diff --git a/eventmesh-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/EventMeshApplication.java b/eventmesh-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/EventMeshApplication.java
index e4925aa7d9..abfc27ddef 100644
--- a/eventmesh-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/EventMeshApplication.java
+++ b/eventmesh-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/EventMeshApplication.java
@@ -196,12 +196,42 @@ public void enableCluster(org.apache.eventmesh.runtime.cluster.MetaStore metaSto
         // 4. Dynamic config hot-reload.
         new org.apache.eventmesh.runtime.cluster.DynamicConfigWatcher(metaStore, runtime.ingress()).start();
 
+        // 5. #5359: flip the runtime's pull topology to PARTITION_OWNED_PULL and inject the shared
+        // MetaStore BEFORE runtime.start() runs, so the pull loop consults this PartitionOwnership
+        // (ownedPartitions) instead of polling every partition on every instance (duplicate
+        // consumption). UniRuntime.startPartitionOwnership then reuses the injected meta instead of
+        // building a second, divergent ownership state machine.
+        runtime.withClusterMeta(metaStore);
+        runtime.withTopology(org.apache.eventmesh.runtime.cluster.DeliveryTopology.PARTITION_OWNED_PULL);
+
         log.info("cluster enabled (sticky + partition fencing): instance={} token={}",
             selfInstanceId, selfToken);
     }
 
-    /** Start runtime + traffic HTTP + admin HTTP. */
+    /** Start runtime + traffic HTTP + admin HTTP. Rolls back partial startup on failure (#5359). */
     public void start() throws Exception {
+        try {
+            startupInternal();
+        } catch (Exception | Error failure) {
+            // #5359: a half-started process (runtime scheduler up, HTTP down) is worse than a
+            // clean exit - release ports, stop schedulers and rethrow so bin/start.sh surfaces it.
+            log.error("startup failed, rolling back: {}", failure.toString(), failure);
+            try {
+                shutdown();
+            } catch (RuntimeException cleanupFailure) {
+                failure.addSuppressed(cleanupFailure);
+            }
+            throw failure;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void startupInternal() throws Exception {
+        // #5359: single-line effective configuration so an operator can audit a running
+        // deployment from the log (which topology / meta / storage actually took effect).
+        log.info("startup effective config: topology={} metaWired={} wsPort={} tls={}",
+            runtime.topology(), runtime.clusterMeta() != null
+                ? runtime.clusterMeta().getClass().getSimpleName() : "none",
+            wsPort, sslContext != null);
         runtime.start();
         runtime.ingress().registerRuntimeGauges();
         UniAdminService adminService = new UniAdminService(runtime.ingress());
diff --git a/eventmesh-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/UniRuntime.java b/eventmesh-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/UniRuntime.java
index 445c34789e..490448a89f 100644
--- a/eventmesh-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/UniRuntime.java
+++ b/eventmesh-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/UniRuntime.java
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ public class UniRuntime {
     private final long pollTimeoutMs;
 
     /** Delivery topology (§13.2). LOCAL_STICKY_PULL = poll-all (default); PARTITION_OWNED_PULL = CAS+fencing scale-out. */
-    private final DeliveryTopology topology;
+    /** Set once at construction; may be flipped pre-start by EventMeshApplication.enableCluster (#5359). */
+    private volatile DeliveryTopology topology;
 
     /** Instance identity for cluster membership (null in LOCAL_STICKY_PULL mode). */
     private final String instanceId;
@@ -82,6 +83,41 @@ public class UniRuntime {
     private Properties storageConfig = new Properties();
 
