diff --git a/extensions/tsconfig.package-boundary.paths.json b/extensions/tsconfig.package-boundary.paths.json
index 4fa938bf8496..8fbd5f351c20 100644
--- a/extensions/tsconfig.package-boundary.paths.json
+++ b/extensions/tsconfig.package-boundary.paths.json
@@ -108,6 +108,9 @@
       "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/configured-model-refs": [
         "../dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/configured-model-refs.d.ts"
       ],
+      "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs": [
+        "../dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.d.ts"
+      ],
       "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/provider-id": [
         "../dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-id.d.ts"
       ],
diff --git a/extensions/xai/tsconfig.json b/extensions/xai/tsconfig.json
index c76c229f0ad2..f6d78a0aa47f 100644
--- a/extensions/xai/tsconfig.json
+++ b/extensions/xai/tsconfig.json
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@
       "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/configured-model-refs": [
         "../../dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/configured-model-refs.d.ts"
       ],
+      "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs": [
+        "../../dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.d.ts"
+      ],
       "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/provider-id": [
         "../../dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-id.d.ts"
       ],
diff --git a/packages/model-catalog-core/package.json b/packages/model-catalog-core/package.json
index 2933c6ec3b76..a6788dcd8d5c 100644
--- a/packages/model-catalog-core/package.json
+++ b/packages/model-catalog-core/package.json
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@
       "import": "./dist/configured-model-refs.mjs",
       "default": "./dist/configured-model-refs.mjs"
     },
+    "./model-catalog-refs": {
+      "types": "./dist/model-catalog-refs.d.mts",
+      "import": "./dist/model-catalog-refs.mjs",
+      "default": "./dist/model-catalog-refs.mjs"
+    },
     "./provider-id": {
       "types": "./dist/provider-id.d.mts",
       "import": "./dist/provider-id.mjs",
diff --git a/packages/model-catalog-core/src/index.ts b/packages/model-catalog-core/src/index.ts
index 4bbd3b2e5a8e..49158c1eca99 100644
--- a/packages/model-catalog-core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/model-catalog-core/src/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 export * from "./configured-model-refs.js";
+export * from "./model-catalog-refs.js";
 export * from "./provider-id.js";
 export * from "./provider-model-id-normalization.js";
 export * from "./provider-model-id-normalize.js";
diff --git a/packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.test.ts b/packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cc8fe99927a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { buildModelCatalogMergeKey, buildModelCatalogRef } from "./model-catalog-refs.js";
+
+describe("model catalog refs", () => {
+  it("normalizes provider ids without lowercasing model ids in refs", () => {
+    expect(buildModelCatalogRef("OpenAI", "GPT-5.4")).toBe("openai/GPT-5.4");
+    expect(buildModelCatalogMergeKey("OpenAI", "GPT-5.4")).toBe("openai::gpt-5.4");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/model-catalog/refs.ts b/packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.ts
similarity index 85%
rename from src/model-catalog/refs.ts
rename to packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.ts
index 1bdeba3c9c84..9845ab8b540e 100644
--- a/src/model-catalog/refs.ts
+++ b/packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
+import { normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty } from "./provider-id.js";
 
 export function normalizeModelCatalogProviderId(provider: string): string {
   return normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty(provider);
diff --git a/scripts/lib/extension-package-boundary.ts b/scripts/lib/extension-package-boundary.ts
index 0a65da10cc17..cc0a03ff2451 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/extension-package-boundary.ts
+++ b/scripts/lib/extension-package-boundary.ts
@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ export const EXTENSION_PACKAGE_BOUNDARY_BASE_PATHS = {
   "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/configured-model-refs": [
     "../dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/configured-model-refs.d.ts",
   ],
+  "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs": [
+    "../dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.d.ts",
+  ],
   "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/provider-id": [
