diff --git a/tests/run_agent/test_provider_parity.py b/tests/run_agent/test_provider_parity.py
index c65c22004a..cf619ea974 100644
--- a/tests/run_agent/test_provider_parity.py
+++ b/tests/run_agent/test_provider_parity.py
@@ -254,8 +254,12 @@ class TestDeveloperRoleSwap:
         assert messages[0]["role"] == "system"
 
     def test_developer_role_via_nous_portal(self, monkeypatch):
-        agent = _make_agent(monkeypatch, "nous", base_url="https://inference-api.nousresearch.com/v1")
-        agent.model = "gpt-5"
+        agent = _make_agent(
+            monkeypatch,
+            "nous",
+            base_url="https://inference-api.nousresearch.com/v1",
+            model="gpt-5",
+        )
         messages = [
             {"role": "system", "content": "You are helpful."},
             {"role": "user", "content": "hi"},
@@ -346,14 +350,24 @@ class TestBuildApiKwargsAIGateway:
 class TestBuildApiKwargsNousPortal:
     def test_includes_nous_product_tags(self, monkeypatch):
         from agent.portal_tags import nous_portal_tags
-        agent = _make_agent(monkeypatch, "nous", base_url="https://inference-api.nousresearch.com/v1")
+        agent = _make_agent(
+            monkeypatch,
+            "nous",
+            base_url="https://inference-api.nousresearch.com/v1",
+            model="gpt-5",
+        )
         messages = [{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}]
         kwargs = agent._build_api_kwargs(messages)
         extra = kwargs.get("extra_body", {})
         assert extra.get("tags") == nous_portal_tags()
 
     def test_uses_chat_completions_format(self, monkeypatch):
-        agent = _make_agent(monkeypatch, "nous", base_url="https://inference-api.nousresearch.com/v1")
+        agent = _make_agent(
+            monkeypatch,
+            "nous",
+            base_url="https://inference-api.nousresearch.com/v1",
+            model="gpt-5",
+        )
         messages = [{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}]
         kwargs = agent._build_api_kwargs(messages)
         assert "messages" in kwargs
diff --git a/tests/tools/test_transcription_dotenv_fallback.py b/tests/tools/test_transcription_dotenv_fallback.py
index a28c777a8f..365b910d4c 100644
--- a/tests/tools/test_transcription_dotenv_fallback.py
+++ b/tests/tools/test_transcription_dotenv_fallback.py
@@ -58,6 +58,33 @@ class TestProviderSelectionGate:
         finally:
             importlib.reload(tt)
 
+    def test_xai_resolver_import_after_config_env_patch_uses_restored_dotenv_loader(self):
+        """xAI HTTP auth must not cache a temporarily patched env helper."""
+        import importlib
+        import hermes_cli.config as config_mod
+        from tools import xai_http
+
+        with pytest.MonkeyPatch.context() as mp:
+            mp.setattr(config_mod, "get_env_value", lambda name, default=None: "")
+            xai_http = importlib.reload(xai_http)
+
+        try:
+            with patch(
+                "hermes_cli.runtime_provider.resolve_runtime_provider",
+                side_effect=RuntimeError("no oauth"),
+            ), patch(
+                "hermes_cli.auth.resolve_xai_oauth_runtime_credentials",
+                return_value={},
+            ), patch(
+                "hermes_cli.config.load_env",
+                return_value={"XAI_API_KEY": "dotenv-secret"},
+            ):
+                creds = xai_http.resolve_xai_http_credentials()
+        finally:
+            importlib.reload(xai_http)
+
+        assert creds["api_key"] == "dotenv-secret"
+
     def test_explicit_groq_sees_dotenv(self):
         from tools import transcription_tools as tt
 
diff --git a/tools/xai_http.py b/tools/xai_http.py
index 216a51ff10..848ad8fc74 100644
--- a/tools/xai_http.py
+++ b/tools/xai_http.py
@@ -5,12 +5,6 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import os
 from typing import Dict
 
-try:
-    from hermes_cli.config import get_env_value as _hermes_get_env_value
-except Exception:
-    _hermes_get_env_value = None
-
-
 def get_env_value(name: str, default=None):
     """Read ``name`` from ``~/.hermes/.env`` first, then ``os.environ``.
 
@@ -18,10 +12,14 @@ def get_env_value(name: str, default=None):
     ``tools.xai_http.get_env_value`` to inject dotenv-only secrets into the
     xAI credential resolver.
     """
-    if _hermes_get_env_value is not None:
+    try:
+        from hermes_cli.config import get_env_value as _hermes_get_env_value
+
         value = _hermes_get_env_value(name)
         if value is not None:
             return value
+    except Exception:
+        pass
     return os.environ.get(name, default)