diff --git a/src/provider/codex-responses-adapter.test.ts b/src/provider/codex-responses-adapter.test.ts
index 8ec63870..c22cbeb7 100644
--- a/src/provider/codex-responses-adapter.test.ts
+++ b/src/provider/codex-responses-adapter.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
 import type { ConversationTurn, LastCycleSource } from "@intx/types/runtime";
+import { PRODUCT_NAME } from "../branding.js";
 import {
   createCodexResponsesAdapter,
   isResponsesStreamTerminal,
@@ -60,6 +61,29 @@ describe("createCodexResponsesAdapter", () => {
     const adapter = createCodexResponsesAdapter(source);
     expect(adapter.isStreamTerminal).toBe(isResponsesStreamTerminal);
   });
+
+  test("bridge message points at Codex tool proxies instead of neutralizing them", () => {
+    const adapter = createCodexResponsesAdapter(source);
+    const turns: ConversationTurn[] = [
+      { role: "user", timestamp: 0, content: [{ type: "text", text: "hi" }] },
+    ];
+
+    const request = adapter.buildRequest(turns, "gpt-5.1-codex", {
+      systemPrompt: "operating prompt body",
+    });
+    const body = JSON.parse(request.body) as {
+      input: { role?: string; content?: { text?: string }[] }[];
+    };
+    const bridgeText = body.input[0]?.content?.[0]?.text ?? "";
+
+    expect(bridgeText).toContain(`${PRODUCT_NAME} is the harness, not the Codex CLI.`);
+    expect(bridgeText).toContain("apply_patch, update_plan, shell");
+    expect(bridgeText).toContain("proxy onto");
+    expect(bridgeText).toContain("prefer whichever name appears in the current tool list");
+    expect(bridgeText).toContain("operating prompt body");
+    expect(bridgeText).not.toContain("DO NOT EXIST");
+    expect(bridgeText).not.toContain("Ignore every tool reference");
+  });
 });
 
 describe("createCodexResponsesAdapter usage parsing", () => {
diff --git a/src/provider/codex-responses-adapter.ts b/src/provider/codex-responses-adapter.ts
index 0327f8fe..32dfe1a5 100644
--- a/src/provider/codex-responses-adapter.ts
+++ b/src/provider/codex-responses-adapter.ts
@@ -273,11 +273,12 @@ function optionString(options: InferenceOptions, key: string): string | undefine
 
 // `instructions` is pinned to the official Codex prompt (the backend rejects
 // anything else), so Corbits Code's operating prompt rides as a leading developer
-// message that also neutralizes the Codex prompt's references to tools that do
-// not exist here. The function tools sent with the request are authoritative.
+// message that also reconciles the Codex prompt's tool references with the
+// proxies actually wired up here. The function tools sent with the request are
+// authoritative for names/schemas; this text only resolves which dialect to speak.
 function bridgeMessage(systemPrompt: string): ResponsesInputItem {
   const text = `<${ENVIRONMENT_TAG_NAME} priority="0">
-You are NOT running in the Codex CLI. You are running in ${PRODUCT_NAME}, a different harness. The base instructions above describe Codex CLI tools (apply_patch, update_plan, shell) that DO NOT EXIST here. Ignore every tool reference in the base instructions and use ONLY the function tools provided in this request. The following are your authoritative operating instructions:
+${PRODUCT_NAME} is the harness, not the Codex CLI. The Codex tools named above (apply_patch, update_plan, shell) proxy onto ${PRODUCT_NAME}'s native tools with the same permissions — prefer whichever name appears in the current tool list. These operating instructions are authoritative where they differ from the base instructions:
 
 ${systemPrompt}
 </${ENVIRONMENT_TAG_NAME}>`;