diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8ef31e36..74fc11f0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **Opening a session no longer stalls just because Codex refreshed its model cache in the background.** The WebUI keys its 24-hour `/api/models` cache partly on Codex's `~/.codex/models_cache.json`, but that file was fingerprinted by `mtime` + size — and Codex rewrites it on its own refresh timer, bumping those stat fields even when the model catalog is byte-identical (only a volatile `fetched_at` timestamp changed). Every Codex refresh therefore invalidated the cache, and the next session open paid a full live rebuild whose serial provider probes stalled the open (#7540). The Codex cache is now fingerprinted by its *content* with the refresh-timestamp fields (`fetched_at`, `updated_at`) stripped, so a timestamp-only rewrite keeps the cache while any genuine catalog change (models, `etag`, `client_version`) still invalidates it. A malformed or pathologically deep cache file degrades safely to the old stat fingerprint rather than erroring. Thanks @webtecnica. (#7556, closes #7540)
+
 - **A timed-out command-approval card can be dismissed again instead of getting stuck on screen forever.** When the agent raised a local approval with no gateway notifier registered, the raw pending entry was stored without an `approval_id`; the frontend needs that id to own the card, so a card that timed out (or otherwise went unanswered) could be neither approved nor dismissed and the poll re-served it indefinitely. Reconciliation now mints a stable `gwlocal-mirrorless:` id on the raw local entry itself — the same tokenization contract already used for gateway producers — so the id survives repeated polls and the client's dismiss marker sticks. Gateway/run-bearing entries are untouched, and the synthetic prefix can't be mistaken for gateway authority (routing keys on exact ids, `run_id`, and mirror tokens, never the prefix). Thanks @CharlesMcquade. (#7510)
 
 - **Manual "Regenerate title" now works for conversations that open with several queued user messages.** For a session whose transcript begins with consecutive user turns (no assistant reply before the second user message), the first-exchange walker stopped at the second user row with no assistant text, so "Regenerate title" skipped the LLM call, silently persisted the local fallback (a truncated first message), and returned `200` with that same wrong title on every retry — leaving the session permanently stuck. Manual regeneration now scans past the opening user rows to the first complete user+assistant pair so it reaches the aux model. The automatic in-stream title path is deliberately unchanged. Thanks @Raylands. (#7545, closes #7543)
diff --git a/api/config.py b/api/config.py
index 6578c8e1..686d2392 100644
--- a/api/config.py
+++ b/api/config.py
@@ -6182,6 +6182,97 @@ def _models_cache_file_fingerprint(path: Path) -> dict:
     return fingerprint
 
 
+# Codex's ~/.codex/models_cache.json is rewritten on Codex's own refresh timer.
+# Each rewrite bumps mtime_ns + size, but the payload usually only refreshes
+# the volatile timestamp fields (`fetched_at`, plus `updated_at` when present)
+# while the model catalog (client_version, etag, models[]) stays identical.
+# Fingerprinting that file by stat (#2443's _models_cache_file_fingerprint)
+# therefore invalidated the 24h /api/models cache on every Codex refresh, and
+# the next session visit paid a full live rebuild whose serial provider probes
+# starved the session-open path (#7540).
+#
+# This is a DENY-list, not an allow-list, on purpose — same safety direction as
+# _AUTH_FINGERPRINT_VOLATILE_KEYS: every other field (client_version, etag,
+# models, and any future model-affecting key) stays IN the fingerprint, so a
+# genuine catalog change still invalidates the cache.
+_CODEX_CACHE_FINGERPRINT_VOLATILE_KEYS = frozenset({
+    # Whole-file refresh timestamp, rewritten by every Codex models refresh.
+    "fetched_at",
+    # Same-family save timestamp (mirrors the auth.json deny-list).
+    "updated_at",
+})
+
+
+def _strip_volatile_codex_cache_fields(obj):
+    """Recursively drop refresh-timestamp-only keys from a Codex cache tree.
