diff --git a/src/llm/cli.ts b/src/llm/cli.ts
index 09a8b6f3..b775c726 100644
--- a/src/llm/cli.ts
+++ b/src/llm/cli.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,67 @@ type CliRunResult = {
 const isNonEmptyString = (value: unknown): value is string =>
   typeof value === "string" && value.trim().length > 0;
 
+const CODEX_META_ONLY_OUTPUT_ERROR =
+  "Codex returned no assistant text; stdout only contained session/meta events.";
+
+const CODEX_FOOTER_LINE_PATTERN = /\bcli\/codex(?:\/\S+)?$/;
+const CODEX_TEXT_PAYLOAD_KEYS = [
+  "result",
+  "response",
+  "output",
+  "message",
+  "text",
+  "content",
+] as const;
+
+function hasTextPayloadValue(value: unknown): boolean {
+  if (typeof value === "string") return value.trim().length > 0;
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) return value.some((entry) => hasTextPayloadValue(entry));
+  if (!value || typeof value !== "object") return false;
+  return hasTextPayload(value as Record<string, unknown>);
+}
+
+function hasTextPayload(payload: Record<string, unknown>): boolean {
+  return CODEX_TEXT_PAYLOAD_KEYS.some((key) => hasTextPayloadValue(payload[key]));
+}
+
+function parseJsonRecord(line: string): Record<string, unknown> | null {
+  if (!line.startsWith("{")) return null;
+  try {
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(line) as unknown;
+    if (!parsed || typeof parsed !== "object" || Array.isArray(parsed)) return null;
+    return parsed as Record<string, unknown>;
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+function isCodexFooterLine(line: string): boolean {
+  return line.includes("·") && CODEX_FOOTER_LINE_PATTERN.test(line);
+}
+
+function isCodexMetaOnlyOutput(output: string): boolean {
+  const lines = output
+    .split(/\r?\n/)
+    .map((line) => line.trim())
+    .filter((line) => line.length > 0);
+  if (lines.length === 0) return false;
+  let sawMeta = false;
+  for (const line of lines) {
+    if (isCodexFooterLine(line)) {
+      sawMeta = true;
+      continue;
+    }
+    const payload = parseJsonRecord(line);
+    if (!payload) return false;
+    if (typeof payload.type !== "string" || hasTextPayload(payload)) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    sawMeta = true;
+  }
+  return sawMeta;
+}
+
 function getCliProviderConfig(
   provider: CliProvider,
   config: CliConfig | null | undefined,
@@ -186,6 +247,9 @@ export async function runCliModel({
     }
     const stdoutText = stdout.trim();
     if (stdoutText) {
+      if (isCodexMetaOnlyOutput(stdoutText)) {
+        throw new Error(CODEX_META_ONLY_OUTPUT_ERROR);
+      }
       return { text: stdoutText, usage, costUsd };
     }
     throw new Error("CLI returned empty output");
diff --git a/tests/llm.cli.more-branches.test.ts b/tests/llm.cli.more-branches.test.ts
index 025d221e..0ba276fc 100644
--- a/tests/llm.cli.more-branches.test.ts
+++ b/tests/llm.cli.more-branches.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,27 @@
 import type { ChildProcess } from "node:child_process";
+import { writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { runCliModel } from "../src/llm/cli.js";
 
+const CODEX_META_ONLY_STDOUT = [
+  '{"type":"thread.started","thread_id":"019cd2c2-0645-7312-b7f2-f10a3d41eb5c"}',
+  "2m 0s · 3.1k words · cli/codex/gpt-5.2",
+].join("\n");
+
+const CODEX_STDOUT_WITH_ARRAY_TEXT = [
+  JSON.stringify({
+    type: "response.completed",
+    response: {
+      output: [
+        {
+          content: [{ type: "output_text", text: "assistant text from array payload" }],
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  }),
+  "2m 0s · 3.1k words · cli/codex/gpt-5.2",
+].join("\n");
+
 describe("llm/cli extra branches", () => {
   it("parses the last JSON object when stdout includes a preface", async () => {
     const result = await runCliModel({
@@ -58,4 +78,62 @@ describe("llm/cli extra branches", () => {
     expect(result.usage?.completionTokens).toBe(2);
     expect(result.usage?.totalTokens).toBe(3);
   });
+
+  it("throws when Codex last-message is empty and stdout only contains session metadata", async () => {
+    await expect(
+      runCliModel({
+        provider: "codex",
+        prompt: "hi",
+        model: "gpt-5.2",
+        allowTools: false,
+        timeoutMs: 1000,
+        env: {},
+        config: null,
+        execFileImpl: (_cmd, args, _opts, cb) => {
+          const outputIndex = args.indexOf("--output-last-message");
+          const outputPath = outputIndex >= 0 ? args[outputIndex + 1] : null;
+          if (!outputPath) throw new Error("missing output path");
+          writeFileSync(outputPath, "   ", "utf8");
+          cb(null, CODEX_META_ONLY_STDOUT, "");
+          return { stdin: { write() {}, end() {} } } as unknown as ChildProcess;
+        },
+      }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/stdout only contained session\/meta events/i);
+  });
+
+  it("throws when Codex last-message is missing and stdout only contains session metadata", async () => {
+    await expect(
+      runCliModel({
+        provider: "codex",
+        prompt: "hi",
+        model: "gpt-5.2",
+        allowTools: false,
+        timeoutMs: 1000,
+        env: {},
+        config: null,
+        execFileImpl: (_cmd, _args, _opts, cb) => {
+          cb(null, CODEX_META_ONLY_STDOUT, "");
+          return { stdin: { write() {}, end() {} } } as unknown as ChildProcess;
+        },
+      }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/stdout only contained session\/meta events/i);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps raw stdout fallback when Codex stdout includes nested array text", async () => {
+    const result = await runCliModel({
+      provider: "codex",
+      prompt: "hi",
+      model: "gpt-5.2",
+      allowTools: false,
+      timeoutMs: 1000,
+      env: {},
+      config: null,
+      execFileImpl: (_cmd, _args, _opts, cb) => {
+        cb(null, CODEX_STDOUT_WITH_ARRAY_TEXT, "");
+        return { stdin: { write() {}, end() {} } } as unknown as ChildProcess;
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(result.text).toBe(CODEX_STDOUT_WITH_ARRAY_TEXT);
+  });
 });