diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 2df1f1c8..1597b752 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ external_sync = ["automation", "drive", "cache"]
 scripting = ["dep:rhai"]
 automation = ["scripting", "dep:cron"]
 drive = ["dep:aws-config", "dep:aws-sdk-s3", "dep:aws-smithy-async", "dep:pdf-extract"]
+# local-files: Enables local file monitoring (scans /opt/gbo/data for bots)
+# Without this feature, only MinIO/Drive is used as bot source
 local-files = ["dep:notify"]
 cache = ["dep:redis"]
 directory = ["rbac"]
diff --git a/src/drive/mod.rs b/src/drive/mod.rs
index d101c1c5..2b186bf9 100644
--- a/src/drive/mod.rs
+++ b/src/drive/mod.rs
@@ -345,7 +345,9 @@ pub async fn list_buckets(
         .filter_map(|b| {
             b.name().map(|name| {
                 let name_str = name.to_string();
-                // Only include buckets that start with "gbo-"
+                // Only include buckets that start with "gbo-" when local-files is NOT enabled
+                // This ensures only MinIO-sourced bots are used in cloud/gateway mode
+                #[cfg(not(feature = "local-files"))]
                 if !name_str.starts_with("gbo-") {
                     return None;
                 }
diff --git a/src/main_module/bootstrap.rs b/src/main_module/bootstrap.rs
index d8ff1c98..d9b22162 100644
--- a/src/main_module/bootstrap.rs
+++ b/src/main_module/bootstrap.rs
@@ -893,9 +893,12 @@ pub async fn start_background_services(
     #[cfg(feature = "drive")]
     start_drive_monitors(app_state.clone(), pool).await;
 
+    // Local file monitoring only enabled when local-files feature is present
     #[cfg(feature = "local-files")]
     start_local_file_monitor(app_state.clone()).await;
 
+    // ConfigWatcher only enabled when local-files feature is present
+    #[cfg(feature = "local-files")]
     start_config_watcher(app_state.clone()).await;
 }