diff --git a/src/main/codex/codex-subagent-activity.ts b/src/main/codex/codex-subagent-activity.ts
index 09e8272be1d..6bedd723b1d 100644
--- a/src/main/codex/codex-subagent-activity.ts
+++ b/src/main/codex/codex-subagent-activity.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ import {
   readCodexCollabAgentToolCall
 } from './codex-collab-agent-tool-call'
 import type { CodexThreadItem } from './codex-thread-item-identity'
+import { codexSubagentPathLabel, codexSubagentPathSegments } from '../../shared/codex-agent-path'
+
+export { codexSubagentPathSegments } from '../../shared/codex-agent-path'
 
 export const CODEX_SUBAGENT_ITEM_TYPE = 'subAgentActivity'
 export const CODEX_TOKEN_USAGE_METHOD = 'thread/tokenUsage/updated'
@@ -54,11 +57,6 @@ export function readCodexSubagentActivity(item: CodexThreadItem): CodexSubagentA
   }
 }
 
-/** Path segments, empty ones dropped: `/root/list_directory` → 2 segments. */
-export function codexSubagentPathSegments(agentPath: string | null): string[] {
-  return agentPath === null ? [] : agentPath.split('/').filter((part) => part.length > 0)
-}
-
 /** The one path segment that names the parent turn itself rather than a child.
  *  Compared after the same normalization the label uses, not against the raw
  *  string: `/root/` and `/root//` are the same node as `/root`, and a check that
@@ -88,8 +86,7 @@ export function isCodexRootAgentActivity(activity: CodexSubagentActivity): boole
  *  because the caller keys its collision ordinals on this string: ` read ` and
  *  `read` render identically and must therefore collide. */
 export function codexSubagentLabel(activity: CodexSubagentActivity): string | null {
-  const trailing = codexSubagentPathSegments(activity.agentPath).at(-1)?.trim()
-  return trailing !== undefined && trailing.length > 0 ? trailing : null
+  return codexSubagentPathLabel(activity.agentPath)
 }
 
 /** A child the item says exists, from either wire shape Codex announces one with. */
diff --git a/src/shared/agent-child-row-model.ts b/src/shared/agent-child-row-model.ts
index c0dcfed2d04..8ff7eaf5ccd 100644
--- a/src/shared/agent-child-row-model.ts
+++ b/src/shared/agent-child-row-model.ts
@@ -143,13 +143,15 @@ type AgentChildRowDetailSource = {
   settled: boolean
 }
 
-// A role that restates the name adds nothing.
+// A default role or one that restates the name adds nothing.
 function roleDetail(source: AgentChildRowDetailSource): AgentChildRowDetail | null {
   if (source.kind !== 'agent') {
     return null
   }
   const agentType = source.agentType ?? 'unknown'
-  return source.name.trim() === agentType.trim() ? null : { kind: 'role', agentType }
+  return agentType.trim() === 'default' || source.name.trim() === agentType.trim()
+    ? null
+    : { kind: 'role', agentType }
 }
 
