diff --git a/acp_adapter/entry.py b/acp_adapter/entry.py
index 3089f78c27..33e28092f0 100644
--- a/acp_adapter/entry.py
+++ b/acp_adapter/entry.py
@@ -112,6 +112,17 @@ def main() -> None:
     import acp
     from .server import HermesACPAgent
 
+    # MCP tool discovery from config.yaml — run before asyncio.run() so
+    # it's safe to use blocking waits.  (ACP also registers per-session
+    # MCP servers dynamically via asyncio.to_thread inside the event
+    # loop; that path is unaffected.)  Moved from model_tools.py module
+    # scope to avoid freezing the gateway's loop on lazy import (#16856).
+    try:
+        from tools.mcp_tool import discover_mcp_tools
+        discover_mcp_tools()
+    except Exception:
+        logger.debug("MCP tool discovery failed at ACP startup", exc_info=True)
+
     agent = HermesACPAgent()
     try:
         asyncio.run(acp.run_agent(agent, use_unstable_protocol=True))
diff --git a/gateway/run.py b/gateway/run.py
index 60fbd490a7..1cda4fb8f6 100644
--- a/gateway/run.py
+++ b/gateway/run.py
@@ -11663,6 +11663,19 @@ async def start_gateway(config: Optional[GatewayConfig] = None, replace: bool =
     atexit.register(remove_pid_file)
     atexit.register(release_gateway_runtime_lock)
 
+    # MCP tool discovery — run in an executor so the asyncio event loop
+    # stays responsive even when a configured MCP server is slow or
+    # unreachable.  discover_mcp_tools() uses a blocking 120s wait
+    # internally; calling it from the loop thread would freeze platform
+    # heartbeats (Discord shard, Telegram polling) until it returned.
+    # See #16856.
+    try:
+        from tools.mcp_tool import discover_mcp_tools
+        _loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
+        await _loop.run_in_executor(None, discover_mcp_tools)
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.debug("MCP tool discovery failed: %s", e)
+
     # Start the gateway
     success = await runner.start()
     if not success:
diff --git a/hermes_cli/main.py b/hermes_cli/main.py
index a9cd08e98f..c13e3dce3d 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main.py
@@ -10193,6 +10193,17 @@ Examples:
             logger.debug(
                 "plugin discovery failed at CLI startup", exc_info=True,
             )
+        try:
+            # MCP tool discovery — no event loop running in CLI/TUI startup,
+            # so inline is safe.  Moved here from model_tools.py module scope
+            # to avoid freezing the gateway's event loop on its first message
+            # via the same lazy import path (#16856).
+            from tools.mcp_tool import discover_mcp_tools
+            discover_mcp_tools()
+        except Exception:
+            logger.debug(
+                "MCP tool discovery failed at CLI startup", exc_info=True,
+            )
         try:
             from hermes_cli.config import load_config
             from agent.shell_hooks import register_from_config
diff --git a/model_tools.py b/model_tools.py
index 539b0e13b4..31e3115dcf 100644
--- a/model_tools.py
+++ b/model_tools.py
@@ -138,12 +138,18 @@ def _run_async(coro):
 
 discover_builtin_tools()
 
-# MCP tool discovery (external MCP servers from config)
-try:
-    from tools.mcp_tool import discover_mcp_tools
-    discover_mcp_tools()
-except Exception as e:
-    logger.debug("MCP tool discovery failed: %s", e)
+# MCP tool discovery (external MCP servers from config) used to run here as
+# a module-level side effect.  It was removed because discover_mcp_tools()
+# internally uses a blocking future.result(timeout=120) wait, and the
+# gateway lazy-imports this module from inside the asyncio event loop on
+# the first user message — freezing Discord/Telegram heartbeats for up to
+# 120s whenever any configured MCP server was slow or unreachable (#16856).
+#
+# Each entry point now runs discovery explicitly at its own startup:
+#   - gateway/run.py            -> start_gateway() uses run_in_executor
+#   - cli.py, hermes_cli/*      -> inline on startup (no event loop)
+#   - tui_gateway/server.py     -> inline on startup (no event loop)
+#   - acp_adapter/server.py     -> asyncio.to_thread on session init
 
 # Plugin tool discovery (user/project/pip plugins)
 try:
diff --git a/tui_gateway/entry.py b/tui_gateway/entry.py
index 4e03224ee8..38e00ecfac 100644
--- a/tui_gateway/entry.py
+++ b/tui_gateway/entry.py
@@ -105,6 +105,17 @@ def _log_exit(reason: str) -> None:
 def main():
     _install_sidecar_publisher()
 
+    # MCP tool discovery — inline is safe here: TUI entry is a plain
+    # sync loop with no asyncio event loop to block.  Previously ran as
+    # a model_tools.py module-level side effect; moved to explicit
+    # startup calls to avoid freezing the gateway's loop on lazy import
+    # (#16856).
+    try:
+        from tools.mcp_tool import discover_mcp_tools
+        discover_mcp_tools()
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
     if not write_json({
         "jsonrpc": "2.0",
         "method": "event",