared/types/cliInstaller.ts b/src/shared/types/cliInstaller.ts
index 391f51e7..5bc39708 100644
--- a/src/shared/types/cliInstaller.ts
+++ b/src/shared/types/cliInstaller.ts
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ export interface CliInstallationStatus {
   showVersionDetails: boolean;
   /** Whether binary path should be shown in the UI */
   showBinaryPath: boolean;
-  /** Whether the CLI was found and passed the startup health check (`--version`) */
+  /** Whether the CLI is available. Lightweight startup status may defer the health check. */
   installed: boolean;
   /** Installed version string (e.g. "2.1.59"), null if unavailable or not installed */
   installedVersion: string | null;
diff --git a/test/main/services/infrastructure/CliInstallerService.test.ts b/test/main/services/infrastructure/CliInstallerService.test.ts
index 4ba73b75..b1ac08be 100644
--- a/test/main/services/infrastructure/CliInstallerService.test.ts
+++ b/test/main/services/infrastructure/CliInstallerService.test.ts
@@ -356,7 +356,6 @@ describe('CliInstallerService', () => {
         showBinaryPath: false,
       });
       vi.mocked(ClaudeBinaryResolver.resolve).mockResolvedValue('/mock/agent_teams_orchestrator');
-      vi.mocked(execCli).mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: '0.0.46', stderr: '' });
       const getProviderStatusesSpy = vi
         .spyOn(ClaudeMultimodelBridgeService.prototype, 'getProviderStatuses')
         .mockResolvedValue([
@@ -377,6 +376,8 @@ describe('CliInstallerService', () => {
         .filter((event) => event.type === 'status');
 
       expect(status.installed).toBe(true);
+      expect(status.binaryPath).toBe('/mock/agent_teams_orchestrator');
+      expect(status.installedVersion).toBeNull();
       expect(resolveInteractiveShellEnvBestEffortMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
       expect(status.authStatusChecking).toBe(false);
       expect(status.authLoggedIn).toBe(false);
@@ -403,11 +404,14 @@ describe('CliInstallerService', () => {
         )
       ).toBe(true);
       expect(getProviderStatusesSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-      expect(execCli).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-      expect(execCli).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        '/mock/agent_teams_orchestrator',
-        ['--version'],
-        expect.objectContaining({ timeout: expect.any(Number) })
+      expect(execCli).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      await vi.waitFor(() =>
+        expect(appendCliAuthDiag).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({
+            shellEnvMs: 0,
+            versionProbeMs: 0,
+          })
+        )
       );
     });