diff --git a/scripts/test-layout/layout.json b/scripts/test-layout/layout.json
index f8bd26a990..679a0bb95c 100644
--- a/scripts/test-layout/layout.json
+++ b/scripts/test-layout/layout.json
@@ -1656,6 +1656,7 @@
     "server-request-body-size.test.ts": "server",
     "server-search.test.ts": "server",
     "server-startup-reconcile-resilience.test.ts": "server",
+    "server-startup-codex-off.test.ts": "server",
     "server-stop-config-hardening.test.ts": "server",
     "server-xai-chat-reasoning-streaming.test.ts": "server",
     "server-xai-header-parity.test.ts": "server",
diff --git a/src/server/index.ts b/src/server/index.ts
index d7e60c1c95..0850f3c176 100644
--- a/src/server/index.ts
+++ b/src/server/index.ts
@@ -267,17 +267,17 @@ function startServerWithSpendLedgerOwner(port: number | undefined, deps: StartSe
     startupOwnershipHomes = homes;
     startupOwnershipStatePaths = statePaths;
   } catch { /* inspection below stays unknown */ }
-  const startupCacheOwnership = inspectStartupOwnership(
+  const startupCacheOwnership = shouldSyncCodexOnStart(config) ? inspectStartupOwnership(
     deps,
     startupOwnershipHomes,
     startupOwnershipStatePaths,
     startupWindowsTaskListingCache,
-  );
+  ) : null;
   // Startup cache invalidation is best-effort and applies only when startup sync is enabled.
   // Check OFF before taking K: on Windows K resolves SID + LocalAppData through PowerShell,
   // and run 35093667426 exceeded healthy controls by 33.8 s against that 30 s child budget.
   // The permit callback still re-reads intent under K to close a concurrent disable race.
-  if (shouldSyncCodexOnStart(config) && startupCacheOwnership.ownership === "owned" && startupOwnershipHomes !== null) {
+  if (startupCacheOwnership?.ownership === "owned" && startupOwnershipHomes !== null) {
     try {
       const startupCodexHome = startupOwnershipHomes.codexHome;
       // #1046: record whether this actually rewrote the cache. `handleStart` ORs this
@@ -549,12 +549,12 @@ function startServerWithSpendLedgerOwner(port: number | undefined, deps: StartSe
   // clients; no Codex request can use this lifecycle in that state.
   // Re-probe here instead of trusting the earlier cache decision: startup work
   // between the two sites must not widen the service-install race.
-  const nativeOwnership = inspectStartupOwnership(
+  const nativeOwnership = shouldSyncCodexOnStart(config) ? inspectStartupOwnership(
     deps,
     startupOwnershipHomes,
     startupOwnershipStatePaths,
-  );
-  const preparedNativeMainLifecycle = nativeOwnership.ownership !== "foreign"
+  ) : null;
+  const preparedNativeMainLifecycle = nativeOwnership !== null && nativeOwnership.ownership !== "foreign"
     && startupOwnershipHomes !== null
     ? prepareNativeMainStartupLifecycle(
       deps.nativeMainStartup,
@@ -600,7 +600,7 @@ function startServerWithSpendLedgerOwner(port: number | undefined, deps: StartSe
       return retryPreparedNativeMainLifecycle.start();
     },
   };
-  const nativeMainLifecycle: NativeMainStartupLifecycle = shouldSyncCodexOnStart(config)
+  const nativeMainLifecycle: NativeMainStartupLifecycle = nativeOwnership !== null
     ? nativeOwnership.ownership === "owned"
       ? preparedNativeMainLifecycle
         ? preparedNativeMainLifecycle.start()
diff --git a/structure/runtime.md b/structure/runtime.md
index 57f8ea1c82..669a2fb256 100644
--- a/structure/runtime.md
+++ b/structure/runtime.md
@@ -202,8 +202,8 @@ independent. Ordinary stop drains the spend reporters after listener teardown be
 reference. `src/server/index/spend-ledger-lifecycle.ts` also holds the lease through failed-start listener rollback. Enforced seeds remain live until reporters close and settlement plus send-ID forgetting are durable; scope totals survive forgetting. SQLite and the OS release a crashed owner; no PID, timestamp,
 TTL or lock-file deletion participates in recovery. Startup passes the provider roster and top-level pool aliases with the spend policy; live state reconciliation refreshes both without opening an unused ledger. Under the [request-start policy](transports/responses-spend.md#durable-spend-reservations), existing requests retain their initial enforcement mode, numeric ceilings and L; changed limits apply to later requests. HTTP admission checks [historical continuity](transports/responses-spend.md#historical-pool-continuity-and-rollback) even without a root; failed accounting reads release the active-turn lease. Rooted continuity denials record exactly one workflow refusal event before response formatting.
 
