diff --git a/docs/architecture-invariants.md b/docs/architecture-invariants.md
index 848ae8f1..936be89a 100644
--- a/docs/architecture-invariants.md
+++ b/docs/architecture-invariants.md
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Pure helpers unit-tested in `test/base-path.test.ts` + `test/webview-proxy.test.
 
 ### External CLI modes (OpenCode, Codex, Gemini, Antigravity, Pi, Grok, DeepSeek, OMP)
 
-**External CLI modes (OpenCode, Codex, Gemini, Antigravity, Pi, Grok, DeepSeek, OMP)**: `isExternalCliMode()` in `session.ts` (`mode === 'opencode' || 'codex' || 'gemini' || 'antigravity' || 'pi' || 'grok' || 'deepseek'`) gates Claude-specific behavior — Ralph tracker, BashToolParser, token/CLI-info parsing, and ❯-prompt readiness detection are all skipped (these CLIs render their own TUIs; readiness = output stabilization instead). ⚠️ **Work detection left this gate in #385** and is now per-CLI `capabilities.workDetect` data (`promptGlyph` + `workingLine`), because gating it on the mode left every Codex session reporting `idle` for its entire life; a CLI declaring neither falls back to Claude's pair, which is logic-identical to the pre-registry behaviour. All seven modes **require tmux — no direct PTY fallback** — because secrets are injected via `tmux setenv` (socket-scoped `${this.tmux()} setenv`, never on the spawn command line): OpenCode gets `OPENCODE_CONFIG_CONTENT` etc., Codex gets `OPENAI_API_KEY`/`CODEX_API_KEY`/`CODEX_HOME` (`setCodexEnvVars`), Gemini gets `GEMINI_API_KEY`/`GOOGLE_API_KEY`/`GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT`/`GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS`/`GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_VERTEXAI` etc. (`setGeminiEnvVars`, all in `tmux-manager.ts`). Codex specifics: command built by `buildCodexCommand()` (`--model`, `resume <id>`, `--dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox` from the `codexConfig` payload / `codexDangerouslyBypassApprovals` app setting; `renderMode` is schema-coerced to `'hybrid'`, the only supported mode). Gemini specifics: command built by `buildGeminiCommand()` (`--skip-trust` always, `--approval-mode <default|auto_edit|yolo|plan>` defaulting to `yolo` for parity with Claude's `--dangerously-skip-permissions`, `--model`, `--resume` from the `geminiConfig` payload); availability via `GET /api/gemini/status` — session/quick-start routes fail with `OPERATION_FAILED` + install hint (`npm install -g @google/gemini-cli`) when missing. Codex, Gemini, Antigravity, Pi, Grok, DeepSeek and OMP export `COLORTERM=truecolor` and unset `NO_COLOR`; `opencode` unsets `COLORTERM`. **Terminal colour env** under Session launch modes covers Claude and says which panes those declarations actually reach. Gemini joins `isAltScreenStripMode()` (Codex/Claude/Gemini are Ink TUIs that repaint inline → strip alt-screen/`3J` so scrollback survives). Codex availability via `GET /api/codex/status`. Antigravity specifics: command built by `buildAntigravityCommand()` (`--model`, `--conversation <id>` resume, `--dangerously-skip-permissions` from the `antigravityConfig` payload); availability via `GET /api/antigravity/status` — routes fail with `OPERATION_FAILED` + install hint (`curl -fsSL https://antigravity.google/cli/install.sh | bash`) when missing. Unlike the other three it is NOT an npm package (standalone binary, `~/.local/bin/agy`), which is why `docker/agent.Dockerfile` installs it with its own `--dir /usr/local/bin` step rather than in the `npm install -g` line, and why it does NOT join `isAltScreenStripMode()`. Frontend: run-mode dropdown → `runCodex()`/`runGemini()` in `session-ui.js` ("Run CX"/"Run GM" labels), App Settings → Agents & CLIs → Codex; Respawn/Ralph options are Claude-only, so session options open on the Session tab for external CLI sessions. ⚠️ `run*()` MUST unwrap the `{success,data}` envelope (`(await res.json()).data.available` / `data.data.sessionId`) — reading the raw shape silently breaks the run. Tests: `test/run-mode-ui.test.ts` + `test/gemini-mode.test.ts` (vm-sandbox harness, no real DOM). Grok specifics: command built by `buildGrokCommand()` (`--always-approve` from `grokConfig.alwaysApprove` — grok's `bypassPermissions` permission mode, deny rules still apply; `--model`; `--resume <id>` / `--continue`, id-regexed so grok's resume-by-TITLE feature can never put an arbitrary string on the spawn line); availability via `GET /api/grok/status`, which carries `version` because the resolver version-probes candidates (`grok` has npm squatters, e.g. @vibe-kit/grok-cli — `GROK_VERSION_REGEX` is shared with the dependency registry so doctor and run mode agree). Like antigravity it is a standalone binary (xAI installer → `~/.grok/bin`, symlinked into `~/.local/bin`), so `docker/agent.Dockerfile` installs it in its own step (copy to `/usr/local/bin`, drop root's `~/.grok` in the same layer) and it stays OUT of `isAltScreenStripMode()` (fullscreen alt-screen TUI with mouse support — the opencode case, not the Ink case). Env allowlist: `GROK_*` plus the vendor namespace `XAI_*` (`XAI_API_KEY` is grok's documented headless auth var — the same narrow-vendor-namespace reasoning as `GOOGLE_*` for gemini). Docker cred seeding is per-file (`auth.json`, `config.toml`, `pager.toml` from `~/.grok` — the dir also holds `sessions/`, `memory/`, and the ~160MB binary under `downloads/`). Grok tests: `test/grok-mode.test.ts`, `test/grok-cli-resolver.test.ts`.
