diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles.ensureauthprofilestore.test.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles.ensureauthprofilestore.test.ts
index e106a2391e7..72cf9e8f9b6 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles.ensureauthprofilestore.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles.ensureauthprofilestore.test.ts
@@ -122,4 +122,36 @@ describe("ensureAuthProfileStore", () => {
       fs.rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
     }
   });
+
+  it("accepts mode/apiKey aliases so users who follow openclaw.json format are not silently broken", () => {
+    // A common mistake: users write auth-profiles.json using the same field names
+    // as openclaw.json auth.profiles ("mode" + "apiKey") instead of the canonical
+    // auth-profiles.json fields ("type" + "key"). The parser now normalises both.
+    const agentDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-auth-alias-"));
+    try {
+      const storeWithAliases = {
+        version: AUTH_STORE_VERSION,
+        profiles: {
+          "anthropic:work": {
+            provider: "anthropic",
+            mode: "api_key", // alias for "type"
+            apiKey: "sk-ant-alias-test", // alias for "key"
+          },
+        },
+      };
+      fs.writeFileSync(
+        path.join(agentDir, "auth-profiles.json"),
+        `${JSON.stringify(storeWithAliases, null, 2)}\n`,
+        "utf8",
+      );
+
+      const store = ensureAuthProfileStore(agentDir);
+      const profile = store.profiles["anthropic:work"];
+      expect(profile).toBeDefined();
+      expect(profile?.type).toBe("api_key");
+      expect((profile as { key?: string }).key).toBe("sk-ant-alias-test");
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(agentDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/agents/auth-profiles/store.ts b/src/agents/auth-profiles/store.ts
index 4e6b1f91bf6..b0418647299 100644
--- a/src/agents/auth-profiles/store.ts
+++ b/src/agents/auth-profiles/store.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,28 @@ export async function updateAuthProfileStoreWithLock(params: {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Normalise a raw auth-profiles.json credential entry.
+ *
+ * The official format uses `type` and (for api_key credentials) `key`.
+ * A common mistake — caused by the similarity with the `openclaw.json`
+ * `auth.profiles` section which uses `mode` — is to write `mode` instead of
+ * `type` and `apiKey` instead of `key`.  Accept both spellings so users don't
+ * silently lose their credentials.
+ */
+function normalizeRawCredentialEntry(raw: Record<string, unknown>): Partial<AuthProfileCredential> {
+  const entry = { ...raw } as Record<string, unknown>;
+  // mode → type alias (openclaw.json uses "mode"; auth-profiles.json uses "type")
+  if (!("type" in entry) && typeof entry["mode"] === "string") {
+    entry["type"] = entry["mode"];
+  }
+  // apiKey → key alias for ApiKeyCredential
+  if (!("key" in entry) && typeof entry["apiKey"] === "string") {
+    entry["key"] = entry["apiKey"];
+  }
+  return entry as Partial<AuthProfileCredential>;
+}
+
 function coerceLegacyStore(raw: unknown): LegacyAuthStore | null {
   if (!raw || typeof raw !== "object") {
     return null;
@@ -52,7 +74,7 @@ function coerceLegacyStore(raw: unknown): LegacyAuthStore | null {
     if (!value || typeof value !== "object") {
       continue;
     }
-    const typed = value as Partial<AuthProfileCredential>;
+    const typed = normalizeRawCredentialEntry(value as Record<string, unknown>);
     if (typed.type !== "api_key" && typed.type !== "oauth" && typed.type !== "token") {
       continue;
     }
@@ -78,7 +100,7 @@ function coerceAuthStore(raw: unknown): AuthProfileStore | null {
     if (!value || typeof value !== "object") {
       continue;
     }
-    const typed = value as Partial<AuthProfileCredential>;
+    const typed = normalizeRawCredentialEntry(value as Record<string, unknown>);
     if (typed.type !== "api_key" && typed.type !== "oauth" && typed.type !== "token") {
       continue;
     }