-An explicit Codex integration OFF skips startup cache invalidation before the user-scoped catalog
-serialization lock is resolved. Explicit `sync` and `sync-cache` retain their catalog-only override.
+An explicit Codex integration OFF skips startup ownership probes, native-main preparation and cache invalidation before resolving the catalog lock.
+Enabled startup retains separate fresh ownership decisions. Explicit `sync` and `sync-cache` retain their catalog-only override.
 
 `startServer` composes up to four sockets in one synchronous startup transaction: the public data listener, optional unauthenticated data-loopback and hub-management listeners, and the optional `hub-link` listener, which opens only for a recorded link and persists its concrete `127.0.0.1:<listenerPort>`. HTTP Responses/Messages apply the [caller header contract](data-planes/inbound-compat.md#http-caller-conversation-identity) before turn admission and dispatch. Linked-machine data uses the [connection-bound relay contract](remote-link.md#connection-bound-relay-authentication); client-local credentials and routing policy remain unchanged.
 The data-loopback socket serves a fixed data-plane allowlist: Responses and its compact sibling,
diff --git a/tests/codex-integration/bearer-admission-routed-provider.test.ts b/tests/codex-integration/bearer-admission-routed-provider.test.ts
index 2ab77af91b..21d036a054 100644
--- a/tests/codex-integration/bearer-admission-routed-provider.test.ts
+++ b/tests/codex-integration/bearer-admission-routed-provider.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, setDefaultTimeout, test } from "bun:test";
 import { mkdtempSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import http2 from "node:http2";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
@@ -17,10 +17,13 @@ import { handleNativeProfileAPI } from "../../src/codex/native-profile-api";
 import type { NativeProfileManager } from "../../src/codex/native-profile-manager";
 import type { OcxConfig } from "../../src/types";
 import { ownedServiceHomeInspection } from "../helpers/owned-service-home-inspection";
-import { removeTreeWithRetry } from "../helpers/remove-tree";
+import { removeTreeAfterBackgroundWork } from "../helpers/remove-tree";
 import { fakeChatGptJwt } from "../helpers/fake-chatgpt-jwt";
 import { resetVisionDescriptionCache } from "../../src/vision";
 import { SERVER_BUDGET_MS } from "../helpers/test-budget";
+
+// Every case starts a real server; on Windows its config-dir ACL work alone can exceed 5 s.
+setDefaultTimeout(SERVER_BUDGET_MS);
 import { saveCodexAccountCredential } from "../../src/codex/account-store";
 
 /**
@@ -195,7 +198,7 @@ beforeEach(() => {
   }) as typeof fetch;
 });
 
-afterEach(() => {
+afterEach(async () => {
   resetVisionDescriptionCache();
   closeRequestHistoryIndex();
   clearComboTargetCooldowns();
@@ -209,8 +212,9 @@ afterEach(() => {
   else process.env.CODEX_HOME = previousCodexHome;
   if (previousDataToken === undefined) delete process.env.OPENCODEX_API_AUTH_TOKEN;
   else process.env.OPENCODEX_API_AUTH_TOKEN = previousDataToken;
-  if (ocxHome) removeTreeWithRetry(ocxHome);
-  if (codexHome) removeTreeWithRetry(codexHome);
+  // Startup's config-dir ACL hardening may still hold the homes on Windows; settle it first.
+  if (ocxHome) await removeTreeAfterBackgroundWork(ocxHome);
+  if (codexHome) await removeTreeAfterBackgroundWork(codexHome);
   ocxHome = "";
   codexHome = "";
 });
diff --git a/tests/codex-integration/codex-service-manager-probe-hardening.test.ts b/tests/codex-integration/codex-service-manager-probe-hardening.test.ts
index d7b8736ef7..9b1ea42da0 100644
--- a/tests/codex-integration/codex-service-manager-probe-hardening.test.ts
+++ b/tests/codex-integration/codex-service-manager-probe-hardening.test.ts
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ describe("Windows ownership probe hardening regressions", () => {
       ...getDefaultConfig(),
       port: 0,
       hostname: "127.0.0.1",
-      clientIntegrations: { codex: false },
+      clientIntegrations: { codex: true },
       subagentModels: [],
     }, null, 2));
 