+**External CLI modes (OpenCode, Codex, Gemini, Antigravity, Pi, Grok, DeepSeek, OMP)**: `isExternalCliMode()` in `session.ts` (`mode === 'opencode' || 'codex' || 'gemini' || 'antigravity' || 'pi' || 'grok' || 'deepseek'`) gates Claude-specific behavior — Ralph tracker, BashToolParser, token/CLI-info parsing, and ❯-prompt readiness detection are all skipped (these CLIs render their own TUIs; readiness = output stabilization instead). ⚠️ **Work detection left this gate in #385** and is now per-CLI `capabilities.workDetect` data (`promptGlyph` + `workingLine`), because gating it on the mode left every Codex session reporting `idle` for its entire life; a CLI declaring neither falls back to Claude's pair, which is logic-identical to the pre-registry behaviour. All seven modes **require tmux — no direct PTY fallback** — because secrets are injected via `tmux setenv` (socket-scoped `${this.tmux()} setenv`, never on the spawn command line): OpenCode gets `OPENCODE_CONFIG_CONTENT` etc., Codex gets `OPENAI_API_KEY`/`CODEX_API_KEY`/`CODEX_HOME` (`setCodexEnvVars`), Gemini gets `GEMINI_API_KEY`/`GOOGLE_API_KEY`/`GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT`/`GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS`/`GOOGLE_GENAI_USE_VERTEXAI` etc. (`setGeminiEnvVars`, all in `tmux-manager.ts`). Codex specifics: command built by `buildCodexCommand()` (`--model`, `--config model_reasoning_effort=<level>` from `reasoningEffort`, `--config tui.animations=<bool>` from `animations`, `resume <id>`, `--dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox` from the `codexConfig` payload / `codexDangerouslyBypassApprovals` app setting; `renderMode` is schema-coerced to `'hybrid'`, the only supported mode). Gemini specifics: command built by `buildGeminiCommand()` (`--skip-trust` always, `--approval-mode <default|auto_edit|yolo|plan>` defaulting to `yolo` for parity with Claude's `--dangerously-skip-permissions`, `--model`, `--resume` from the `geminiConfig` payload); availability via `GET /api/gemini/status` — session/quick-start routes fail with `OPERATION_FAILED` + install hint (`npm install -g @google/gemini-cli`) when missing. Codex, Gemini, Antigravity, Pi, Grok, DeepSeek and OMP export `COLORTERM=truecolor` and unset `NO_COLOR`; `opencode` unsets `COLORTERM`. **Terminal colour env** under Session launch modes covers Claude and says which panes those declarations actually reach. Gemini joins `isAltScreenStripMode()` (Codex/Claude/Gemini are Ink TUIs that repaint inline → strip alt-screen/`3J` so scrollback survives). Codex availability via `GET /api/codex/status`. Antigravity specifics: command built by `buildAntigravityCommand()` (`--model`, `--conversation <id>` resume, `--dangerously-skip-permissions` from the `antigravityConfig` payload); availability via `GET /api/antigravity/status` — routes fail with `OPERATION_FAILED` + install hint (`curl -fsSL https://antigravity.google/cli/install.sh | bash`) when missing. Unlike the other three it is NOT an npm package (standalone binary, `~/.local/bin/agy`), which is why `docker/agent.Dockerfile` installs it with its own `--dir /usr/local/bin` step rather than in the `npm install -g` line, and why it does NOT join `isAltScreenStripMode()`. Frontend: run-mode dropdown → `runCodex()`/`runGemini()` in `session-ui.js` ("Run CX"/"Run GM" labels), App Settings → Agents & CLIs → Codex; Respawn/Ralph options are Claude-only, so session options open on the Session tab for external CLI sessions. ⚠️ `run*()` MUST unwrap the `{success,data}` envelope (`(await res.json()).data.available` / `data.data.sessionId`) — reading the raw shape silently breaks the run. Tests: `test/run-mode-ui.test.ts` + `test/gemini-mode.test.ts` (vm-sandbox harness, no real DOM). Grok specifics: command built by `buildGrokCommand()` (`--always-approve` from `grokConfig.alwaysApprove` — grok's `bypassPermissions` permission mode, deny rules still apply; `--model`; `--resume <id>` / `--continue`, id-regexed so grok's resume-by-TITLE feature can never put an arbitrary string on the spawn line); availability via `GET /api/grok/status`, which carries `version` because the resolver version-probes candidates (`grok` has npm squatters, e.g. @vibe-kit/grok-cli — `GROK_VERSION_REGEX` is shared with the dependency registry so doctor and run mode agree). Like antigravity it is a standalone binary (xAI installer → `~/.grok/bin`, symlinked into `~/.local/bin`), so `docker/agent.Dockerfile` installs it in its own step (copy to `/usr/local/bin`, drop root's `~/.grok` in the same layer) and it stays OUT of `isAltScreenStripMode()` (fullscreen alt-screen TUI with mouse support — the opencode case, not the Ink case). Env allowlist: `GROK_*` plus the vendor namespace `XAI_*` (`XAI_API_KEY` is grok's documented headless auth var — the same narrow-vendor-namespace reasoning as `GOOGLE_*` for gemini). Docker cred seeding is per-file (`auth.json`, `config.toml`, `pager.toml` from `~/.grok` — the dir also holds `sessions/`, `memory/`, and the ~160MB binary under `downloads/`). Grok tests: `test/grok-mode.test.ts`, `test/grok-cli-resolver.test.ts`.
 