+
+    Pure structural transform; never mutates the input. Any key NOT in the
+    deny-list is preserved verbatim so real catalog changes still show through
+    in the fingerprint.
+    """
+    if isinstance(obj, dict):
+        return {
+            k: _strip_volatile_codex_cache_fields(v)
+            for k, v in obj.items()
+            if k not in _CODEX_CACHE_FINGERPRINT_VOLATILE_KEYS
+        }
+    if isinstance(obj, list):
+        return [_strip_volatile_codex_cache_fields(v) for v in obj]
+    return obj
+
+
+def _codex_models_cache_fingerprint(path: Path) -> dict:
+    """Return a content fingerprint of Codex's models_cache.json.
+
+    Unlike _models_cache_file_fingerprint() (mtime_ns + size), this hashes the
+    JSON content with the refresh-timestamp fields stripped, so a Codex
+    refresh that only bumps `fetched_at` does NOT invalidate the 24h
+    /api/models cache and therefore does not force the live rebuild that
+    stalled session opens (#7540). A change to anything that actually feeds the
+    Codex models we surface (client_version, etag, models[], an unknown future
+    field) still changes the hash and correctly busts the cache.
+
+    Failure modes are deliberately conservative — a missing file is recorded,
+    and an unreadable/undecodable file falls back to the stat-based fingerprint
+    so behaviour is never *less* safe than the stat-only version.
+    """
+    p = Path(path).expanduser()
+    fp: dict = {"path": str(p)}
+    try:
+        st = p.stat()
+    except OSError:
+        fp["missing"] = True
+        return fp
+    try:
+        raw = json.loads(p.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    except Exception:
+        # Unreadable / corrupt / mid-write: keep the stat-based fingerprint.
+        # Strictly no less safe than the pre-fix behaviour (every write still
+        # invalidates) for this rare path only.
+        fp["mtime_ns"] = st.st_mtime_ns
+        fp["size"] = st.st_size
+        fp["semantic"] = "unparsed-fallback"
+        return fp
+    try:
+        # The recursive strip can raise (e.g. RecursionError on a pathologically
+        # deep JSON tree) — keep it inside the fallback try so any transform
+        # failure degrades to the stat fingerprint rather than 500ing /api/models.
+        stripped = _strip_volatile_codex_cache_fields(raw)
+        encoded = json.dumps(
+            stripped,
+            sort_keys=True,
+            separators=(",", ":"),
+            ensure_ascii=True,
+            default=str,
+        ).encode("utf-8")
+        fp["semantic_sha256"] = hashlib.sha256(encoded).hexdigest()
+    except Exception:
+        fp["mtime_ns"] = st.st_mtime_ns
+        fp["size"] = st.st_size
+        fp["semantic"] = "encode-fallback"
+    return fp
+
+
 def _models_cache_catalog_fingerprint() -> dict:
     """Return non-secret model-catalog identity metadata for cache invalidation.
 
@@ -6191,6 +6282,13 @@ def _models_cache_catalog_fingerprint() -> dict:
     deterministic so a server restart after catalog changes does not keep
     serving an otherwise-valid persisted models_cache.json until the 24h TTL
     expires (#2443).
+
+    The Codex axis uses a *content* fingerprint that excludes the refresh
+    timestamp fields (see _codex_models_cache_fingerprint): Codex rewrites
+    ~/.codex/models_cache.json on its own timer, bumping mtime_ns + size while
+    the model payload stays identical, so a stat-based fingerprint invalidated
+    the 24h cache on every Codex refresh and the next session visit paid a live
+    rebuild (#7540).