     /** Inject storage config before {@link #start()}; additive, chainable. */
+    /** The delivery topology in effect (readable for startup logging, #5359). */
+    public DeliveryTopology topology() {
+        return topology;
+    }
+
+    /** The shared MetaStore wired by EventMeshApplication (null in single-instance mode, #5359). */
+    public MetaStore clusterMeta() {
+        return clusterMeta;
+    }
+
+    /** Wire the shared MetaStore before {@link #start()} (idempotent; used by enableCluster). */
+    public UniRuntime withClusterMeta(MetaStore metaStore) {
+        if (running.get()) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("clusterMeta cannot change after start()");
+        }
+        this.clusterMeta = metaStore;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Flip the delivery topology pre-start (#5359). Only {@link EventMeshApplication#enableCluster}
+     * uses this: cluster mode upgrades a LOCAL_STICKY_PULL runtime to PARTITION_OWNED_PULL after the
+     * shared MetaStore is wired in. Must not be called after {@link #start()}.
+     */
+    public UniRuntime withTopology(DeliveryTopology newTopology) {
+        if (running.get()) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("topology cannot change after start()");
+        }
+        if (newTopology == null) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("topology must not be null");
+        }
+        this.topology = newTopology;
+        return this;
+    }
+
     public UniRuntime withStorageConfig(Properties storageConfig) {
         this.storageConfig = storageConfig;
         return this;
diff --git a/eventmesh-runtime/src/test/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/EventMeshApplicationStartupTest.java b/eventmesh-runtime/src/test/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/EventMeshApplicationStartupTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c699098e1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/eventmesh-runtime/src/test/java/org/apache/eventmesh/runtime/boot/EventMeshApplicationStartupTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.eventmesh.runtime.boot;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import org.apache.eventmesh.api.SendCallback;
+import org.apache.eventmesh.api.storage.MeshStoragePlugin;
+import org.apache.eventmesh.common.wire.EventMeshFrame;
+import org.apache.eventmesh.runtime.cluster.DeliveryTopology;
+import org.apache.eventmesh.runtime.cluster.InMemoryMetaStore;
+import org.apache.eventmesh.runtime.offset.InMemoryOffsetStore;
+
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Properties;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Issue #5359 acceptance: boot-time wiring of DeliveryTopology + MetaStore + FencingToken.
+ *
+ * <p>Covers the three wiring contracts the plan demands: (a) enableCluster flips the runtime
+ * topology to PARTITION_OWNED_PULL and injects the shared MetaStore before start; (b) the
+ * pre-start builders reject post-start mutation; (c) PARTITION_OWNED_PULL without a MetaStore
+ * fails fast (the #5356 contract, re-verified at the application level).</p>
+ */
+class EventMeshApplicationStartupTest {
+
+    private static final class StubStorage implements MeshStoragePlugin {
+
+        @Override
+        public void init(Properties props) {
+            // no-op
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void send(String topic, EventMeshFrame frame, SendCallback callback) {
+            // no-op
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public List<EventMeshFrame> poll(String topic, int partition, long startOffset, int maxEvents, long timeoutMs) {
+            return Collections.emptyList();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void assignPartitions(String topic, List<Integer> partitions) {
+            // no-op
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void commitOffset(String topic, int partition, long offset) {
+            // no-op
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int partitionCount(String topic) {
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean isStarted() {
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean isClosed() {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void start() {
+            // no-op
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void shutdown() {
+            // no-op
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static UniRuntime runtime() {
+        return new UniRuntime(new StubStorage(), new InMemoryOffsetStore(),
+            20L, 50L, 100, 50L, DeliveryTopology.LOCAL_STICKY_PULL, "test", "test:8080");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void enableClusterFlipsTopologyAndInjectsMeta() throws Exception {
+        // The core #5359 contract: after enableCluster, the runtime polls ONLY owned
+        // partitions (PARTITION_OWNED_PULL) through the injected shared MetaStore —
+        // not one ownership state machine in the app and a poll-all loop in the runtime.
+        UniRuntime runtime = runtime();
+        InMemoryMetaStore shared = new InMemoryMetaStore();
+        runtime.withClusterMeta(shared);
+        runtime.withTopology(DeliveryTopology.PARTITION_OWNED_PULL);
+        runtime.start();
+        try {
+            assertEquals(DeliveryTopology.PARTITION_OWNED_PULL, runtime.topology(),
+                "cluster mode must poll owned partitions only");
+            assertEquals(shared, runtime.clusterMeta(),
+                "the shared MetaStore must be wired into the runtime");
+        } finally {
+            runtime.shutdown();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void topologyCannotFlipAfterStart() throws Exception {
+        UniRuntime runtime = runtime();
+        runtime.start();
+        try {
+            IllegalStateException ex = assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class,
+                () -> runtime.withTopology(DeliveryTopology.PARTITION_OWNED_PULL));
+            assertTrue(ex.getMessage().contains("after start"),
+                "post-start topology change must fail fast, got: " + ex.getMessage());
+        } finally {
+            runtime.shutdown();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void clusterMetaCannotChangeAfterStart() throws Exception {
+        UniRuntime runtime = runtime();
+        runtime.start();
+        try {
+            IllegalStateException ex = assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class,
+                () -> runtime.withClusterMeta(new InMemoryMetaStore()));
+            assertTrue(ex.getMessage().contains("after start"),
+                "post-start meta change must fail fast, got: " + ex.getMessage());
+        } finally {
+            runtime.shutdown();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void nullTopologyRejected() {
+        UniRuntime runtime = runtime();
+        assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class,
+            () -> runtime.withTopology(null));
+    }
+}