diff --git a/src/lib/onboard.ts b/src/lib/onboard.ts
index 2985e19daf..e35e44c000 100644
--- a/src/lib/onboard.ts
+++ b/src/lib/onboard.ts
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ const { detectVllmProfile, installVllm } = require("./inference/vllm");
 const inferenceConfig: typeof import("./inference/config") = require("./inference/config");
 const {
   DEFAULT_CLOUD_MODEL,
+  DEFAULT_ROUTE_CREDENTIAL_ENV,
   INFERENCE_ROUTE_URL,
   MANAGED_PROVIDER_ID,
   getProviderSelectionConfig,
@@ -1869,6 +1870,74 @@ function providerExistsInGateway(name: string) {
   return onboardProviders.providerExistsInGateway(name, runOpenshell);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Resolve a persisted OpenShell provider name back to its onboard provider config.
+ */
+function getRemoteProviderConfigForName(
+  provider: string | null | undefined,
+): RemoteProviderConfigEntry | null {
+  if (!provider) return null;
+  if (provider === "nvidia-nim") return REMOTE_PROVIDER_CONFIG.build;
+  return (
+    Object.values(REMOTE_PROVIDER_CONFIG).find((entry) => entry.providerName === provider) || null
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Choose the credential env used to recreate a missing provider during resume.
+ */
+function getResumeProviderCredentialEnv(
+  provider: string,
+  config: RemoteProviderConfigEntry | null,
+  credentialEnv: string | null | undefined,
+): string {
+  if (credentialEnv) return credentialEnv;
+  if (config?.credentialEnv) return config.credentialEnv;
+  return isRoutedInferenceProvider(provider) ? DEFAULT_ROUTE_CREDENTIAL_ENV : "";
+}
+
+/**
+ * Ensure a resumed remote provider still exists, re-prompting for credentials when needed.
+ */
+async function ensureResumeProviderReady(
+  provider: string | null | undefined,
+  credentialEnv: string | null | undefined,
+): Promise<{ forceInferenceSetup: boolean }> {
+  const config = getRemoteProviderConfigForName(provider);
+  if (!provider || (!config && !isRoutedInferenceProvider(provider))) {
+    return { forceInferenceSetup: false };
+  }
+  if (providerExistsInGateway(provider)) return { forceInferenceSetup: false };
+
+  const resolvedCredentialEnv = getResumeProviderCredentialEnv(provider, config, credentialEnv);
+  const credentialValue = hydrateCredentialEnv(resolvedCredentialEnv);
+  const providerLabel = config?.label || getProviderLabel(provider) || provider;
+  const helpUrl = config?.helpUrl || null;
+  if (!credentialValue) {
+    if (isNonInteractive()) {
+      console.error(
+        `  ${resolvedCredentialEnv} is required to recreate provider '${provider}' during resume.`,
+      );
+      console.error(
+        `  Re-run without --non-interactive to enter it, or set ${resolvedCredentialEnv} and retry.`,
+      );
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+    console.log("");
+    console.log(`  [resume] Provider '${provider}' is missing from the gateway.`);
+    console.log("  Re-enter the API key so onboarding can recreate it before rebuilding.");
+    await replaceNamedCredential(
+      resolvedCredentialEnv,
+      `${providerLabel} API key`,
+      helpUrl,
+      (value) => validateNvidiaApiKeyValue(value, resolvedCredentialEnv),
+    );
+  } else {
+    note(`  [resume] Provider '${provider}' is missing from the gateway; recreating it.`);
+  }
+  return { forceInferenceSetup: true };
+}
+
 function getMessagingChannelForEnvKey(envKey: string): string | null {
   if (envKey === "DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN") return "discord";
   if (envKey === "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN") return "slack";
@@ -9957,6 +10026,7 @@ async function onboard(opts: OnboardOptions = {}): Promise<void> {
     let nimContainer = session?.nimContainer || null;
     let webSearchConfig = session?.webSearchConfig || null;
     let forceProviderSelection = false;
+    let forceInferenceSetup = false;
     while (true) {
       const resumeProviderSelection =
         !forceProviderSelection &&
@@ -9965,9 +10035,12 @@ async function onboard(opts: OnboardOptions = {}): Promise<void> {
         typeof provider === "string" &&
         typeof model === "string";
       if (resumeProviderSelection) {
+        const resumeProvider = await ensureResumeProviderReady(provider, credentialEnv);
+        forceInferenceSetup = resumeProvider.forceInferenceSetup;
         skippedStepMessage("provider_selection", `${provider} / ${model}`);
         hydrateCredentialEnv(credentialEnv);
       } else {
+        forceInferenceSetup = false;
         // #2753: do not persist sandboxName to onboard-session.json before
         // the sandbox actually exists in the gateway (Step 6 markStepComplete
         // below). A SIGINT between any earlier step and createSandbox would
@@ -10000,7 +10073,10 @@ async function onboard(opts: OnboardOptions = {}): Promise<void> {
       }
       process.env.NEMOCLAW_OPENSHELL_BIN = getOpenshellBinary();
       const resumeInference =
-        !forceProviderSelection && resume && isInferenceRouteReady(provider, model);
+        !forceProviderSelection &&
+        !forceInferenceSetup &&
+        resume &&
+        isInferenceRouteReady(provider, model);