     """
     catalog_payload = {
         "provider_models": _PROVIDER_MODELS,
@@ -6211,7 +6309,7 @@ def _models_cache_catalog_fingerprint() -> dict:
     codex_home = Path(os.getenv("CODEX_HOME", "").strip() or (HOME / ".codex")).expanduser()
     return {
         "provider_catalog_sha256": provider_catalog_sha,
-        "codex_models_cache": _models_cache_file_fingerprint(codex_home / "models_cache.json"),
+        "codex_models_cache": _codex_models_cache_fingerprint(codex_home / "models_cache.json"),
     }
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_issue7540_codex_catalog_fingerprint.py b/tests/test_issue7540_codex_catalog_fingerprint.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6449948d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_issue7540_codex_catalog_fingerprint.py
@@ -0,0 +1,386 @@
+"""Regression tests for issue #7540 — Codex models_cache.json churn must not
+bust a valid /api/models catalog cache and force a live rebuild on session open.
+
+Bug shape
+---------
+``_models_cache_source_fingerprint()`` covers the small local catalogs the
+catalog depends on, including Codex's ``~/.codex/models_cache.json``, and
+fingerprinted that file by ``mtime_ns`` + ``size``
+(``_models_cache_file_fingerprint``, #2443).  Codex rewrites that file on its
+own refresh timer, and each rewrite bumps both stat fields even when the model
+payload is byte-identical — only ``fetched_at`` / ``updated_at`` move.  So:
+
+    Codex refresh -> fingerprint differs
+    -> ``_get_fresh_memory_models_cache()`` rejects the warm 24h snapshot
+    -> the session visit (#4756) then finds ``_is_loadable_disk_cache()``
+       rejecting the disk snapshot for the same reason
+    -> ``get_available_models(force_refresh=True)`` -> serial live provider
+       probes on the session-open path (the multi-second hang in the report).
+
+Fix (maintainer recommendation on #7540: semantic fingerprint)
+--------------------------------------------------------------
+``_codex_models_cache_fingerprint()`` hashes the file's *content* with the
+refresh-timestamp keys deny-listed, mirroring the auth.json fix
+(``_auth_store_semantic_fingerprint``, RCA t_16551f61).  Metadata churn is
+invisible to the fingerprint, while anything that actually feeds the Codex
+model list we merge still changes it.
+
+These tests are INVARIANTS, not change-detectors:
+
+  * churn-immune           — a ``fetched_at``-only rewrite keeps the
+                             fingerprint identical, keeps a previously-valid
+                             disk cache loadable, and keeps a session visit
+                             served from memory (no live rebuild).
+  * real-change-invalidates — client_version / etag / models[] / an unknown
+                             future field each flip the fingerprint AND reject
+                             the previously-valid disk cache, so the fix cannot
+                             over-stabilise into serving a stale catalog.
+"""
+
+import copy
+import json
+import os
+import time
+
+import pytest
+
+import api.config as config
+
+
+_TS_1 = "2026-09-13T12:00:00+00:00"
+_TS_2 = "2026-09-13T15:45:11+00:00"
+
+
+class _LiveRebuildReached(BaseException):
+    """Sentinel raised if a session visit escalates to a live provider rebuild.
+
+    Deliberately NOT an ``Exception``: the session-visit path catches broad
+    ``Exception`` around its ``force_refresh`` call and falls back to a stale
+    on-disk snapshot, which would mask the regression.
+    """
+
+
+def _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_1, *, client_version="0.51.0",
+                 etag='"codex-etag-1"', models=None, extra_top=None):
+    """Build a realistic ~/.codex/models_cache.json payload."""
+    if models is None:
+        models = [
+            {"slug": "gpt-5.3-codex", "visibility": "list", "priority": 1},
+            {"slug": "gpt-5.1-codex-mini", "visibility": "list", "priority": 2},
+        ]
+    payload = {
+        "fetched_at": fetched_at,
+        "client_version": client_version,
+        "etag": etag,
+        "models": models,
+    }
+    if extra_top:
+        payload.update(extra_top)
+    return payload
+
+
+def _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, payload) -> "os.PathLike":
+    """Write the Codex cache into an isolated CODEX_HOME and point config at it."""
