diff --git a/scripts/claw.js b/scripts/claw.js
index 2f5ff618f..74dea0f81 100644
--- a/scripts/claw.js
+++ b/scripts/claw.js
@@ -108,7 +108,12 @@ function askClaude(systemPrompt, history, userMessage, model) {
   // same quoted-command-line pattern as scripts/hooks/mcp-health-check.js so
   // space-containing paths survive as single tokens. .ps1 is never executed
   // directly — fall through to bare `claude` (pre-change behavior) instead.
-  const quoteWin = token => (/[\s"&|<>^%!();]/.test(token) ? '"' + token.replace(/"/g, '""') + '"' : token);
+  // cmd.exe expands %NAME% even inside double-quoted strings, so reject
+  // percent-delimited executable paths rather than route them through the shell.
+  function quoteWinToken(token) {
+    if (/%/.test(token)) return null;
+    return /[\s"&|<>^();]/.test(token) ? '"' + token.replace(/"/g, '""') + '"' : token;
+  }
   let bin = 'claude';
   let useShell = false;
   if (process.platform === 'win32') {
@@ -124,6 +129,9 @@ function askClaude(systemPrompt, history, userMessage, model) {
         break;
       }
     }
+    if (useShell && quoteWinToken(bin) === null) {
+      useShell = false;
+    }
   }
   const spawnOpts = {
     input: fullPrompt,
@@ -133,7 +141,7 @@ function askClaude(systemPrompt, history, userMessage, model) {
     timeout: 300000,
   };
   const result = useShell
-    ? spawnSync([bin, ...args].map(quoteWin).join(' '), { ...spawnOpts, shell: true })
+    ? spawnSync([bin, ...args].map(quoteWinToken).join(' '), { ...spawnOpts, shell: true })
     : spawnSync(bin, args, { ...spawnOpts, shell: false });
 
   if (result.error) {
diff --git a/scripts/codex/install-global-git-hooks.sh b/scripts/codex/install-global-git-hooks.sh
index 33a7daf8d..0c37c3c2c 100755
--- a/scripts/codex/install-global-git-hooks.sh
+++ b/scripts/codex/install-global-git-hooks.sh
@@ -41,17 +41,6 @@ log "Mode: $MODE"
 log "Source hooks: $SOURCE_DIR"
 log "Global hooks destination: $DEST_DIR"
 
-if [[ -d "$DEST_DIR" ]]; then
-  log "Backing up existing hooks directory to $BACKUP_DIR"
-  run_or_echo mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
-  run_or_echo cp -R "$DEST_DIR" "$BACKUP_DIR/hooks"
-fi
-
-run_or_echo mkdir -p "$DEST_DIR"
-run_or_echo cp "$SOURCE_DIR/pre-commit" "$DEST_DIR/pre-commit"
-run_or_echo cp "$SOURCE_DIR/pre-push" "$DEST_DIR/pre-push"
-run_or_echo chmod +x "$DEST_DIR/pre-commit" "$DEST_DIR/pre-push"
-
 if [[ "$MODE" == "apply" ]]; then
   prev_hooks_path="$(git config --global core.hooksPath || true)"
   if [[ -n "$prev_hooks_path" && "$prev_hooks_path" != "$DEST_DIR" ]]; then
@@ -70,6 +59,17 @@ if [[ "$MODE" == "apply" ]]; then
     log "Restore with: git config --global core.hooksPath \"$prev_hooks_path\""
   fi
 fi
+
+if [[ -d "$DEST_DIR" ]]; then
+  log "Backing up existing hooks directory to $BACKUP_DIR"
+  run_or_echo mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
+  run_or_echo cp -R "$DEST_DIR" "$BACKUP_DIR/hooks"
+fi
+
+run_or_echo mkdir -p "$DEST_DIR"
+run_or_echo cp "$SOURCE_DIR/pre-commit" "$DEST_DIR/pre-commit"
+run_or_echo cp "$SOURCE_DIR/pre-push" "$DEST_DIR/pre-push"
+run_or_echo chmod +x "$DEST_DIR/pre-commit" "$DEST_DIR/pre-push"
 run_or_echo git config --global core.hooksPath "$DEST_DIR"
 