 function messageOrRole(source: AgentChildRowDetailSource): AgentChildRowDetail | null {
diff --git a/src/shared/agent-hook-listener-codex-subagent-names.test.ts b/src/shared/agent-hook-listener-codex-subagent-names.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ec587bbd68b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shared/agent-hook-listener-codex-subagent-names.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { appendFileSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { createHookListenerState } from './agent-hook-listener/listener-state'
+import { normalizeAndAccept } from './agent-hook-listener-test-harness'
+
+describe('Codex child names from provider metadata', () => {
+  const directories: string[] = []
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    for (const directory of directories.splice(0)) {
+      rmSync(directory, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
+
+  function fixture() {
+    const directory = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'codex-child-name-'))
+    directories.push(directory)
+    const transcriptPath = join(directory, 'rollout-child.jsonl')
+    const state = createHookListenerState()
+    return {
+      transcriptPath,
+      writeMeta(fields: Record<string, unknown>, nested = true, id = 'child') {
+        const payload = nested
+          ? { id, source: { subagent: { thread_spawn: fields } } }
+          : { id, ...fields }
+        writeFileSync(transcriptPath, `${JSON.stringify({ type: 'session_meta', payload })}\n`)
+      },
+      post(hookEventName = 'SubagentStart') {
+        return normalizeAndAccept(state, 'codex', {
+          hook_event_name: hookEventName,
+          agent_id: 'child',
+          agent_type: 'default',
+          transcript_path: transcriptPath
+        })?.payload.subagents
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  it('names a hook-only child, retains its name across waits and clears it on stop', () => {
+    const { writeMeta, post, transcriptPath } = fixture()
+    writeMeta({ agent_path: '/root/adversarial_visual', agent_nickname: 'Scout' })
+    appendFileSync(transcriptPath, 'x'.repeat(2 * 1024 * 1024))
+
+    expect(post()).toEqual([
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        id: 'child',
+        agentType: 'default',
+        description: 'adversarial_visual',
+        state: 'working'
+      })
+    ])
+    rmSync(transcriptPath)
+    expect(post('PermissionRequest')?.[0]).toMatchObject({
+      description: 'adversarial_visual',
+      state: 'waiting'
+    })
+    expect(post('PostToolUse')?.[0]).toMatchObject({
+      description: 'adversarial_visual',
+      state: 'working'
+    })
+    expect(post('SubagentStop')).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  it('recovers a child first seen in a tool hook and retries metadata that was not yet written', () => {
+    const { writeMeta, post } = fixture()
+    expect(post('PostToolUse')?.[0]?.description).toBeUndefined()
+    writeMeta({ agent_path: '/root/review/mobile' })
+    expect(post('PostToolUse')?.[0]?.description).toBe('mobile')
+  })
+
+  it('uses top-level metadata and falls back to a nickname on older releases', () => {
+    const { writeMeta, post } = fixture()
+    writeMeta({ agent_path: ' ', agent_nickname: 'Scout' }, false)
+    expect(post()?.[0]?.description).toBe('Scout')
+  })
+
+  it('keeps the role fallback when metadata belongs to another thread or has no name', () => {
+    const { writeMeta, post } = fixture()
+    writeMeta({ agent_path: '/root/wrong-child' }, true, 'another-child')
+    expect(post()?.[0]).toMatchObject({ agentType: 'default', description: undefined })
+    writeMeta({ agent_role: 'default' })
+    expect(post('PostToolUse')?.[0]).toMatchObject({
+      agentType: 'default',
+      description: undefined
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/shared/agent-hook-listener/providers/codex-events.ts b/src/shared/agent-hook-listener/providers/codex-events.ts
index aa2f0f08e52..c15ed5496af 100644
--- a/src/shared/agent-hook-listener/providers/codex-events.ts
+++ b/src/shared/agent-hook-listener/providers/codex-events.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
 } from '../../agent-lead-status-fold'
 import {
   codexRosterToSnapshots,
+  enrichCodexSubagentIdentity,
   finishCodexSubagent,
   upsertCodexSubagent
 } from '../../codex-subagent-roster'
@@ -107,6 +108,11 @@ export function normalizeCodexSubagentLifecycleEvent(
       },
       Date.now()
     )
+    enrichCodexSubagentIdentity(
+      roster,
+      agentId,
+      readFirstString(hookPayload, ['transcript_path', 'transcriptPath'])
+    )
   } else {
     finishCodexSubagent(roster, agentId)
   }
@@ -237,6 +243,11 @@ export function normalizeCodexEvent(
       },
       Date.now()
     )
+    enrichCodexSubagentIdentity(
+      getOrCreateCodexSubagentRoster(state, paneKey),
+      agentId,
+      transcriptPath
+    )
     return buildCodexChildDrivenStatusPayload(state, eventName, paneKey, hookPayload)
   }
 
diff --git a/src/shared/codex-agent-path.ts b/src/shared/codex-agent-path.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b1e56d63f3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shared/codex-agent-path.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+export function codexSubagentPathSegments(agentPath: string | null): string[] {
+  return agentPath === null ? [] : agentPath.split('/').filter((part) => part.length > 0)
+}
+
+export function codexSubagentPathLabel(agentPath: string | null): string | null {
+  const trailing = codexSubagentPathSegments(agentPath).at(-1)?.trim()
+  return trailing !== undefined && trailing.length > 0 ? trailing : null
+}
diff --git a/src/shared/codex-rollout-jsonl-cursor.test.ts b/src/shared/codex-rollout-jsonl-cursor.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9fb48fdf922
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shared/codex-rollout-jsonl-cursor.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, symlinkSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join, resolve } from 'node:path'
+import { runProcess } from '@orca/process-host'
+
+const directories: string[] = []
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  for (const directory of directories.splice(0)) {
+    rmSync(directory, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  }
+})
+
+describe('readJsonlFirstRecord', () => {
+  it.skipIf(process.platform === 'win32')(
+    'rejects writer-less FIFOs and symlinks to them without blocking',
+    async () => {
+      const directory = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'codex-rollout-fifo-'))
+      directories.push(directory)
+      const fifo = join(directory, 'pipe.jsonl')
+      const link = join(directory, 'link.jsonl')
+      const created = await runProcess({ program: 'mkfifo', args: [fifo], timeoutMs: 5000 })
+      expect(created.code).toBe(0)
+      symlinkSync(fifo, link)
+      const readerPath = resolve('src/shared/codex-rollout-jsonl-cursor.ts')
+      const result = await runProcess({
+        program: process.execPath,
+        args: [
+          '--import',
+          'tsx',
+          '--eval',
+          `const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+const { readJsonlFirstRecord } = require(${JSON.stringify(readerPath)});
+for (const path of ${JSON.stringify([fifo, link, directory])}) {
+  assert.equal(readJsonlFirstRecord(path), undefined);
+}`
+        ],
+        timeoutMs: 5000
+      })
+      expect(result.timedOut).toBe(false)
+      expect(result.code, result.stderr).toBe(0)
+    }
+  )
+})
diff --git a/src/shared/codex-rollout-jsonl-cursor.ts b/src/shared/codex-rollout-jsonl-cursor.ts
index 57f68df3b54..0abf27a4f27 100644
--- a/src/shared/codex-rollout-jsonl-cursor.ts
+++ b/src/shared/codex-rollout-jsonl-cursor.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,13 @@
-import { closeSync, openSync, readSync, readdirSync, statSync, type Stats } from 'node:fs'
+import {
+  closeSync,
+  constants,
+  fstatSync,
+  openSync,
+  readSync,
+  readdirSync,
+  statSync,
+  type Stats
+} from 'node:fs'
 