+    codex_home = tmp_path / "codex_home"
+    codex_home.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    cache_path = codex_home / "models_cache.json"
+    cache_path.write_text(json.dumps(payload, indent=2), encoding="utf-8")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("CODEX_HOME", str(codex_home))
+    return cache_path
+
+
+def _rewrite(path, payload):
+    """Rewrite the Codex cache and deterministically bump its mtime.
+
+    ``os.utime`` is used instead of ``time.sleep`` so the mtime_ns change is
+    guaranteed on every filesystem/timestamp-resolution combination — the test
+    must prove the *old* stat fingerprint churned, not rely on clock luck.
+    """
+    path.write_text(json.dumps(payload, indent=2), encoding="utf-8")
+    bumped = path.stat().st_mtime + 7.0
+    os.utime(path, (bumped, bumped))
+    return path
+
+
+def _catalog_payload():
+    return {
+        "active_provider": "codex",
+        "default_model": "gpt-5.3-codex",
+        "configured_model_badges": {"gpt-5.3-codex": "Codex"},
+        "groups": [{"name": "Codex", "models": ["gpt-5.3-codex"]}],
+    }
+
+
+# ── churn-immunity invariant ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+def test_codex_fetched_at_only_rewrite_keeps_fingerprint_identical(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Codex's own refresh moves ``fetched_at`` only — same models, same size."""
+    p = _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_1))
+    fp_before = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p)
+    st_before = p.stat()
+
+    _rewrite(p, _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_2))
+    fp_after = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p)
+    st_after = p.stat()
+
+    # Pre-condition: this really is the mtime/size churn from the report — the
+    # old stat-based fingerprint WOULD have changed.
+    assert (st_before.st_mtime_ns, st_before.st_size) != (
+        st_after.st_mtime_ns, st_after.st_size), "test setup: rewrite must churn the stat fields"
+    # Invariant: the semantic fingerprint does not.
+    assert fp_before == fp_after, (
+        "A Codex refresh that only moves fetched_at must NOT change the catalog "
+        "fingerprint (#7540) — otherwise the 24h cache is rejected and the next "
+        "session visit pays a live rebuild"
+    )
+    assert "semantic_sha256" in fp_before
+
+
+def test_unsorted_codex_payload_key_order_keeps_fingerprint_identical(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Key order is not semantic: a reordered but otherwise identical file must
+    not bust the cache."""
+    p = _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache())
+    fp_before = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p)
+
+    reordered = {
+        "models": _codex_cache()["models"],
+        "etag": _codex_cache()["etag"],
+        "client_version": _codex_cache()["client_version"],
+        "fetched_at": _codex_cache()["fetched_at"],
+    }
+    _rewrite(p, reordered)
+
+    assert config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p) == fp_before
+
+
+def test_codex_metadata_churn_does_not_reject_valid_disk_models_cache(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """End-to-end: the disk snapshot a warm server wrote must still load after
+    Codex refreshed its own cache."""
+    p = _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_1))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(config, "_models_cache_path", tmp_path / "models_cache.json")
+    config._save_models_cache_to_disk(_catalog_payload())
+    assert config._load_models_cache_from_disk() is not None
+
+    _rewrite(p, _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_2))
+
+    assert config._load_models_cache_from_disk() is not None, (
+        "Codex metadata churn must NOT reject a valid on-disk models cache "
+        "(#7540) — that rejection is what triggers the live rebuild"
+    )
+
+
+def test_session_visit_after_codex_refresh_needs_no_live_rebuild(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """The user-visible symptom: open a conversation after Codex refreshed.
+
+    The warm in-memory snapshot must still be served; a rebuild here is the
+    multi-second session-open hang in the report.
+    """
+    _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_1))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(config, "_models_cache_path", tmp_path / "models_cache.json")
+    payload = _catalog_payload()
+    config._save_models_cache_to_disk(payload)
+
+    # Warm the memory cache the way a normal /api/models call leaves it.
