diff --git a/src/app/api/github/route.ts b/src/app/api/github/route.ts
index c73eb0a..1a87fdc 100644
--- a/src/app/api/github/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/github/route.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ export async function GET(request: NextRequest) {
       return NextResponse.json({ error: 'repo query parameter required (owner/repo format)' }, { status: 400 })
     }
 
-    const token = getGitHubToken()
+    const token = await getGitHubToken()
     if (!token) {
       return NextResponse.json({ error: 'GITHUB_TOKEN not configured' }, { status: 400 })
     }
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ async function handleSync(
     return NextResponse.json({ error: 'repo is required' }, { status: 400 })
   }
 
-  const token = getGitHubToken()
+  const token = await getGitHubToken()
   if (!token) {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: 'GITHUB_TOKEN not configured' }, { status: 400 })
   }
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ function handleStatus(workspaceId: number) {
 // ── Stats: GitHub user profile + repo overview ──────────────────
 
 async function handleGitHubStats() {
-  const token = getGitHubToken()
+  const token = await getGitHubToken()
   if (!token) {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: 'GITHUB_TOKEN not configured' }, { status: 400 })
   }
diff --git a/src/lib/__tests__/runtime-env.test.ts b/src/lib/__tests__/runtime-env.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f15291
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/__tests__/runtime-env.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { mkdtemp, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import os from 'node:os'
+import path from 'node:path'
+
+import { getEffectiveEnvValue } from '../runtime-env'
+
+describe('getEffectiveEnvValue', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    delete process.env.TEST_RUNTIME_ENV
+  })
+
+  it('reads values from the OpenClaw env file before process.env', async () => {
+    const tmpDir = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'mc-runtime-env-'))
+    try {
+      const envFilePath = path.join(tmpDir, '.env')
+      await writeFile(envFilePath, 'TEST_RUNTIME_ENV=from-file\n', 'utf-8')
+      process.env.TEST_RUNTIME_ENV = 'from-process'
+
+      await expect(getEffectiveEnvValue('TEST_RUNTIME_ENV', { envFilePath })).resolves.toBe('from-file')
+    } finally {
+      await rm(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('falls back to process.env when the env file does not define the key', async () => {
+    const tmpDir = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'mc-runtime-env-'))
+    try {
+      const envFilePath = path.join(tmpDir, '.env')
+      await writeFile(envFilePath, 'OTHER_KEY=value\n', 'utf-8')
+      process.env.TEST_RUNTIME_ENV = 'from-process'
+
+      await expect(getEffectiveEnvValue('TEST_RUNTIME_ENV', { envFilePath })).resolves.toBe('from-process')
+    } finally {
+      await rm(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('returns an empty string when the key is missing everywhere', async () => {
+    const tmpDir = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'mc-runtime-env-'))
+    try {
+      const envFilePath = path.join(tmpDir, '.env')
+      await writeFile(envFilePath, '', 'utf-8')
+
+      await expect(getEffectiveEnvValue('TEST_RUNTIME_ENV', { envFilePath })).resolves.toBe('')
+    } finally {
+      await rm(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/lib/github.ts b/src/lib/github.ts
index 5542b3d..4bab583 100644
--- a/src/lib/github.ts
+++ b/src/lib/github.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 /**
  * GitHub API client for Mission Control issue sync.
- * Uses GITHUB_TOKEN from env (integration key, not core config).
+ * Resolves GITHUB_TOKEN from the OpenClaw integration env file first,
+ * then falls back to process.env for deployments that export it directly.
  */
+import { getEffectiveEnvValue } from '@/lib/runtime-env'
 
 export interface GitHubLabel {
   name: string
@@ -25,8 +27,8 @@ export interface GitHubIssue {
   updated_at: string
 }
 
-export function getGitHubToken(): string | null {
-  return process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN || null
+export async function getGitHubToken(): Promise<string | null> {
+  return await getEffectiveEnvValue('GITHUB_TOKEN') || null
 }
 
 /**
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ export async function githubFetch(
   path: string,
   options: RequestInit = {}
 ): Promise<Response> {
-  const token = getGitHubToken()
+  const token = await getGitHubToken()
   if (!token) {
     throw new Error('GITHUB_TOKEN not configured')
   }
diff --git a/src/lib/runtime-env.ts b/src/lib/runtime-env.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6231718
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/runtime-env.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+
+import { config } from '@/lib/config'
+
+function parseEnvLine(line: string): { key: string; value: string } | null {
+  const trimmed = line.trim()
+  if (!trimmed || trimmed.startsWith('#')) return null
+
+  const eqIdx = line.indexOf('=')
+  if (eqIdx <= 0) return null
+
+  const key = line.slice(0, eqIdx).trim()
+  const value = line.slice(eqIdx + 1).trim()
+  if (!key) return null
+  return { key, value }
+}
+
+async function readOpenClawEnvFile(envFilePath: string): Promise<Map<string, string>> {
+  try {
+    const raw = await readFile(envFilePath, 'utf-8')
+    const envMap = new Map<string, string>()
+    for (const line of raw.split('\n')) {
+      const parsed = parseEnvLine(line)
+      if (parsed) envMap.set(parsed.key, parsed.value)
+    }
+    return envMap
+  } catch (error: any) {
+    if (error?.code === 'ENOENT') return new Map<string, string>()
+    throw error
+  }
+}
+
+export async function getEffectiveEnvValue(
+  key: string,
+  options?: { envFilePath?: string }
+): Promise<string> {
+  const envFilePath = options?.envFilePath || join(config.openclawStateDir, '.env')
+  const envMap = await readOpenClawEnvFile(envFilePath)
+  const fromFile = envMap.get(key)
+  if (typeof fromFile === 'string' && fromFile.length > 0) return fromFile
+
+  const fromProcess = process.env[key]
+  if (typeof fromProcess === 'string' && fromProcess.length > 0) return fromProcess
+
+  return ''
+}