     "../dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-id.d.ts",
   ],
diff --git a/scripts/prepare-extension-package-boundary-artifacts.mjs b/scripts/prepare-extension-package-boundary-artifacts.mjs
index d1a386e14c21..a00de3c138de 100644
--- a/scripts/prepare-extension-package-boundary-artifacts.mjs
+++ b/scripts/prepare-extension-package-boundary-artifacts.mjs
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ const ROOT_DTS_REQUIRED_OUTPUTS = [
   "dist/plugin-sdk/packages/terminal-core/src/terminal-link.d.ts",
   "dist/plugin-sdk/packages/terminal-core/src/theme.d.ts",
   "dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/configured-model-refs.d.ts",
+  "dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.d.ts",
   "dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-id.d.ts",
   "dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-model-id-normalization.d.ts",
   "dist/plugin-sdk/packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-model-id-normalize.d.ts",
@@ -96,6 +97,7 @@ const PACKAGE_DTS_REQUIRED_OUTPUTS = [
   "packages/plugin-sdk/dist/packages/media-generation-core/src/model-ref.d.ts",
   "packages/plugin-sdk/dist/packages/media-generation-core/src/normalization.d.ts",
   "packages/plugin-sdk/dist/packages/model-catalog-core/src/configured-model-refs.d.ts",
+  "packages/plugin-sdk/dist/packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.d.ts",
   "packages/plugin-sdk/dist/packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-id.d.ts",
   "packages/plugin-sdk/dist/packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-model-id-normalization.d.ts",
   "packages/plugin-sdk/dist/packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-model-id-normalize.d.ts",
diff --git a/src/commands/models/list.manifest-catalog.ts b/src/commands/models/list.manifest-catalog.ts
index 0e260e8d398e..9729f8a343bf 100644
--- a/src/commands/models/list.manifest-catalog.ts
+++ b/src/commands/models/list.manifest-catalog.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
+import { normalizeModelCatalogProviderId } from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/types.openclaw.js";
-import {
-  normalizeModelCatalogProviderId,
-  planManifestModelCatalogRows,
-} from "../../model-catalog/index.js";
+import { planManifestModelCatalogRows } from "../../model-catalog/index.js";
 import type { NormalizedModelCatalogRow } from "../../model-catalog/index.js";
 import { loadManifestMetadataSnapshot } from "../../plugins/manifest-contract-eligibility.js";
 import type { PluginManifestRegistry } from "../../plugins/manifest-registry.js";
diff --git a/src/commands/models/list.provider-index-catalog.ts b/src/commands/models/list.provider-index-catalog.ts
index 1a369bb43d37..04721149da40 100644
--- a/src/commands/models/list.provider-index-catalog.ts
+++ b/src/commands/models/list.provider-index-catalog.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
+import { normalizeModelCatalogProviderId } from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/types.openclaw.js";
 import {
   loadOpenClawProviderIndex,
-  normalizeModelCatalogProviderId,
   planProviderIndexModelCatalogRows,
 } from "../../model-catalog/index.js";
 import type { NormalizedModelCatalogRow } from "../../model-catalog/index.js";
diff --git a/src/model-catalog/index.ts b/src/model-catalog/index.ts
index 7828b542d749..565afab29315 100644
--- a/src/model-catalog/index.ts
+++ b/src/model-catalog/index.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,4 @@
 export { mergeModelCatalogRowsByAuthority } from "./authority.js";
-export {
-  buildModelCatalogMergeKey,
-  buildModelCatalogRef,
-  normalizeModelCatalogProviderId,
-} from "./refs.js";
 export { normalizeModelCatalog, normalizeModelCatalogRows } from "./normalize.js";
 export { loadOpenClawProviderIndex } from "./provider-index/index.js";
 export {
diff --git a/src/model-catalog/manifest-planner.ts b/src/model-catalog/manifest-planner.ts
index c3653b7f627c..452a39eb0ece 100644
--- a/src/model-catalog/manifest-planner.ts
+++ b/src/model-catalog/manifest-planner.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
+import {
+  buildModelCatalogMergeKey,
+  normalizeModelCatalogProviderId,
+} from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs";
 import { normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { normalizeUniqueStringEntries } from "../shared/string-normalization.js";
 import { normalizeModelCatalogProviderRows } from "./normalize.js";
-import { buildModelCatalogMergeKey, normalizeModelCatalogProviderId } from "./refs.js";
 import type {
   ModelCatalog,
   ModelCatalogAlias,
diff --git a/src/model-catalog/normalize.test.ts b/src/model-catalog/normalize.test.ts
index 3a69bb0fc0a7..bc7a4f9ab0b8 100644
--- a/src/model-catalog/normalize.test.ts
+++ b/src/model-catalog/normalize.test.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import {
   buildModelCatalogMergeKey,
   buildModelCatalogRef,
-  normalizeModelCatalog,
-  normalizeModelCatalogRows,
-} from "./index.js";
+} from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { normalizeModelCatalog, normalizeModelCatalogRows } from "./index.js";
 
 describe("model catalog normalization", () => {
   it("normalizes catalog ownership, aliases, suppressions, and row fields", () => {
diff --git a/src/model-catalog/normalize.ts b/src/model-catalog/normalize.ts
index b0e150fd4314..8af1c706e657 100644
--- a/src/model-catalog/normalize.ts
+++ b/src/model-catalog/normalize.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+import {
+  buildModelCatalogMergeKey,
+  buildModelCatalogRef,
+  normalizeModelCatalogProviderId,
+} from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs";
 import {
   MODEL_APIS,
   isModelThinkingFormat,
@@ -13,11 +18,6 @@ import {
   normalizeTrimmedStringList,
 } from "../shared/string-normalization.js";
 import { isRecord } from "../utils.js";
-import {
-  buildModelCatalogMergeKey,
-  buildModelCatalogRef,
-  normalizeModelCatalogProviderId,
-} from "./refs.js";
 import type {
   ModelCatalog,
   ModelCatalogAlias,
diff --git a/src/model-catalog/provider-index-planner.ts b/src/model-catalog/provider-index-planner.ts
index f97e88ee0222..0d570580ba6d 100644
--- a/src/model-catalog/provider-index-planner.ts
+++ b/src/model-catalog/provider-index-planner.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
+import { normalizeModelCatalogProviderId } from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs";
 import { normalizeModelCatalogProviderRows } from "./normalize.js";
 import type { OpenClawProviderIndex } from "./provider-index/index.js";
-import { normalizeModelCatalogProviderId } from "./refs.js";
 import type { ModelCatalogProvider, NormalizedModelCatalogRow } from "./types.js";
 
 type ProviderIndexModelCatalogPlanEntry = {
diff --git a/src/model-catalog/provider-index/normalize.ts b/src/model-catalog/provider-index/normalize.ts
index 76ff020ac5d7..c0c478447e4a 100644
--- a/src/model-catalog/provider-index/normalize.ts
+++ b/src/model-catalog/provider-index/normalize.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { normalizeModelCatalogProviderId } from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs";
 import { parseClawHubPluginSpec } from "../../infra/clawhub-spec.js";
 import { parseRegistryNpmSpec } from "../../infra/npm-registry-spec.js";
 import { isBlockedObjectKey } from "../../infra/prototype-keys.js";
@@ -6,7 +7,6 @@ import { normalizeOptionalString } from "../../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { normalizeUniqueTrimmedStringList } from "../../shared/string-normalization.js";
 import { isRecord } from "../../utils.js";
 import { normalizeModelCatalog } from "../normalize.js";
-import { normalizeModelCatalogProviderId } from "../refs.js";
 import type { ModelCatalogProvider } from "../types.js";
 import type {
   OpenClawProviderIndex,
diff --git a/src/plugins/contracts/model-catalog-core-imports.test.ts b/src/plugins/contracts/model-catalog-core-imports.test.ts
index f8f60bc79210..9858311986b6 100644
--- a/src/plugins/contracts/model-catalog-core-imports.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/contracts/model-catalog-core-imports.test.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ import { listGitTrackedFiles } from "../../test-utils/repo-files.js";
 const REPO_ROOT = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, "../../..");
 const LEGACY_MODEL_CATALOG_BRIDGES = new Map([
   [path.join(REPO_ROOT, "src/agents/provider-id.ts"), "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/provider-id"],
+  [
+    path.join(REPO_ROOT, "src/model-catalog/refs.ts"),
+    "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs",
+  ],
   [
     path.join(REPO_ROOT, "src/config/model-refs.ts"),
     "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/configured-model-refs",
diff --git a/src/plugins/gateway-startup-plugin-ids.ts b/src/plugins/gateway-startup-plugin-ids.ts
index 10123bfcc0ba..f3f23a19813b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/gateway-startup-plugin-ids.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/gateway-startup-plugin-ids.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { buildModelCatalogMergeKey } from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs";
 import { normalizeProviderId } from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/provider-id";
 import { collectConfiguredAgentHarnessRuntimes } from "../agents/harness-runtimes.js";
