diff --git a/plugins/codex/scripts/codex-companion.mjs b/plugins/codex/scripts/codex-companion.mjs
index 83df468a..5c07b9fc 100644
--- a/plugins/codex/scripts/codex-companion.mjs
+++ b/plugins/codex/scripts/codex-companion.mjs
@@ -413,6 +413,10 @@ async function executeReviewRun(request) {
     model: request.model,
     sandbox: "read-only",
     outputSchema: readOutputSchema(REVIEW_SCHEMA),
+    /* LOCAL PATCH (two-turn-review): if the investigation turn ends without the
+     * forced JSON, resume the thread once to elicit the verdict. */
+    structuredRetryPrompt:
+      "Output ONLY the JSON review object matching the required schema, based on the investigation you just completed. Do not run any commands or include any prose outside the JSON.",
     onProgress: request.onProgress
   });
   const parsed = parseStructuredOutput(result.finalMessage, {
diff --git a/plugins/codex/scripts/lib/codex.mjs b/plugins/codex/scripts/lib/codex.mjs
index fead00cc..4cc4736a 100644
--- a/plugins/codex/scripts/lib/codex.mjs
+++ b/plugins/codex/scripts/lib/codex.mjs
@@ -87,6 +87,34 @@ function buildTurnInput(prompt) {
   return [{ type: "text", text: prompt, text_elements: [] }];
 }
 
+/* LOCAL PATCH (two-turn-review): codex-cli omits the forced-schema final_answer
+ * when a turn also runs tools, leaving only a prose preamble. These helpers let
+ * runAppServerTurn detect that and parseStructuredOutput tolerate fenced JSON.
+ * Auto-re-applied by ~/Documents/claude-setup-review-loop-with-codex/hooks/commit-review-loop.mjs. */
+function stripJsonFences(text) {
+  const trimmed = String(text ?? "").trim();
+  if (!trimmed.startsWith("```")) {
+    return trimmed;
+  }
+  return trimmed
+    .replace(/^```(?:json)?\s*/i, "")
+    .replace(/\s*```$/, "")
+    .trim();
+}
+
+function looksLikeJson(text) {
+  const candidate = stripJsonFences(text);
+  if (!candidate || (candidate[0] !== "{" && candidate[0] !== "[")) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  try {
+    JSON.parse(candidate);
+    return true;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
 function shorten(text, limit = 72) {
   const normalized = String(text ?? "").trim().replace(/\s+/g, " ");
   if (!normalized) {
@@ -1143,13 +1171,54 @@ export async function runAppServerTurn(cwd, options = {}) {
       { onProgress: options.onProgress }
     );
 
+    let finalMessage = turnState.lastAgentMessage;
+    let reasoningSummary = turnState.reasoningSummary;
+    let finalTurn = turnState.finalTurn;
+    let turnId = turnState.turnId;
+
+    /* LOCAL PATCH (two-turn-review): when a schema is requested but the first
+     * turn ran tools, codex-cli ends the turn without emitting the forced JSON
+     * final_answer, so finalMessage holds only a prose preamble (or nothing).
+     * Resume the same thread with a JSON-only prompt; the investigation context
+     * is retained, so the model emits the structured verdict it skipped. The
+     * JSON-only turn is itself flaky on codex-cli 0.142.3, so retry a few times. */
+    if (options.structuredRetryPrompt && options.outputSchema && !looksLikeJson(finalMessage)) {
+      const maxRetries = options.structuredRetryAttempts ?? 3;
+      for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxRetries && !looksLikeJson(finalMessage); attempt += 1) {
+        emitProgress(
+          options.onProgress,
+          `Structured output missing after investigation; requesting JSON verdict (attempt ${attempt}/${maxRetries}).`,
+          "finalizing"
+        );
+        const retryState = await captureTurn(
+          client,
+          threadId,
+          () =>
+            client.request("turn/start", {
+              threadId,
+              input: buildTurnInput(options.structuredRetryPrompt),
+              model: options.model ?? null,
+              effort: options.effort ?? null,
+              outputSchema: options.outputSchema ?? null
+            }),
+          { onProgress: options.onProgress }
+        );
+        reasoningSummary = mergeReasoningSections(reasoningSummary, retryState.reasoningSummary);
+        finalTurn = retryState.finalTurn ?? finalTurn;
+        turnId = retryState.turnId ?? turnId;
+        if (looksLikeJson(retryState.lastAgentMessage)) {
+          finalMessage = retryState.lastAgentMessage;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
     return {
-      status: buildResultStatus(turnState),
+      status: finalTurn?.status === "completed" ? 0 : 1,
       threadId,
-      turnId: turnState.turnId,
-      finalMessage: turnState.lastAgentMessage,
-      reasoningSummary: turnState.reasoningSummary,
-      turn: turnState.finalTurn,
+      turnId,
+      finalMessage,
+      reasoningSummary,
+      turn: finalTurn,
       error: turnState.error,
       stderr: cleanCodexStderr(client.stderr),
       fileChanges: turnState.fileChanges,
@@ -1196,8 +1265,10 @@ export function parseStructuredOutput(rawOutput, fallback = {}) {
   }
 