+    monkeypatch.setattr(config, "_available_models_cache", copy.deepcopy(payload))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(config, "_available_models_cache_ts", time.monotonic())
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        config,
+        "_available_models_cache_source_fingerprint",
+        config._models_cache_source_fingerprint(),
+    )
+
+    # Codex's refresh timer fires between two session opens.
+    _rewrite(tmp_path / "codex_home" / "models_cache.json",
+             _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_2))
+
+    def _boom(**_kwargs):
+        # BaseException, not Exception: get_available_models_for_session_visit
+        # swallows exceptions from its force_refresh path and falls back to the
+        # on-disk stale snapshot, so an AssertionError sentinel would be eaten
+        # and the test would pass while quietly taking the slow path.
+        raise _LiveRebuildReached(
+            "session visit fell through to the live rebuild: Codex fetched_at "
+            "churn invalidated a still-valid catalog cache (#7540)"
+        )
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(config, "get_available_models", _boom)
+
+    result = config.get_available_models_for_session_visit()
+
+    assert result is not None
+    assert result["default_model"] == "gpt-5.3-codex"
+
+
+def test_warm_memory_cache_survives_codex_churn(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Isolates the invalidation point itself (the memory-cache rejection that
+    precedes the disk load and the force_refresh)."""
+    _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_1))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(config, "_models_cache_path", tmp_path / "models_cache.json")
+    payload = _catalog_payload()
+    config._save_models_cache_to_disk(payload)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(config, "_available_models_cache", copy.deepcopy(payload))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(config, "_available_models_cache_ts", time.monotonic())
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        config,
+        "_available_models_cache_source_fingerprint",
+        config._models_cache_source_fingerprint(),
+    )
+
+    _rewrite(tmp_path / "codex_home" / "models_cache.json",
+             _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_2))
+
+    assert config._get_fresh_memory_models_cache(time.monotonic()) is not None, (
+        "The warm in-memory catalog cache must survive a Codex fetched_at-only "
+        "refresh (#7540)"
+    )
+
+
+# ── real-change-invalidates invariant ───────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+def test_new_codex_model_changes_fingerprint(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    p = _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache())
+    fp_before = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p)
+
+    models = _codex_cache()["models"] + [
+        {"slug": "gpt-5.4-codex", "visibility": "list", "priority": 3},
+    ]
+    _rewrite(p, _codex_cache(models=models))
+
+    assert config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p) != fp_before, (
+        "A new Codex model changes the merged catalog and MUST bust the cache"
+    )
+
+
+def test_model_visibility_change_changes_fingerprint(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """``visibility`` gates whether the slug is surfaced — a hide/show flip is a
+    real catalog change at unchanged file size."""
+    p = _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache())
+    fp_before = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p)
+
+    models = copy.deepcopy(_codex_cache()["models"])
+    models[0]["visibility"] = "hidden"
+    _rewrite(p, _codex_cache(models=models))
+
+    assert config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p) != fp_before
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "changed",
+    [
+        {"client_version": "0.52.0"},
+        {"etag": '"codex-etag-2"'},
+        {"models": [{"slug": "gpt-5.3-codex", "priority": 9}]},
+    ],
+)
+def test_codex_catalog_fields_stay_in_fingerprint(tmp_path, monkeypatch, changed):
+    """Everything that actually feeds the Codex model list stays covered."""
+    p = _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache())
+    fp_before = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p)
+
+    _rewrite(p, _codex_cache(**changed))
+
+    assert config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p) != fp_before
+
+
+def test_unknown_codex_field_stays_in_fingerprint(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Deny-list (not allow-list) safety: an unknown field is NOT stripped, so a
+    hypothetical future model-gating field still busts the cache."""
