diff --git a/setup/verify.ts b/setup/verify.ts
index 281b243ce..4bfd3d0d7 100644
--- a/setup/verify.ts
+++ b/setup/verify.ts
@@ -14,14 +14,9 @@ import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
 import { DATA_DIR } from '../src/config.js';
 import { readEnvFile } from '../src/env.js';
 import { log } from '../src/log.js';
-import { pingCliAgent } from './lib/agent-ping.js';
+import { pingCliAgent, type PingResult } from './lib/agent-ping.js';
 import { getLaunchdLabel, getSystemdUnit } from '../src/install-slug.js';
-import {
-  getPlatform,
-  getServiceManager,
-  hasSystemd,
-  isRoot,
-} from './platform.js';
+import { getPlatform, getServiceManager, hasSystemd, isRoot } from './platform.js';
 import { emitStatus } from './status.js';
 
 export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
@@ -38,11 +33,7 @@ export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
   // a sibling checkout (common for developers with multiple clones), this
   // repo's `data/cli.sock` won't exist — AGENT_PING would return a
   // misleading `socket_error`. Surface the mismatch directly instead.
-  let service:
-    | 'not_found'
-    | 'stopped'
-    | 'running'
-    | 'running_other_checkout' = 'not_found';
+  let service: 'not_found' | 'stopped' | 'running' | 'running_other_checkout' = 'not_found';
   let runningFromPath: string | null = null;
   const mgr = getServiceManager();
 
@@ -74,10 +65,7 @@ export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
       execSync(`${prefix} is-active ${systemdUnit}`, { stdio: 'ignore' });
       service = 'running';
       try {
-        const pidStr = execSync(
-          `${prefix} show ${systemdUnit} -p MainPID --value`,
-          { encoding: 'utf-8' },
-        ).trim();
+        const pidStr = execSync(`${prefix} show ${systemdUnit} -p MainPID --value`, { encoding: 'utf-8' }).trim();
         const pid = Number(pidStr);
         if (Number.isInteger(pid) && pid > 0) {
           runningFromPath = resolveBinaryScript(pid);
@@ -115,11 +103,7 @@ export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
     }
   }
 
-  if (
-    service === 'running' &&
-    runningFromPath &&
-    !isPathInside(runningFromPath, projectRoot)
-  ) {
+  if (service === 'running' && runningFromPath && !isPathInside(runningFromPath, projectRoot)) {
     service = 'running_other_checkout';
   }
 
@@ -210,11 +194,7 @@ export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
 
   // 6. Check mount allowlist
   let mountAllowlist = 'missing';
-  if (
-    fs.existsSync(
-      path.join(homeDir, '.config', 'nanoclaw', 'mount-allowlist.json'),
-    )
-  ) {
+  if (fs.existsSync(path.join(homeDir, '.config', 'nanoclaw', 'mount-allowlist.json'))) {
     mountAllowlist = 'configured';
   }
 
@@ -227,15 +207,15 @@ export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
     log.info('Agent ping result', { agentPing });
   }
 
-  // Determine overall status
-  const status =
-    service === 'running' &&
-    credentials !== 'missing' &&
-    anyChannelConfigured &&
-    registeredGroups > 0 &&
-    (agentPing === 'ok' || agentPing === 'skipped')
-      ? 'success'
-      : 'failed';
+  // Determine overall status. A CLI-only install is valid when the local
+  // agent round-trip succeeds; messaging app credentials are optional.
+  const status = determineVerifyStatus({
+    service,
+    credentials,
+    anyChannelConfigured,
+    registeredGroups,
+    agentPing,
+  });
 
   log.info('Verification complete', { status, channelAuth });
 
@@ -255,6 +235,25 @@ export async function run(_args: string[]): Promise<void> {
   if (status === 'failed') process.exit(1);
 }
 
+export function determineVerifyStatus(input: {
+  service: 'not_found' | 'stopped' | 'running' | 'running_other_checkout';
+  credentials: string;
+  anyChannelConfigured: boolean;
+  registeredGroups: number;
+  agentPing: PingResult | 'skipped';
+}): 'success' | 'failed' {
+  const cliAgentResponds = input.agentPing === 'ok';
+  const hasUsableChannel = input.anyChannelConfigured || cliAgentResponds;
+
+  return input.service === 'running' &&
+    input.credentials !== 'missing' &&
+    hasUsableChannel &&
+    input.registeredGroups > 0 &&
+    (cliAgentResponds || input.agentPing === 'skipped')
+    ? 'success'
+    : 'failed';
+}
+
 /**
  * Given a PID, resolve the script path the process is executing (i.e. the
  * first `.js` / `.ts` / `.mjs` arg after `node`). Returns null on any