diff --git a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/driver-profile.test.ts b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/driver-profile.test.ts
index acf5efce76a..054956788cb 100644
--- a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/driver-profile.test.ts
+++ b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/driver-profile.test.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
 describe("ACPX driver profile", () => {
   it.each([
     ["codex", "available"],
+    ["grok", "available"],
     ["claude", "available"],
     ["pi", "unsupported"],
   ] as const)(
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ describe("ACPX driver profile", () => {
   it.each([
     ["claude", "claude-sonnet-5"],
     ["codex", "gpt-5.6-sol"],
+    ["grok", "grok-4.7"],
   ] as const)("accepts the exact qualified %s model", (agent, model) => {
     expect(validateAcpxDriverConfig({ agent, model })).toEqual({
       ok: true,
diff --git a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/grok-credentials.ts b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/grok-credentials.ts
index a54a0681983..e99709d3646 100644
--- a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/grok-credentials.ts
+++ b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/grok-credentials.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ export const GROK_AUTH_REFRESH_FILE = "auth-refresh.json";
 export async function stageManagedGrokCredential(input: {
   agentHomeDirectory: string;
   environment?: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+  retainRefresh?: () => boolean;
 }): Promise<AcpxProviderLifetimeLease> {
   const source = input.environment ?? {};
   const inline = source.PAPERCLIP_ACPX_GROK_AUTH_JSON_SECRET;
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ export async function stageManagedGrokCredential(input: {
       // The runtime host calls close only after verified provider exit. Retain
       // a private refresh handoff for the controller's existing Grok merge
       // predicate, then scrub auth.json before releasing the process fence.
-      if (inline) {
+      if (inline && (input.retainRefresh?.() ?? true)) {
         const auth = await open(join(input.agentHomeDirectory, "auth.json"), constants.O_RDONLY | constants.O_NOFOLLOW).catch((error) => {
           if (error.code === "ENOENT") return null;
           throw error;
diff --git a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/qualified-profiles.test.ts b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/qualified-profiles.test.ts
index 6451a369f51..9e4dfab31dc 100644
--- a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/qualified-profiles.test.ts
+++ b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/qualified-profiles.test.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import {
 
 describe("qualified ACPX profiles", () => {
   it("binds each agent to one immutable package and model declaration", () => {
-    for (const agent of ["pi", "claude", "codex"] as const) {
+    for (const agent of ["pi", "claude", "codex", "grok"] as const) {
       const profile = QUALIFIED_ACPX_PROFILES[agent];
       expect(profile.agent).toBe(agent);
       expect(profile.commandDigest).toMatch(/^sha256:[a-f0-9]{64}$/);
diff --git a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-host.test.ts b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-host.test.ts
index d7aeda29e7f..75b2faa14ff 100644
--- a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-host.test.ts
+++ b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-host.test.ts
@@ -828,6 +828,25 @@ describe("ACPX runtime host", () => {
     expect(openRuntime).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it.each(["expired credential", "provider process died"])("cleans Grok credentials after failed initialization: %s", async (failure) => {
+    const fixture = await hostFixture();
+    let home = "";
+    await expect(AcpxRuntimeHost.open({
+      ...fixture.options, agent: "grok", model: "grok-4.7", permissionMode: "approve-reads",
+      environment: { PAPERCLIP_ACPX_GROK_AUTH_JSON_SECRET: JSON.stringify({ "https://accounts.x.ai::11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111": { key: "test-expired", refresh_token: "test-refresh" } }) },
+    }, fixture.dependencies({ openRuntime: async (options) => {
+      home = options.launchEnvironment.GROK_HOME!;
+      expect(options.permissionMode).toBe("approve-reads");
+      expect(options.launchEnvironment).not.toHaveProperty("PAPERCLIP_ACPX_GROK_AUTH_JSON_SECRET");
+      expect(await readFile(join(home, "auth.json"), "utf8")).toContain("test-expired");
+      throw new Error(failure);
+    } }))).rejects.toThrow(failure);
+    for (const filename of ["auth.json", "auth-refresh.json"]) {
+      await expect(readFile(join(home, filename))).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: "ENOENT" });
+    }
+    expect(fixture.commandClose).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+  });
+
   it("cleans credentials and command leases when provider open fails", async () => {
     const fixture = await hostFixture();
     let authPath = "";
diff --git a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-host.ts b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-host.ts
index 8b4e9ea1026..20de8c9aace 100644