       if (resumeInference) {
         if (isRoutedInferenceProvider(provider)) {
           try {
@@ -10482,6 +10558,7 @@ module.exports = {
   printSandboxCreateRecoveryHints,
   promptYesNoOrDefault,
   providerExistsInGateway,
+  ensureResumeProviderReady,
   parsePolicyPresetEnv,
   parseSandboxStatus,
   pruneStaleSandboxEntry,
diff --git a/test/onboard.test.ts b/test/onboard.test.ts
index 6042f3828a..8f32365ca9 100644
--- a/test/onboard.test.ts
+++ b/test/onboard.test.ts
@@ -113,6 +113,10 @@ type OnboardTestInternals = {
     flavor: "openai" | "anthropic",
   ) => string;
   providerNameToOptionKey: (name?: string | null) => string | null;
+  ensureResumeProviderReady: (
+    provider?: string | null,
+    credentialEnv?: string | null,
+  ) => Promise<{ forceInferenceSetup: boolean }>;
   parsePolicyPresetEnv: (value: string | null) => string[];
   patchStagedDockerfile: ShimFn<void>;
   pullAndResolveBaseImageDigest: () => { digest: string; ref: string } | null;
@@ -163,6 +167,7 @@ function isOnboardTestInternals(
     typeof value.formatSandboxBuildEstimateNote === "function" &&
     Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(value, "providerNameToOptionKey") &&
     typeof value.providerNameToOptionKey === "function" &&
+    typeof value.ensureResumeProviderReady === "function" &&
     typeof value.shouldRunCompatibleEndpointSandboxSmoke === "function" &&
     typeof value.writeSandboxConfigSyncFile === "function"
   );
@@ -218,6 +223,7 @@ const {
   isLoopbackHostname,
   normalizeProviderBaseUrl,
   providerNameToOptionKey,
+  ensureResumeProviderReady,
   parsePolicyPresetEnv,
   patchStagedDockerfile,
   pullAndResolveBaseImageDigest,
@@ -411,6 +417,84 @@ describe("onboard helpers", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("re-prompts and forces inference setup when a resumed remote provider was reset", () => {
+    const repoRoot = path.join(import.meta.dirname, "..");
+    const tmpDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-resume-provider-reset-"));
+    const fakeBin = path.join(tmpDir, "bin");
+    const scriptPath = path.join(tmpDir, "resume-provider-reset.js");
+    const onboardPath = JSON.stringify(path.join(repoRoot, "dist", "lib", "onboard.js"));
+    const credentialsPath = JSON.stringify(path.join(repoRoot, "dist", "lib", "credentials", "store.js"));
+    const runnerPath = JSON.stringify(path.join(repoRoot, "dist", "lib", "runner.js"));
+    const openshellPath = path.join(fakeBin, "openshell");
+
+    try {
+      fs.mkdirSync(fakeBin, { recursive: true });
+      fs.writeFileSync(openshellPath, "#!/usr/bin/env bash\nexit 0\n", { mode: 0o755 });
+
+      const script = `
+const credentials = require(${credentialsPath});
+const runner = require(${runnerPath});
+const calls = [];
+const saved = [];
+
+runner.run = (command) => {
+  calls.push(Array.isArray(command) ? command.slice(1).join(" ") : String(command));
+  if (Array.isArray(command) && command.includes("provider") && command.includes("get")) {
+    return { status: 1, stdout: "", stderr: "provider not found" };
+  }
+  return { status: 0, stdout: "", stderr: "" };
+};
+credentials.resolveProviderCredential = () => null;
+credentials.prompt = async () => "fresh-compatible-key";
+credentials.saveCredential = (name, value) => saved.push({ name, value });
+
+process.env.NEMOCLAW_OPENSHELL_BIN = ${JSON.stringify(openshellPath)};
+delete process.env.COMPATIBLE_API_KEY;
+
+const { ensureResumeProviderReady } = require(${onboardPath});
+(async () => {
+  const result = await ensureResumeProviderReady("compatible-endpoint", "COMPATIBLE_API_KEY");
+  console.log(JSON.stringify({
+    result,
+    saved,
+    envValue: process.env.COMPATIBLE_API_KEY,
+    providerGet: calls.some((call) => call === "provider get compatible-endpoint"),
+  }));
+})().catch((error) => {
+  console.error(error);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
+`;
+      fs.writeFileSync(scriptPath, script);
+
+      const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [scriptPath], {
+        cwd: repoRoot,
+        encoding: "utf-8",
+        env: {
+          ...process.env,
+          HOME: tmpDir,
+          PATH: `${fakeBin}:${process.env.PATH || ""}`,
+        },
+      });
+
+      assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
+      const payload = parseStdoutJson<{
+        result: { forceInferenceSetup: boolean };
+        saved: Array<{ name: string; value: string }>;
+        envValue: string;
+        providerGet: boolean;
+      }>(result.stdout);
+      assert.equal(payload.providerGet, true);
+      assert.deepEqual(payload.result, { forceInferenceSetup: true });
+      assert.deepEqual(payload.saved, [
+        { name: "COMPATIBLE_API_KEY", value: "fresh-compatible-key" },
+      ]);
+      assert.equal(payload.envValue, "fresh-compatible-key");
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it("uses explicit messaging selections for policy suggestions when provided", () => {
     const originalTelegramBotToken = process.env.TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN;
     const originalDiscordBotToken = process.env.DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN;