Best possible solution:

Close this branch and keep the shipped implementation from #76393; broader memory-role architecture work remains separate in #88504.

Do we have a high-confidence way to reproduce the issue?

Yes for the historical bug: before the merged fix, the helper only probed an already-loaded registry and could leave getMemoryRuntime() empty in standalone doctor/status paths. Current main no longer reproduces that source path because it loads the configured memory-slot plugin on a cold registry.

Is this the best way to solve the issue?

Yes. The shipped solution is the narrow plugin-runtime boundary fix: load only the configured memory slot through the standalone registry loader instead of broad plugin activation or a new config workaround.

Security review:

Security review cleared: The diff touches memory runtime loading, tests, and changelog only; it does not change dependencies, workflows, secrets, package metadata, or other supply-chain surfaces.

AGENTS.md: found and applied where relevant.

What I checked:

• Current main source implements the requested runtime load: ensureMemoryRuntime now resolves the configured memory slot, checks the active registry, and falls back to ensureStandaloneRuntimePluginRegistryLoaded with requiredPluginIds and onlyPluginIds before returning getMemoryRuntime(). (src/plugins/memory-runtime.ts:33, ad304e790d0c)
• Regression coverage exists on main: The current test file covers loading only the configured memory slot and avoiding standalone load when plugins are disabled, denied, entry-disabled, or already registered. (src/plugins/memory-runtime.test.ts:194, ad304e790d0c)
• Affected caller path uses the fixed helper: Doctor memory health still resolves backend config through resolveActiveMemoryBackendConfig, so the fixed runtime helper is on the warning path for the reported false no-active-plugin diagnostic. (src/commands/doctor-memory-search.ts:424, ad304e790d0c)
• Merged PR provenance: GitHub shows fix(cli): load memory plugin for doctor/status when registry is cold #76393 merged with the same three files and the title fix(cli): load memory plugin for doctor/status when registry is cold; local git show confirms merge commit b6cbd92 contains the scoped standalone memory-runtime load. (src/plugins/memory-runtime.ts:31, b6cbd9225c91)
• Release provenance: The latest stable release v2026.6.9 is published, points at c645ec4, and its tagged source contains the same memory-runtime implementation plus the changelog entry for the doctor/status memory diagnostic fix. (src/plugins/memory-runtime.ts:33, c645ec4555c0)
• Related report context: The paired issue Memory runtime checks should load the configured memory slot #76567 describes the same configured-memory-slot runtime-check problem, while [Bug]: doctor reports no active memory plugin while bundled memory-core is selected and working #76367 was the closed canonical false diagnostic report fixed by the merged implementation.

Likely related people:

• neeravmakwana: Authored the merged canonical fix in fix(cli): load memory plugin for doctor/status when registry is cold #76393, which changed the same memory runtime files and is now present in release source. (role: introduced shipped fix; confidence: high; commits: 5de8ffe7bf17, b6cbd9225c91; files: src/plugins/memory-runtime.ts, src/plugins/memory-runtime.test.ts, CHANGELOG.md)
• Vincent Koc: Current main and the latest release tag carrying this implementation are authored by Vincent in the available checkout history, making him a likely recent routing candidate for the plugin-runtime surface. (role: recent area contributor; confidence: medium; commits: c645ec4555c0, ad304e790d0c; files: src/plugins/memory-runtime.ts, src/plugins/memory-runtime.test.ts, CHANGELOG.md)

Codex review notes: model internal, reasoning high; reviewed against ad304e790d0c; fix evidence: release v2026.6.9, commit b6cbd9225c91.