diff --git a/src/server/infra/transport/handlers/provider-handler.ts b/src/server/infra/transport/handlers/provider-handler.ts
index f1a2a59e5..92996e93d 100644
--- a/src/server/infra/transport/handlers/provider-handler.ts
+++ b/src/server/infra/transport/handlers/provider-handler.ts
@@ -311,7 +311,14 @@ export class ProviderHandler {
       // "needs setup" and unmounts any in-flight setup flow on the home
       // page. The model:setActive handler activates the provider when the
       // user picks a model, which is the right moment.
-      const willHaveActiveModel = Boolean(provider?.defaultModel)
+      //
+      // byterover bypasses this gate: it has no model fetcher and no
+      // `brv model switch` recovery path, so deferring would strand it as
+      // connected-but-never-active. Its model is resolved at runtime via
+      // DEFAULT_LLM_MODEL in agent-process.ts rather than persisted here,
+      // so future default changes roll out without a per-user migration.
+      const willHaveActiveModel = providerId === 'byterover'
+        || Boolean(provider?.defaultModel)
         || Boolean(await this.providerConfigStore.getActiveModel(providerId))
       await this.providerConfigStore.connectProvider(providerId, {
         activeModel: provider?.defaultModel,
diff --git a/src/tui/features/auth/api/get-auth-state.ts b/src/tui/features/auth/api/get-auth-state.ts
index 5a021fc7c..a127cc0a1 100644
--- a/src/tui/features/auth/api/get-auth-state.ts
+++ b/src/tui/features/auth/api/get-auth-state.ts
@@ -9,9 +9,12 @@ export const getAuthState = (): Promise<AuthGetStateResponse> => {
   const {apiClient} = useTransportStore.getState()
   if (!apiClient) return Promise.reject(new Error('Not connected'))
 
-  // Use 500ms timeout to fail fast if handler not ready yet
-  // React Query will retry automatically with exponential backoff
-  return apiClient.request<AuthGetStateResponse>(AuthEvents.GET_STATE, undefined, {timeout: 500})
+  // The daemon-side handler does a network round-trip to /user/me. Measured
+  // p99 across multiple networks ranges 1.2-3.1s with occasional outliers,
+  // so 4000ms gives ~1.3x headroom over the worst observed sample with
+  // margin left for slower connections (mobile, international, VPN).
+  // React Query retries once on failure for transient blips.
+  return apiClient.request<AuthGetStateResponse>(AuthEvents.GET_STATE, undefined, {timeout: 4000})
 }
 
 export const getAuthStateQueryOptions = () =>
diff --git a/src/tui/features/auth/components/auth-initializer.tsx b/src/tui/features/auth/components/auth-initializer.tsx
index 5c397bf58..ca4b81f83 100644
--- a/src/tui/features/auth/components/auth-initializer.tsx
+++ b/src/tui/features/auth/components/auth-initializer.tsx
@@ -30,8 +30,10 @@ export function AuthInitializer({children}: {children: React.ReactNode}): React.
   } = useGetAuthState({
     queryConfig: {
       enabled: apiClient !== null,
-      retry: 5,
-      retryDelay: (attemptIndex) => Math.min(500 * 2 ** attemptIndex, 2000),
+      // One retry covers transient blips; the per-attempt timeout is now generous
+      // (3s) so we don't need 5+ retries that would block startup for ~17s when offline.
+      retry: 1,
+      retryDelay: 500,
       staleTime: 2 * 60 * 1000,
     },
   })
diff --git a/test/unit/core/domain/entities/provider-registry.test.ts b/test/unit/core/domain/entities/provider-registry.test.ts
index e3da74413..564442fca 100644
--- a/test/unit/core/domain/entities/provider-registry.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/core/domain/entities/provider-registry.test.ts
@@ -107,6 +107,12 @@ describe('Provider Registry', () => {
       expect(provider?.oauth).to.be.undefined
     })
 
+    it('should not have a defaultModel for byterover (model is resolved at runtime via DEFAULT_LLM_MODEL)', () => {
+      // intentional: model is runtime-resolved so default changes auto-roll without per-user migration.
+      const provider = getProviderById('byterover')
+      expect(provider?.defaultModel).to.be.undefined
+    })
+
     it('should not have oauth config for anthropic yet', () => {
       const provider = getProviderById('anthropic')
       expect(provider?.oauth).to.be.undefined
diff --git a/test/unit/infra/transport/handlers/provider-handler.test.ts b/test/unit/infra/transport/handlers/provider-handler.test.ts
index cac62be51..b9765ee21 100644
--- a/test/unit/infra/transport/handlers/provider-handler.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/infra/transport/handlers/provider-handler.test.ts
@@ -367,6 +367,18 @@ describe('ProviderHandler', () => {
       const connectArgs = providerConfigStore.connectProvider.firstCall.args[1] as Record<string, unknown>
       expect(connectArgs.setAsActive).to.equal(true)
     })
+
+    it('should activate byterover on connect without persisting an activeModel', async () => {
+      // byterover bypasses the gate (no model fetcher, no model-switch recovery path); runtime resolves via DEFAULT_LLM_MODEL.
+      createHandler()
+
+      const handler = transport._handlers.get(ProviderEvents.CONNECT)
+      await handler!({providerId: 'byterover'}, 'client-1')
+
+      const connectArgs = providerConfigStore.connectProvider.firstCall.args[1] as Record<string, unknown>
+      expect(connectArgs.setAsActive).to.equal(true)
+      expect(connectArgs.activeModel).to.be.undefined
+    })
   })
 
   describe('provider:disconnect', () => {