diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/onboarding.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/onboarding.test.ts
index 0184ac5b64b..806dafc7bf6 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/onboarding.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/onboarding.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 
 import type { OAuthProvider } from '@/types/hermes'
 
+import * as notifications from '@/store/notifications'
+
 import {
   $desktopOnboarding,
   type DesktopOnboardingState,
@@ -136,6 +138,8 @@ describe('refreshOnboarding', () => {
     })
 
     installApiMock(api)
+    // Simulate a returning user: cache is set and store is configured.
+    window.localStorage.setItem('hermes-desktop-onboarded-v1', '1')
     $desktopOnboarding.set(
       baseState({
         configured: true,
@@ -151,14 +155,12 @@ describe('refreshOnboarding', () => {
     expect(api).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect($desktopOnboarding.get().configured).toBe(true)
     expect($desktopOnboarding.get().reason).toBeNull()
-    expect(window.localStorage.getItem('hermes-desktop-onboarded-v1')).toBeNull()
+    // The cache must survive the refresh — proving we didn't downgrade.
+    expect(window.localStorage.getItem('hermes-desktop-onboarded-v1')).toBe('1')
   })
 
   it('shows a non-blocking notification when preserving configured on fallback', async () => {
-    const notifyErrorSpy = vi.spyOn(
-      await import('@/store/notifications'),
-      'notifyError'
-    )
+    const notifySpy = vi.spyOn(notifications, 'notify')
 
     installApiMock(vi.fn())
     $desktopOnboarding.set(
@@ -172,13 +174,42 @@ describe('refreshOnboarding', () => {
 
     await refreshOnboarding(onboardingContext(fallbackTimeoutGateway()))
 
-    expect(notifyErrorSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      'runtime-not-ready',
-      expect.stringContaining('could not verify the running backend')
+    expect(notifySpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        id: 'runtime-not-ready',
+        kind: 'error'
+      })
     )
     expect($desktopOnboarding.get().configured).toBe(true)
   })
 
+  it('does not preserve configured when onboarding was explicitly requested', async () => {
+    const api = vi.fn(async ({ path }: { path: string }) => {
+      if (path === '/api/providers/oauth') {
+        return { providers: [provider('fresh')] }
+      }
+
+      throw new Error(`unexpected api path: ${path}`)
+    })
+
+    installApiMock(api)
+    $desktopOnboarding.set(
+      baseState({
+        configured: true,
+        providers: [provider('cached')],
+        reason: null,
+        requested: true
+      })
+    )
+
+    const ready = await refreshOnboarding(onboardingContext(fallbackTimeoutGateway()))
+
+    expect(ready).toBe(false)
+    // requested overrides preservation — should downgrade.
+    expect($desktopOnboarding.get().configured).toBe(false)
+    expect(api).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+  })
+
   it('still surfaces onboarding when fallback failure happens before configured state', async () => {
     const api = vi.fn(async ({ path }: { path: string }) => {
       if (path === '/api/providers/oauth') {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/store/onboarding.ts b/apps/desktop/src/store/onboarding.ts
index b5de18d64b5..33c32a1033b 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/store/onboarding.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/store/onboarding.ts
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ function shouldPreserveConfiguredOnFallback(
   // A fallback result means both runtime probes were non-authoritative
   // (transport timeout/disconnect). Keep a previously verified configured
   // state instead of forcing the blocking onboarding overlay.
-  return runtime.source === 'fallback' && state.configured === true && !state.requested && !state.manual
+  return runtime.source === 'fallback' && state.configured === true && !state.requested
 }
 
 function notifyReady(provider: string) {
@@ -528,11 +528,14 @@ export async function refreshOnboarding(ctx: OnboardingContext) {
   if (shouldPreserveConfiguredOnFallback(runtime, state)) {
     // Gateway probes timed out but the user was already configured — don't
     // downgrade to the blocking onboarding overlay. Surface a non-blocking
-    // notification so the user knows the backend wasn't verified.
-    notifyError(
-      'runtime-not-ready',
-      'Hermes Desktop could not verify the running backend on startup. Some features may be unavailable until the gateway is reachable.'
-    )
+    // notification with a stable id so repeated calls during an outage dedup
+    // instead of stacking toasts.
+    notify({
+      id: 'runtime-not-ready',
+      kind: 'error',
+      title: 'Runtime not ready',
+      message: 'Hermes Desktop could not verify the running backend on startup. Some features may be unavailable until the gateway is reachable.'
+    })
 
     return false
   }