diff --git a/packages/ai/src/auth-storage.ts b/packages/ai/src/auth-storage.ts
index 14523369e..e80306258 100644
--- a/packages/ai/src/auth-storage.ts
+++ b/packages/ai/src/auth-storage.ts
@@ -1280,6 +1280,25 @@ export class AuthStorage {
 		return false;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * True iff a dedicated, non-env credential source is configured for this
+	 * provider — i.e. anything in the cascade EXCEPT `getEnvApiKey(provider)`.
+	 *
+	 * Mirrors `hasAuth` minus the env-fallback leg. Useful for callers that
+	 * need to distinguish "the user explicitly configured this provider"
+	 * from "an env var happens to alias this provider via the cross-provider
+	 * fallback map" (see e.g. `xai-oauth → XAI_OAUTH_TOKEN || XAI_API_KEY` in
+	 * `stream.ts`). Without that distinction, an `XAI_API_KEY`-only setup
+	 * silently satisfies xai-oauth and routes around `providers.xai.baseUrl`.
+	 */
+	hasNonEnvCredential(provider: string): boolean {
+		if (this.#runtimeOverrides.has(provider)) return true;
+		if (this.#configOverrides.has(provider)) return true;
+		if (this.#getCredentialsForProvider(provider).length > 0) return true;
+		if (this.#fallbackResolver?.(provider)) return true;
+		return false;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Check if OAuth credentials are configured for a provider.
 	 */
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/lib/xai-http.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/lib/xai-http.ts
index 97cac4c96..8786be8cc 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/lib/xai-http.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/lib/xai-http.ts
@@ -18,10 +18,25 @@ export function ohMyPiXAIUserAgent(): string {
 /**
  * Resolve xAI credentials for HTTP tool calls.
  *
- * Priority:
- *   1. xai-oauth (SuperGrok subscription token via AuthStorage; refresh
- *      cascade runs inside ModelRegistry.getApiKeyForProvider).
- *   2. XAI_API_KEY environment variable (legacy/headless).
+ * Credential priority:
+ *   1. xai-oauth — only when a *dedicated* xai-oauth source exists. Composed
+ *      of two checks against the registry layer:
+ *        a. `authStorage.hasNonEnvCredential("xai-oauth")` covers stored
+ *           credentials (OAuth or api_key), runtime overrides (CLI
+ *           `--api-key` for xai-oauth), config overrides (models.yml
+ *           `providers.xai-oauth.apiKey`), and fallback resolvers.
+ *        b. `$env.XAI_OAUTH_TOKEN` covers the xai-oauth-specific env var.
+ *      `XAI_API_KEY` is intentionally NOT a signal here, even though the
+ *      env-fallback map (`stream.ts: "xai-oauth"`) lets xai-oauth borrow it
+ *      as a back-compat convenience: the borrow lets API-key-only setups
+ *      satisfy the xai-oauth branch and then resolve baseUrl under
+ *      xai-oauth instead of xai, silently bypassing `providers.xai.baseUrl`
+ *      overrides for image/TTS traffic. The gate routes the borrow case to
+ *      step 2 while preserving every dedicated xai-oauth path.
+ *   2. xai (plain API key). Delegates to ModelRegistry.getApiKeyForProvider
+ *      which runs AuthStorage.getApiKey's full cascade: runtime override →
+ *      models.yml config override → stored api_key credential → OAuth
+ *      resolution → XAI_API_KEY env var → custom fallback resolver.
  *
  * Returns null when neither credential is available. Caller is responsible
  * for surfacing an actionable error message in that case.
@@ -32,12 +47,16 @@ export function ohMyPiXAIUserAgent(): string {
 export async function resolveXAIHttpCredentials(modelRegistry: ModelRegistry): Promise<XAICredentials | null> {
 	const baseURL = ($env.XAI_BASE_URL || DEFAULT_BASE_URL).replace(/\/$/, "");
 
-	const oauthKey = await modelRegistry.getApiKeyForProvider("xai-oauth");
-	if (oauthKey) {
-		return { provider: "xai-oauth", apiKey: oauthKey, baseURL };
+	const hasDedicatedXaiOAuth =
+		modelRegistry.authStorage.hasNonEnvCredential("xai-oauth") || Boolean($env.XAI_OAUTH_TOKEN);
+	if (hasDedicatedXaiOAuth) {
+		const oauthKey = await modelRegistry.getApiKeyForProvider("xai-oauth");
+		if (oauthKey) {
+			return { provider: "xai-oauth", apiKey: oauthKey, baseURL };
+		}
 	}
 
-	const apiKey = $env.XAI_API_KEY;
+	const apiKey = await modelRegistry.getApiKeyForProvider("xai");
 	if (apiKey) {
 		return { provider: "xai", apiKey, baseURL };
 	}