diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 44ce83b9c4a3..edfde0152b6f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Release/CI/E2E: fail early when Crabbox sparse-sync full checkouts do not have enough local disk, with guidance for moving the sync root.
 - Release/CI/E2E: reset shared Crabbox pnpm hydrate state before installs so stale `/var/tmp` stores cannot leave `pnpm install` spinning after completion.
 - Release/CI/E2E: print heartbeat progress during centralized Docker builds while keeping successful build logs quiet.
+- Release/CI/E2E: avoid heartbeat-tail delays in Docker E2E log wrappers while reporting captured log bytes during long runs.
 - Build: render independent CLI startup metadata help snapshots concurrently to cut cold build-all metadata time.
 - Plugins: stop timed-out package-boundary prep steps by process group so descendant TypeScript/helper processes do not survive local check cleanup.
 - Control UI: serve static assets asynchronously after safe-open checks so large UI files do not block Gateway request handling.
diff --git a/scripts/lib/docker-build.sh b/scripts/lib/docker-build.sh
index 84817bbd9210..6d47569b90c5 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/docker-build.sh
+++ b/scripts/lib/docker-build.sh
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ docker_build_timeout_required() {
 docker_build_heartbeat_seconds() {
   local configured="${OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BUILD_HEARTBEAT_SECONDS:-30}"
   if [[ "$configured" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] && [ "$configured" -ge 1 ]; then
-    echo "$configured"
+    echo "$((10#$configured))"
     return
   fi
   echo 30
diff --git a/scripts/lib/docker-e2e-logs.sh b/scripts/lib/docker-e2e-logs.sh
index bf5d67cb1d97..3d5f839b0b21 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/docker-e2e-logs.sh
+++ b/scripts/lib/docker-e2e-logs.sh
@@ -35,19 +35,29 @@ run_logged_print_heartbeat() {
   local label="$1"
   local interval_seconds="$2"
   shift 2
+  if ! [[ "$interval_seconds" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || [ "$interval_seconds" -lt 1 ]; then
+    interval_seconds="30"
+  else
+    interval_seconds="$((10#$interval_seconds))"
+  fi
   local log_file
   log_file="$(docker_e2e_run_log "$label")"
   "$@" >"$log_file" 2>&1 &
   local command_pid=$!
-  local started_at
-  started_at="$(date +%s)"
+  local started_at="$SECONDS"
+  local next_heartbeat=$interval_seconds
   local status=0
   while kill -0 "$command_pid" 2>/dev/null; do
-    sleep "$interval_seconds"
-    if kill -0 "$command_pid" 2>/dev/null; then
-      local now
-      now="$(date +%s)"
-      echo "still running $label ($((now - started_at))s elapsed)"
+    /bin/sleep 1
+    local elapsed_seconds=$((SECONDS - started_at))
+    if [ "$elapsed_seconds" -ge "$next_heartbeat" ] && kill -0 "$command_pid" 2>/dev/null; then
+      local log_bytes="0"
+      if [ -f "$log_file" ]; then
+        log_bytes="$(wc -c <"$log_file" 2>/dev/null || echo 0)"
+        log_bytes="${log_bytes//[[:space:]]/}"
+      fi
+      echo "still running $label (${elapsed_seconds}s elapsed, ${log_bytes} log bytes captured)"
+      next_heartbeat=$((elapsed_seconds + interval_seconds))
     fi
   done
   set +e
diff --git a/test/scripts/docker-build-helper.test.ts b/test/scripts/docker-build-helper.test.ts
index 2886941c5eb1..028416eb1daa 100644
--- a/test/scripts/docker-build-helper.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/docker-build-helper.test.ts
@@ -339,6 +339,22 @@ output="$(docker_build_run e2e-build -t demo-image .)"
     }
   });
 
+  it("normalizes zero-padded centralized Docker build heartbeat intervals", () => {
+    const rootDir = process.cwd();
+    const script = `
+set -euo pipefail
+ROOT_DIR=${shellQuote(rootDir)}
+export ROOT_DIR
+export OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BUILD_HEARTBEAT_SECONDS=08
+
+source "$ROOT_DIR/scripts/lib/docker-build.sh"
+
+[[ "$(docker_build_heartbeat_seconds)" = "8" ]]
+`;
+
+    execFileSync("bash", ["-lc", script], { encoding: "utf8" });
+  });
+
   it("fails centralized Docker builds fast when timeout is unavailable", () => {
     const workDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "openclaw-docker-build-timeout-required-"));
 
@@ -1555,6 +1571,82 @@ test -f "$TMPDIR/docker-cmd-seen"
     expect(runner).not.toContain("docker_e2e_run_logged_with_harness plugins-run");
   });
 
+  it("prints heartbeat progress for long successful Docker E2E log captures", () => {
+    const workDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "openclaw-docker-e2e-log-heartbeat-"));
+
+    try {
+      const rootDir = process.cwd();
+      const script = `
+set -euo pipefail
+ROOT_DIR=${shellQuote(rootDir)}
+TMPDIR=${shellQuote(workDir)}
+export ROOT_DIR TMPDIR
+
+source "$ROOT_DIR/scripts/lib/docker-e2e-logs.sh"
+
+output="$(run_logged_print_heartbeat plugins-run 1 bash -c 'printf "captured container log\\\\n"; /bin/sleep 2')"
+[[ "$output" = *"still running plugins-run ("* ]]
+[[ "$output" = *"log bytes captured"* ]]
+[[ "$output" = *"captured container log"* ]]
+`;
+
+      execFileSync("bash", ["-lc", script], { encoding: "utf8" });
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("does not delay fast successful Docker E2E log captures until the next heartbeat", () => {
+    const workDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "openclaw-docker-e2e-log-fast-heartbeat-"));
+
+    try {
+      const rootDir = process.cwd();
+      const script = `
+set -euo pipefail
+ROOT_DIR=${shellQuote(rootDir)}
+TMPDIR=${shellQuote(workDir)}
+export ROOT_DIR TMPDIR
+
+source "$ROOT_DIR/scripts/lib/docker-e2e-logs.sh"
+
+output="$(run_logged_print_heartbeat plugins-run 30 bash -c 'printf "quick container log\\\\n"')"
+[[ "$output" = "quick container log" ]]
+`;
+      const startedAt = Date.now();
+
+      execFileSync("bash", ["-lc", script], { encoding: "utf8" });
+
+      expect(Date.now() - startedAt).toBeLessThan(5_000);
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("normalizes zero-padded Docker E2E log heartbeat intervals", () => {
+    const workDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "openclaw-docker-e2e-log-zero-heartbeat-"));
+
+    try {
+      const rootDir = process.cwd();
+      const script = `
+set -euo pipefail
+ROOT_DIR=${shellQuote(rootDir)}
+TMPDIR=${shellQuote(workDir)}
+export ROOT_DIR TMPDIR
+
+source "$ROOT_DIR/scripts/lib/docker-e2e-logs.sh"
+
+output="$(run_logged_print_heartbeat plugins-run 08 bash -c 'printf "captured container log\\\\n"; /bin/sleep 9')"
+[[ "$output" = *"still running plugins-run (8s elapsed,"* ]]
+[[ "$output" = *"log bytes captured"* ]]
+[[ "$output" = *"captured container log"* ]]
+`;
+
+      execFileSync("bash", ["-lc", script], { encoding: "utf8" });
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it("includes procps in the shared Docker E2E image for process watchdogs", () => {
     const dockerfile = readFileSync("scripts/e2e/Dockerfile", "utf8");