 log "Installed ECC global git hooks."
diff --git a/scripts/orchestrate-codex-worker.sh b/scripts/orchestrate-codex-worker.sh
index 135a639e8..fde2485ff 100755
--- a/scripts/orchestrate-codex-worker.sh
+++ b/scripts/orchestrate-codex-worker.sh
@@ -54,12 +54,15 @@ write_status "running" "- Task file: \`$task_file\`"
 # rm -rf / exfiltration commands without confirmation.
 # Default to the most restrictive approval mode; allow an explicit operator
 # override only via env (e.g. ECC_CODEX_APPROVAL_MODE=on-request for trusted runs).
-APPROVAL_MODE="${ECC_CODEX_APPROVAL_MODE:-never}"
-case "$APPROVAL_MODE" in
+# Codex profiles (-p) and approval policies (--ask-for-approval) are
+# independent concepts. SECURITY: default to never approving untrusted
+# tool execution; operators can override via env.
+APPROVAL_POLICY="${ECC_CODEX_APPROVAL_POLICY:-never}"
+case "$APPROVAL_POLICY" in
   never|on-request|on-failure) ;;
   *)
-    echo "[ECC worker] Refusing to run: unsupported ECC_CODEX_APPROVAL_MODE='$APPROVAL_MODE' (expected never|on-request|on-failure)" >&2
-    write_status "failed" "- Error: unsupported approval mode"
+    echo "[ECC worker] Refusing to run: unsupported ECC_CODEX_APPROVAL_POLICY='$APPROVAL_POLICY' (expected never|on-request|on-failure)" >&2
+    write_status "failed" "- Error: unsupported approval policy"
     exit 1
     ;;
 esac
@@ -106,7 +109,7 @@ Task file: $task_file
 $(cat "$task_file")
 EOF
 
-if codex exec -p "$APPROVAL_MODE" -m gpt-5.4 --color never -C "$(pwd)" -o "$output_file" - < "$prompt_file"; then
+if codex exec --ask-for-approval "$APPROVAL_POLICY" -m gpt-5.4 --color never -C "$(pwd)" -o "$output_file" - < "$prompt_file"; then
   {
     echo "# Handoff"
     echo
diff --git a/tests/scripts/codex-hooks.test.js b/tests/scripts/codex-hooks.test.js
index 0dfe1d2f9..53c884c06 100644
--- a/tests/scripts/codex-hooks.test.js
+++ b/tests/scripts/codex-hooks.test.js
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ function runHermeticPrePush({
   includeCorepack = true,
   includePnpm = false,
   audit = false,
+  runChecks = true,
 } = {}) {
   const tempDir = createTempDir('codex-pre-push-');
   const binDir = path.join(tempDir, 'bin');
@@ -204,6 +205,7 @@ ${includePnpm ? functionStub('pnpm', false) : ''}
       PATH: toBashPath(binDir),
       BASH_ENV: toBashPath(bashEnv),
       ECC_PREPUSH_AUDIT: audit ? '1' : '0',
+      ECC_PREPUSH_RUN_CHECKS: runChecks ? '1' : '0',
       ECC_SKIP_GIT_HOOKS: '0',
       ECC_SKIP_PREPUSH: '0',
       MSYS_NO_PATHCONV: '1',
@@ -221,7 +223,7 @@ ${includePnpm ? functionStub('pnpm', false) : ''}
 
 if (
   test('pre-push uses Corepack pinned pnpm and runs every required verification script', () => {
-    const { result, calls } = runHermeticPrePush();
+    const { result, calls } = runHermeticPrePush({ runChecks: true });
     assert.strictEqual(result.status, 0, JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
     assert.deepStrictEqual(calls, [
       'pnpm run lint',
@@ -264,7 +266,7 @@ else failed++;
 
 if (
   test('pre-push stops immediately when a required verification script fails', () => {
-    const { result, calls } = runHermeticPrePush({ failScript: 'typecheck' });
+    const { result, calls } = runHermeticPrePush({ runChecks: true, failScript: 'typecheck' });
     assert.notStrictEqual(result.status, 0, `${result.stdout}\n${result.stderr}`);
     assert.deepStrictEqual(calls, ['pnpm run lint', 'pnpm run typecheck']);
     assert.match(result.stderr, /typecheck failed/);
@@ -273,9 +275,20 @@ if (
   passed++;
 else failed++;
 
+if (
+  test('pre-push skips verification scripts by default when opt-in is not set', () => {
+    const { result, calls } = runHermeticPrePush({ runChecks: false });
+    assert.strictEqual(result.status, 0, `${result.stdout}\n${result.stderr}`);
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(calls, []);
+    assert.match(result.stderr, /ECC_PREPUSH_RUN_CHECKS!=1/);
+  })
+)
+  passed++;
+else failed++;
+
 if (
   test('pre-push runs the production audit through Corepack pnpm', () => {
-    const { result, calls } = runHermeticPrePush({ audit: true });
+    const { result, calls } = runHermeticPrePush({ runChecks: true, audit: true });
     assert.strictEqual(result.status, 0, `${result.stdout}\n${result.stderr}`);
     assert.deepStrictEqual(calls, [
       'pnpm run lint',