diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index 381e452f1..e4aa77ace 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -755,9 +755,8 @@ if (cliFlags.listModels !== undefined) {
 				"./resources/extensions/sf/key-manager.js"
 			);
 			await refreshSfManagedProviders(process.cwd(), getKeyManagerAuthStorage());
-		} catch (err) {
+		} catch {
 			// Non-fatal — never block model listing.
-			process.stderr.write(`[model-catalog-cache] SF provider refresh error: ${err}\n`);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/sf/model-catalog-cache.js b/src/resources/extensions/sf/model-catalog-cache.js
index 3d9f8633d..eded11146 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/sf/model-catalog-cache.js
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/sf/model-catalog-cache.js
@@ -322,9 +322,7 @@ export async function refreshProviderCatalog(basePath, providerId, apiKey) {
 		// kimi-coding, xiaomi, etc.). Without this, --list-models --discover
 		// silently omits them because their SDK adapter has supportsDiscovery=false.
 		if (!SDK_NATIVE_DISCOVERY_PROVIDERS.has(providerId)) {
-			process.stderr.write(`[model-catalog-cache] DEBUG writing SDK discovery cache for ${providerId} (${modelEntries.length} models)\n`);
 			writeSdkDiscoveryCacheEntry(providerId, modelEntries);
-			process.stderr.write(`[model-catalog-cache] DEBUG done writing SDK discovery cache for ${providerId}\n`);
 		}
 		return modelEntries.map((e) => e.id);
 	} catch {
@@ -374,24 +372,28 @@ export function scheduleModelCatalogRefresh(basePath, auth) {
  * unnecessary network calls on repeated --discover invocations.
  */
 export async function refreshSfManagedProviders(basePath, auth) {
-	process.stderr.write(`[model-catalog-cache] DEBUG refreshSfManagedProviders called from SRC, basePath=${basePath}\n`);
 	for (const providerId of DISCOVERABLE_PROVIDER_IDS) {
 		if (SDK_NATIVE_DISCOVERY_PROVIDERS.has(providerId)) continue;
 		try {
 			const creds = auth.getCredentialsForProvider(providerId);
 			const apiKey = creds.find((c) => c.type === "api_key" && c.key)?.key;
-			process.stderr.write(`[model-catalog-cache] DEBUG ${providerId}: apiKey=${apiKey ? 'found' : 'MISSING'}\n`);
 			if (!apiKey) continue;
-			const cached = readCachedModelIds(basePath, providerId);
-			process.stderr.write(`[model-catalog-cache] DEBUG ${providerId}: cached=${cached !== null ? cached.length + ' models' : 'null'}\n`);
-			if (cached !== null) continue;
+			const cachedIds = readCachedModelIds(basePath, providerId);
+			if (cachedIds !== null) {
+				// Runtime cache is fresh — no need to re-fetch. Still ensure the SDK
+				// discovery cache has an entry for this provider (e.g. after --discover
+				// deletes discovery-cache.json but the runtime cache survives).
+				writeSdkDiscoveryCacheEntry(
+					providerId,
+					cachedIds.map((id) => ({ id })),
+				);
+				continue;
+			}
 			const result = await refreshProviderCatalog(basePath, providerId, apiKey);
 			if (result === null) {
 				process.stderr.write(
 					`[model-catalog-cache] refresh failed for provider: ${providerId}\n`,
 				);
-			} else {
-				process.stderr.write(`[model-catalog-cache] DEBUG ${providerId}: fetched ${result.length} models\n`);
 			}
 		} catch (err) {
 			process.stderr.write(