 const TRANSCRIPT_READ_MAX_BYTES = 1024 * 1024
 const TRANSCRIPT_LINE_MAX_BYTES = 256 * 1024
@@ -17,6 +26,33 @@ export function record(value: unknown): JsonRecord | undefined {
   return typeof value === 'object' && value !== null ? (value as JsonRecord) : undefined
 }
 
+export function readJsonlFirstRecord(filePath: string): JsonRecord | undefined {
+  let fd: number | undefined
+  try {
+    // Nonblocking open prevents a FIFO from stalling hook handling before the descriptor check.
+    fd = openSync(
+      filePath,
+      constants.O_RDONLY | (process.platform === 'win32' ? 0 : constants.O_NONBLOCK)
+    )
+    if (!fstatSync(fd).isFile()) {
+      return undefined
+    }
+    const buffer = Buffer.allocUnsafe(64 * 1024)
+    const bytesRead = readSync(fd, buffer, 0, buffer.length, 0)
+    const newline = buffer.subarray(0, bytesRead).indexOf(0x0a)
+    if (newline === -1) {
+      return undefined
+    }
+    return record(JSON.parse(buffer.toString('utf8', 0, newline)))
+  } catch {
+    return undefined
+  } finally {
+    if (fd !== undefined) {
+      closeSync(fd)
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 /** Returns undefined when the file is unreadable, distinguishing a vanished rollout from one with no new lines.
  *  `lineFilter` skips JSON.parse for raw lines the caller can reject by substring. */
 export function readJsonlCursor(
diff --git a/src/shared/codex-subagent-identity.ts b/src/shared/codex-subagent-identity.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9e2a9df5e58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shared/codex-subagent-identity.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import { extname, isAbsolute } from 'node:path'
+import { readJsonlFirstRecord, record } from './codex-rollout-jsonl-cursor'
+import { codexSubagentPathLabel } from './codex-agent-path'
+
+function text(value: unknown): string | undefined {
+  return typeof value === 'string' ? value.trim() || undefined : undefined
+}
+
+/** Immutable provider metadata names the child even when its parent emits no activity items. */
+export function readCodexSubagentIdentity(
+  transcriptPath: string,
+  agentId: string
+): { description?: string } | undefined {
+  if (!isAbsolute(transcriptPath) || extname(transcriptPath) !== '.jsonl') {
+    return undefined
+  }
+  const head = readJsonlFirstRecord(transcriptPath)
+  const payload = record(head?.payload)
+  if (head?.type !== 'session_meta' || payload?.id !== agentId) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+  const spawn = record(record(record(payload.source)?.subagent)?.thread_spawn)
+  return {
+    description:
+      codexSubagentPathLabel(text(spawn?.agent_path) ?? text(payload.agent_path) ?? null) ??
+      text(spawn?.agent_nickname) ??
+      text(payload.agent_nickname)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/shared/codex-subagent-roster.ts b/src/shared/codex-subagent-roster.ts
index 37f8d6f909e..eb7ab485a6e 100644
--- a/src/shared/codex-subagent-roster.ts
+++ b/src/shared/codex-subagent-roster.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   type AgentSubagentSnapshot
 } from './agent-status-types'
 import { normalizeOptionalField } from './agent-status-field-normalization'
+import { readCodexSubagentIdentity } from './codex-subagent-identity'
 import {
   agentChildWorkLiveness,
   type AgentChildWorkLiveness
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ type TrackedCodexSubagent = {
   model?: string
   state: 'working' | 'waiting'
   startedAt: number
+  identityTranscriptPath?: string
 }
 
 export function upsertCodexSubagent(
@@ -61,6 +63,25 @@ export function finishCodexSubagent(roster: CodexSubagentRoster, id: string): vo
   roster.delete(id.trim())
 }
 
+export function enrichCodexSubagentIdentity(
+  roster: CodexSubagentRoster,
+  id: string,
+  transcriptPath: string | undefined
+): void {
+  const child = roster.get(id.trim())
+  if (!child || !transcriptPath || child.identityTranscriptPath === transcriptPath) {
+    return
+  }
+  const identity = readCodexSubagentIdentity(transcriptPath, id.trim())
+  if (!identity) {
+    return
+  }
+  child.identityTranscriptPath = transcriptPath
+  child.description =
+    normalizeOptionalField(identity.description, AGENT_STATUS_TOOL_INPUT_MAX_LENGTH) ??
+    child.description
+}
+
 /**
  * Record the model a already-tracked child is running. Deliberately narrower
  * than `upsertCodexSubagent`: it never creates a roster entry and never touches