@@ -278,7 +278,10 @@ describe("Windows ownership probe hardening regressions", () => {
           winswStatus: () => "nonexistent",
         });
         ownerships.push(answer.ownership);
-        return answer;
+        // Exercise enabled startup's two real inspections without taking the unrelated
+        // user-scoped catalog lock (which resolves Windows identity through PowerShell).
+        // Preserve each raw verdict above so a stale second listing still fails this test.
+        return ownerships.length === 1 ? { ownership: "unknown", reason: "cache writes outside this fixture" } : answer;
         } finally {
           setTrustedWindowsSystemDirectoryResolverForTests(null);
         }
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/test-layout-expected.json b/tests/fixtures/test-layout-expected.json
index fcca881b05..e8e81b968a 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/test-layout-expected.json
+++ b/tests/fixtures/test-layout-expected.json
@@ -1126,6 +1126,7 @@
   "server-opencode-go-goal-streaming.test.ts": "server", "server-rate-limit-retry-e2e.test.ts": "server",
   "server-request-body-size.test.ts": "server", "server-search.test.ts": "server",
   "server-startup-reconcile-resilience.test.ts": "server", "server-stop-config-hardening.test.ts": "server",
+  "server-startup-codex-off.test.ts": "server",
   "server-xai-chat-reasoning-streaming.test.ts": "server", "server-xai-header-parity.test.ts": "server",
   "server-xai-oauth-401-replay.test.ts": "server", "server-xai-responses-streaming.test.ts": "server",
   "service-auth-qualified-localhost.test.ts": "service", "service-child-ownership.test.ts": "service",
diff --git a/tests/server/server-startup-codex-off.test.ts b/tests/server/server-startup-codex-off.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..699ce9421b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/server/server-startup-codex-off.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import { expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { mkdtempSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { saveConfig } from "../../src/config";
+import { startServer } from "../../src/server";
+import { installIsolatedCodexHome } from "../helpers/isolated-codex-home";
+import { removeTreeWithRetry } from "../helpers/remove-tree";
+
+test("Codex OFF starts without service-manager probes or native-main preparation", async () => {
+  const priorHome = process.env.OPENCODEX_HOME;
+  const home = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "ocx-start-codex-off-"));
+  const codex = installIsolatedCodexHome("ocx-start-codex-off-client-");
+  process.env.OPENCODEX_HOME = home;
+  let inspections = 0;
+  let preparations = 0;
+  let server: ReturnType<typeof startServer> | undefined;
+  try {
+    saveConfig({
+      providers: { fixture: { adapter: "openai-chat", baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:1/v1", allowPrivateNetwork: true } },
+      defaultProvider: "fixture", port: 0, hostname: "127.0.0.1",
+      clientIntegrations: { codex: false }, checkForUpdates: false,
+      syncResumeHistory: false, claudeCode: { intercept: { enabled: false } },
+    });
+    server = startServer(0, {
+      inspectNativeCodexOwnership: () => {
+        inspections++;
+        return { ownership: "owned", reason: "unused Codex OFF probe" };
+      },
+      nativeMainStartup: {
+        get manager() {
+          preparations++;
+          throw new Error("Codex OFF must not prepare a native manager");
+        },
+      },
+    });
+    expect(inspections).toBe(0);
+    expect(preparations).toBe(0);
+    expect((await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${server.port}/healthz`)).status).toBe(200);
+  } finally {
+    await server?.stop(true);
+    codex.restore();
+    if (priorHome === undefined) delete process.env.OPENCODEX_HOME;
+    else process.env.OPENCODEX_HOME = priorHome;
+    removeTreeWithRetry(home);
+  }
+});