   try {
+    /* LOCAL PATCH (two-turn-review): tolerate a ```json fenced block so a verdict
+     * wrapped in markdown still parses instead of failing at position 0. */
     return {
-      parsed: JSON.parse(rawOutput),
+      parsed: JSON.parse(stripJsonFences(rawOutput)),
       parseError: null,
       rawOutput,
       ...fallback
diff --git a/tests/fake-codex-fixture.mjs b/tests/fake-codex-fixture.mjs
index f83c96a0..4a645b1e 100644
--- a/tests/fake-codex-fixture.mjs
+++ b/tests/fake-codex-fixture.mjs
@@ -567,6 +567,43 @@ rl.on("line", (line) => {
           break;
         }
 
+        // Reproduces codex-cli 0.142.3: the first outputSchema turn investigates
+        // (commentary + a command) and completes WITHOUT a final_answer; only the
+        // follow-up JSON-only turn emits the structured verdict.
+        if (
+          BEHAVIOR === "adversarial-tooluse-then-json" &&
+          message.params.outputSchema &&
+          message.params.outputSchema.properties &&
+          message.params.outputSchema.properties.verdict
+        ) {
+          const isRetry = prompt.includes("Output ONLY the JSON");
+          if (isRetry) {
+            emitTurnCompleted(thread.id, turnId, [
+              { completed: { type: "agentMessage", id: "msg_" + turnId, text: payload, phase: "final_answer" } }
+            ]);
+          } else {
+            send({ method: "turn/started", params: { threadId: thread.id, turn: buildTurn(turnId) } });
+            send({
+              method: "item/completed",
+              params: {
+                threadId: thread.id,
+                turnId,
+                item: { type: "agentMessage", id: "msg_" + turnId, text: "I'll inspect the diff before answering.", phase: "commentary" }
+              }
+            });
+            send({
+              method: "item/completed",
+              params: {
+                threadId: thread.id,
+                turnId,
+                item: { type: "commandExecution", id: "cmd_" + turnId, command: "git diff HEAD~1", status: "completed", exitCode: 0 }
+              }
+            });
+            send({ method: "turn/completed", params: { threadId: thread.id, turn: buildTurn(turnId, "completed") } });
+          }
+          break;
+        }
+
         const items = [
           ...(BEHAVIOR === "with-reasoning"
             ? [
diff --git a/tests/runtime.test.mjs b/tests/runtime.test.mjs
index 8f276835..3e547ea4 100644
--- a/tests/runtime.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/runtime.test.mjs
@@ -386,6 +386,27 @@ test("adversarial review renders structured findings over app-server turn/start"
   assert.match(result.stdout, /Missing empty-state guard/);
 });
 
+test("adversarial review recovers structured output when the first turn only used tools", () => {
+  const repo = makeTempDir();
+  const binDir = makeTempDir();
+  installFakeCodex(binDir, "adversarial-tooluse-then-json");
+  initGitRepo(repo);
+  fs.mkdirSync(path.join(repo, "src"));
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(repo, "src", "app.js"), "export const value = items[0];\n");
+  run("git", ["add", "src/app.js"], { cwd: repo });
+  run("git", ["commit", "-m", "init"], { cwd: repo });
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(repo, "src", "app.js"), "export const value = items[0].id;\n");
+
+  const result = run("node", [SCRIPT, "adversarial-review"], {
+    cwd: repo,
+    env: buildEnv(binDir)
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(result.stdout, /did not return valid structured JSON/);
+  assert.match(result.stdout, /Verdict:/);
+});
+
 test("adversarial review accepts the same base-branch targeting as review", () => {
   const repo = makeTempDir();
   const binDir = makeTempDir();