 **DeepSeek Harness (`dsh`) specifics** — the mode that breaks three of the assumptions the six above share, so read this before changing anything about it.
 
diff --git a/test/codex-reasoning-effort-schema.test.ts b/test/codex-reasoning-effort-schema.test.ts
index a216472f..d018a485 100644
--- a/test/codex-reasoning-effort-schema.test.ts
+++ b/test/codex-reasoning-effort-schema.test.ts
@@ -28,11 +28,14 @@ describe('codexConfig.reasoningEffort', () => {
     }
   });
 
-  it('rejects a level codex does not know, and anything shaped like shell', () => {
+  it('rejects a level codex does not know, and anything shaped like shell, on both create routes', () => {
     for (const reasoningEffort of ['bogus', 'HIGH', 'high; rm -rf /', '']) {
       expect(() =>
         CreateSessionSchema.parse({ workingDir: '/tmp', mode: 'codex', codexConfig: { reasoningEffort } })
       ).toThrow();
+      expect(() =>
+        QuickStartSchema.parse({ caseName: 'work', mode: 'codex', codexConfig: { reasoningEffort } })
+      ).toThrow();
     }
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/routes/external-cli-bypass-clamp.test.ts b/test/routes/external-cli-bypass-clamp.test.ts
index 226f7fda..22cf06ec 100644
--- a/test/routes/external-cli-bypass-clamp.test.ts
+++ b/test/routes/external-cli-bypass-clamp.test.ts
@@ -104,6 +104,20 @@ describe('clampExternalCliBypassForOwner — multi-user mode', () => {
     expect(out.grokConfig).toEqual({ alwaysApprove: false, model: 'grok-4.5' });
   });
 
+  it("keeps a non-granted owner's codex reasoning effort while forcing bypass off", async () => {
+    // The clamp rewrites one field and must carry the rest; a clamp rebuilt from named
+    // fields would drop the effort here without a word.
+    const out = await _clampExternalCliBypassForOwner(
+      'peon',
+      { dangerouslyBypassApprovals: true, reasoningEffort: 'xhigh' },
+      undefined,
+      undefined,
+      undefined,
+      undefined
+    );
+    expect(out.codexConfig).toEqual({ dangerouslyBypassApprovals: false, reasoningEffort: 'xhigh' });
+  });
+
   it('leaves codex/antigravity/grok absent when nothing was sent (they already spawn safe)', async () => {
     const out = await _clampExternalCliBypassForOwner('peon', undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined);
     expect(out.codexConfig).toBeUndefined();