--- a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-host.ts
+++ b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-host.ts
@@ -338,6 +338,7 @@ export class AcpxRuntimeHost {
     if (installation.commandDigest !== profile.commandDigest) {
       throw new Error("Verified ACPX installation does not match its profile");
     }
+    let admissionSucceeded = false;
     let command: VerifiedAcpxCommandLease | null = null;
     let credential: AcpxProviderLifetimeLease | null = null;
     let toolBridge: RunnerToolBridge | null = null;
@@ -408,7 +409,7 @@ export class AcpxRuntimeHost {
       } else if (options.agent === "grok") {
         credential = await acquireAbortableAdmissionResource({
           signal: options.signal,
-          acquire: () => stageManagedGrokCredential({ agentHomeDirectory: sandbox.agentHomeDirectory, environment: options.environment }),
+          acquire: () => stageManagedGrokCredential({ agentHomeDirectory: sandbox.agentHomeDirectory, environment: options.environment, retainRefresh: () => admissionSucceeded }),
           resource: "credential", releaseLate: (lease) => lease.close(),
           reportFailure: (failure) => dependencies.reportRetainedCleanupFailure(failure),
         });
@@ -550,6 +551,7 @@ export class AcpxRuntimeHost {
         verifyExpectedAcpxIdentity(options.expectedIdentity, binding, identity);
       }
       options.signal?.throwIfAborted();
+      admissionSucceeded = true;
       return new AcpxRuntimeHost({
         runtime,
         binding,
diff --git a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-sandbox.ts b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-sandbox.ts
index 012ea5b6ec0..f8f622794f8 100644
--- a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-sandbox.ts
+++ b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/drivers/acpx/runtime-sandbox.ts
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ export async function prepareAcpxRuntimeSandbox(input: {
     XDG_CACHE_HOME: cacheDirectory,
     PAPERCLIP_ACPX_PROFILE: input.agent,
     PAPERCLIP_ACPX_ISOLATED_CONTEXT: "1",
-    ...(input.agent === "grok" ? { GROK_HOME: agentHomeDirectory, NO_BROWSER: "1" } : {}),
+    ...(input.agent === "grok" ? { GROK_HOME: agentHomeDirectory, NO_BROWSER: "1", GROK_DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER: "1" } : {}),
     ...(input.agent === "pi"
       ? {
           PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR: agentHomeDirectory,
diff --git a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/live/runnerd-codex-transport.ts b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/live/runnerd-codex-transport.ts
index 4d23eb9f94e..d6a01fcd02f 100644
--- a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/live/runnerd-codex-transport.ts
+++ b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/live/runnerd-codex-transport.ts
@@ -3254,7 +3254,7 @@ export function createRunnerdCodexAppServerArgs(input: {
   );
 }
 
-function unwrapToolResponse(response: Record<string, unknown>): {
+export function unwrapToolResponse(response: Record<string, unknown>, preserveEnvelope = false): {
   readonly __paperclipSemanticToolOutcome: true;
   readonly result: unknown;
   readonly isError: boolean;
@@ -3265,7 +3265,7 @@ function unwrapToolResponse(response: Record<string, unknown>): {
   const value = record(items[0]).text;
   let result: unknown = response;
   try {
-    if (typeof value === "string") result = JSON.parse(value);
+    if (!preserveEnvelope && typeof value === "string") result = JSON.parse(value);
   } catch {
     result = response;
   }
@@ -5461,6 +5461,8 @@ class DurablePrpCodexTransport implements CodexAppServerTransport {
             }
           : {}),
       }),
+      this.options.provider === "acpx" &&
+        (call.operationId === "paperclip_finish" || call.operationId === "paperclip_block"),
     );
     if (call.operationId === "call_api") {
       const result = record(outcome.result);
diff --git a/packages/paperclip-runner/src/live/runnerd-tool-response.test.ts b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/live/runnerd-tool-response.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..536e41ae2b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/paperclip-runner/src/live/runnerd-tool-response.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { unwrapToolResponse } from "./runnerd-codex-transport.js";
+
+describe("runnerd semantic tool response", () => {
+  it("preserves the validated ACPX terminal acknowledgement envelope", () => {
+    const response = { success: true, contentItems: [{ type: "inputText", text: JSON.stringify({ ok: true, accepted: true }) }] };
+    expect(unwrapToolResponse(response, true)).toEqual({ __paperclipSemanticToolOutcome: true, result: response, isError: false });
+    expect(unwrapToolResponse(response)).toEqual({ __paperclipSemanticToolOutcome: true, result: { ok: true, accepted: true }, isError: false });
+  });
+  it("keeps denial feedback and does not promote rejected terminal reports to success", () => {
+    const response = { success: false, contentItems: [{ type: "inputText", text: JSON.stringify({ ok: false, denial: { code: "stale_completion_contract" } }) }] };
+    expect(unwrapToolResponse(response, true)).toMatchObject({ isError: true, result: { success: false } });
+  });
+});