+    p = _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch,
+                     _codex_cache(extra_top={"some_future_model_gate": "v1"}))
+    fp_before = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p)
+
+    _rewrite(p, _codex_cache(extra_top={"some_future_model_gate": "v2"}))
+
+    assert config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p) != fp_before, (
+        "An unknown (non-deny-listed) field must remain in the fingerprint — the "
+        "deny-list must fail safe toward over-invalidation"
+    )
+
+
+def test_real_codex_change_still_rejects_previously_valid_disk_cache(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Anti-over-stabilisation mirror of the churn test: a disk snapshot that WAS
+    valid must be rejected once a genuine Codex model change lands."""
+    p = _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache())
+    monkeypatch.setattr(config, "_models_cache_path", tmp_path / "models_cache.json")
+    config._save_models_cache_to_disk(_catalog_payload())
+    assert config._load_models_cache_from_disk() is not None
+
+    _rewrite(p, _codex_cache(client_version="0.52.0"))
+
+    assert config._load_models_cache_from_disk() is None, (
+        "A real Codex catalog change MUST reject the stale disk cache — the fix "
+        "must not over-stabilise into serving wrong data"
+    )
+
+
+# ── helper unit guards ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+def test_strip_volatile_codex_fields_is_pure_and_recursive():
+    src = {
+        "fetched_at": "ts",
+        "client_version": "0.51.0",
+        "models": [{"slug": "gpt-5.3-codex", "updated_at": "ts", "priority": 1}],
+    }
+    snapshot = copy.deepcopy(src)
+    out = config._strip_volatile_codex_cache_fields(src)
+
+    assert src == snapshot  # input untouched (pure)
+    assert out == {
+        "client_version": "0.51.0",
+        "models": [{"slug": "gpt-5.3-codex", "priority": 1}],
+    }
+
+
+def test_unparseable_codex_cache_falls_back_to_stat_fingerprint(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Corrupt / mid-write file: fall back to the old stat fingerprint instead of
+    silently pinning a hash of garbage — behaviour is never less safe than the
+    stat-based version, and a later good file still invalidates."""
+    p = _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache())
+    p.write_text('{"models": [', encoding="utf-8")
+
+    fp = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p)
+    assert fp.get("semantic") == "unparsed-fallback"
+    assert "mtime_ns" in fp and "size" in fp
+
+    _rewrite(p, _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_2))
+    assert config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p) != fp
+
+
+def test_missing_codex_cache_fingerprint_is_stable_and_marked(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setenv("CODEX_HOME", str(tmp_path / "absent"))
+    fp = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(tmp_path / "absent" / "models_cache.json")
+
+    assert fp.get("missing") is True
+    assert config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(
+        tmp_path / "absent" / "models_cache.json") == fp
+
+
+def test_deeply_nested_codex_cache_degrades_to_stat_fallback_without_crashing(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """A strip failure (e.g. RecursionError on a deep tree) must not 500 /api/models.
+
+    The recursive volatile-field strip runs inside the encode try/except, so if
+    it raises (RecursionError on a pathologically deep JSON tree, or any other
+    error) the fingerprint degrades to the stat-based fallback instead of the
+    exception escaping and turning /api/models into an HTTP 500. (#7540 gate
+    finding.) We force the strip to raise directly so the guard is exercised
+    deterministically regardless of the ambient recursion depth.
+    """
+    p = _write_codex(tmp_path, monkeypatch, _codex_cache(fetched_at=_TS_1))
+
+    def _boom(_obj):
+        raise RecursionError("simulated deep-tree strip overflow")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(config, "_strip_volatile_codex_cache_fields", _boom)
+
+    # Must not raise; must degrade to the stat-based fingerprint.
+    fp = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p)
+    fp2 = config._codex_models_cache_fingerprint(p)
+
+    assert isinstance(fp, dict)
+    assert fp.get("semantic") == "encode-fallback"
+    assert "mtime_ns" in fp and "size" in fp
+    assert "semantic_sha256" not in fp  # the content hash was NOT produced
+    assert fp2 == fp  # stable across repeated calls on the unchanged file