diff --git a/scripts/git-hooks/install.test.ts b/scripts/git-hooks/install.test.ts
index 01875cee..8941d315 100644
--- a/scripts/git-hooks/install.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/git-hooks/install.test.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,29 @@ describe('installPrePushHook', () => {
     }
   })
 
+  test('disables stale live smoke settings during default install', () => {
+    const tempDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'git-hook-install-test-'))
+    try {
+      runGit(tempDir, ['init'])
+      runGit(tempDir, ['config', '--local', 'quality.prePushLive', 'true'])
+      runGit(tempDir, ['config', '--local', 'quality.prePushProviderModels', 'codingplan:main:codingplan-main'])
+      const sourcePath = join(tempDir, 'source-pre-push')
+      writeFileSync(sourcePath, '#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho default\n')
+
+      const result = installPrePushHook({
+        rootDir: tempDir,
+        sourcePath,
+      })
+
+      expect(result.liveConfigured).toBe(false)
+      expect(readFileSync(result.hookPath, 'utf8')).toContain('echo default')
+      expect(runGit(tempDir, ['config', '--local', '--get', 'quality.prePushLive'])).toBe('false')
+      expect(runGit(tempDir, ['config', '--local', '--get', 'quality.prePushProviderModels'])).toBe('codingplan:main:codingplan-main')
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
+
   test('stores live gate settings in local git config', () => {
     const tempDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'git-hook-install-test-'))
     try {
diff --git a/scripts/git-hooks/install.ts b/scripts/git-hooks/install.ts
index 317854d9..50cc2f79 100755
--- a/scripts/git-hooks/install.ts
+++ b/scripts/git-hooks/install.ts
@@ -82,13 +82,14 @@ export function installPrePushHook(options: InstallPrePushHookOptions = {}): Ins
     gitConfig(rootDir, 'quality.allowMissingTests', 'true')
   }
 
-  if (options.live === false) {
-    gitConfig(rootDir, 'quality.prePushLive', 'false')
-  }
+  const shouldWriteGitConfig = !options.hookPath
+  const shouldEnableLive = options.live !== false && Boolean(options.liveProviderModels?.length)
 
-  if (options.liveProviderModels && options.liveProviderModels.length > 0) {
+  if (shouldWriteGitConfig && shouldEnableLive) {
     gitConfig(rootDir, 'quality.prePushLive', 'true')
-    gitConfig(rootDir, 'quality.prePushProviderModels', options.liveProviderModels.join(' '))
+    gitConfig(rootDir, 'quality.prePushProviderModels', options.liveProviderModels?.join(' ') ?? '')
+  } else if (shouldWriteGitConfig) {
+    gitConfig(rootDir, 'quality.prePushLive', 'false')
   }
 
   if (options.liveMode) {
@@ -162,11 +163,12 @@ function printHelp() {
   console.log(`Install the repository pre-push quality gate.
 
 Usage:
-  bun run hooks:install [-- --force] [-- --live-provider-model <selector>] [-- --live-mode smoke|baseline]
+  bun run hooks:install [-- --force] [-- --no-live] [-- --live-provider-model <selector>] [-- --live-mode smoke|baseline]
   bun run hooks:install -- --allow-cli-core-change --allow-coverage-baseline-change
 
 Examples:
   bun run hooks:install
+  bun run hooks:install -- --no-live
   bun run quality:providers
   bun run hooks:install -- --live-provider-model codingplan:main:codingplan-main
   bun run hooks:install -- --live-provider-model codingplan:main:codingplan-main --live-mode baseline