 import {
@@ -12,7 +13,6 @@ import {
   resolveMemoryDreamingPluginId,
 } from "../memory-host-sdk/dreaming.js";
 import { planManifestModelCatalogRows } from "../model-catalog/manifest-planner.js";
-import { buildModelCatalogMergeKey } from "../model-catalog/refs.js";
 import { isRecord } from "../shared/record-coerce.js";
 import { normalizeOptionalLowercaseString } from "../shared/string-coerce.js";
 import { hasExplicitChannelConfig } from "./channel-presence-policy.js";
diff --git a/src/plugins/manifest-model-suppression.ts b/src/plugins/manifest-model-suppression.ts
index 57b8d95c6b59..d14a42b3656e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/manifest-model-suppression.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/manifest-model-suppression.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
+import { buildModelCatalogMergeKey } from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";
 import {
-  buildModelCatalogMergeKey,
   planManifestModelCatalogSuppressions,
   type ManifestModelCatalogSuppressionEntry,
 } from "../model-catalog/index.js";
diff --git a/src/plugins/manifest.ts b/src/plugins/manifest.ts
index 2ad9277012f6..ca74d338883c 100644
--- a/src/plugins/manifest.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/manifest.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
+import { normalizeModelCatalogProviderId } from "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs";
 import type { ChannelConfigRuntimeSchema } from "../channels/plugins/types.config.js";
 import { MANIFEST_KEY } from "../compat/legacy-names.js";
 import { ENV_SECRET_REF_ID_RE } from "../config/types.secrets.js";
@@ -7,7 +8,6 @@ import { matchRootFileOpenFailure, openRootFileSync } from "../infra/boundary-fi
 import { isBlockedObjectKey } from "../infra/prototype-keys.js";
 import {
   normalizeModelCatalog,
-  normalizeModelCatalogProviderId,
   type ModelCatalog,
   type ModelCatalogAlias,
   type ModelCatalogCost,
diff --git a/src/plugins/sdk-alias.ts b/src/plugins/sdk-alias.ts
index d7f67c7c95eb..5d7c84b34e86 100644
--- a/src/plugins/sdk-alias.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/sdk-alias.ts
@@ -833,6 +833,13 @@ const WORKSPACE_PACKAGE_ALIAS_ENTRIES = [
     srcFile: "configured-model-refs.ts",
     distFile: "configured-model-refs.mjs",
   },
+  {
+    packageName: "@openclaw/model-catalog-core",
+    packageDir: "model-catalog-core",
+    subpath: "model-catalog-refs",
+    srcFile: "model-catalog-refs.ts",
+    distFile: "model-catalog-refs.mjs",
+  },
   {
     packageName: "@openclaw/model-catalog-core",
     packageDir: "model-catalog-core",
diff --git a/test/vitest/vitest.shared.config.ts b/test/vitest/vitest.shared.config.ts
index 0c7f520bf9b4..e44f6c5cd7df 100644
--- a/test/vitest/vitest.shared.config.ts
+++ b/test/vitest/vitest.shared.config.ts
@@ -247,6 +247,16 @@ export const sharedVitestConfig = {
           "configured-model-refs.ts",
         ),
       },
+      {
+        find: "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs",
+        replacement: path.join(
+          repoRoot,
+          "packages",
+          "model-catalog-core",
+          "src",
+          "model-catalog-refs.ts",
+        ),
+      },
       {
         find: "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/provider-id",
         replacement: path.join(repoRoot, "packages", "model-catalog-core", "src", "provider-id.ts"),
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index 2ec2ac443ff1..6d3c3e700887 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@
       "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/configured-model-refs": [
         "./packages/model-catalog-core/src/configured-model-refs.ts"
       ],
+      "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/model-catalog-refs": [
+        "./packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.ts"
+      ],
       "@openclaw/model-catalog-core/provider-id": [
         "./packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-id.ts"
       ],
diff --git a/tsdown.config.ts b/tsdown.config.ts
index 41de13768612..4de0e68ed581 100644
--- a/tsdown.config.ts
+++ b/tsdown.config.ts
@@ -470,6 +470,7 @@ function buildModelCatalogCoreDistEntries(): Record<string, string> {
   return {
     index: "packages/model-catalog-core/src/index.ts",
     "configured-model-refs": "packages/model-catalog-core/src/configured-model-refs.ts",
+    "model-catalog-refs": "packages/model-catalog-core/src/model-catalog-refs.ts",
     "provider-id": "packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-id.ts",
     "provider-model-id-normalization":
       "packages/model-catalog-core/src/provider-model-id-normalization.ts",