diff --git a/docs/plugins/codex-harness.md b/docs/plugins/codex-harness.md
index 583d69c47eb..b863cfcc633 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/codex-harness.md
+++ b/docs/plugins/codex-harness.md
@@ -263,7 +263,8 @@ By default, the plugin starts Codex locally with:
 codex app-server --listen stdio://
 ```
 
-You can keep that default and only tune Codex native policy:
+By default, OpenClaw asks Codex to request native approvals. You can tune that
+policy further:
 
 ```json5
 {
@@ -317,7 +318,7 @@ Supported `appServer` fields:
 | `authToken`         | unset                                    | Bearer token for WebSocket transport.                                    |
 | `headers`           | `{}`                                     | Extra WebSocket headers.                                                 |
 | `requestTimeoutMs`  | `60000`                                  | Timeout for app-server control-plane calls.                              |
-| `approvalPolicy`    | `"never"`                                | Native Codex approval policy sent to thread start/resume/turn.           |
+| `approvalPolicy`    | `"on-request"`                           | Native Codex approval policy sent to thread start/resume/turn.           |
 | `sandbox`           | `"workspace-write"`                      | Native Codex sandbox mode sent to thread start/resume.                   |
 | `approvalsReviewer` | `"user"`                                 | Use `"guardian_subagent"` to let Codex guardian review native approvals. |
 | `serviceTier`       | unset                                    | Optional Codex service tier, for example `"priority"`.                   |
diff --git a/extensions/codex/openclaw.plugin.json b/extensions/codex/openclaw.plugin.json
index 42da86b5e95..120885b67e4 100644
--- a/extensions/codex/openclaw.plugin.json
+++ b/extensions/codex/openclaw.plugin.json
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
           "approvalPolicy": {
             "type": "string",
             "enum": ["never", "on-request", "on-failure", "untrusted"],
-            "default": "never"
+            "default": "on-request"
           },
           "sandbox": {
             "type": "string",
diff --git a/extensions/codex/src/app-server/config.test.ts b/extensions/codex/src/app-server/config.test.ts
index 92900d5ea5e..0c1a8a8dae3 100644
--- a/extensions/codex/src/app-server/config.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/codex/src/app-server/config.test.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,21 @@ describe("Codex app-server config", () => {
     ).toThrow("appServer.url is required");
   });
 
+  it("defaults native Codex approvals to on-request", () => {
+    const runtime = resolveCodexAppServerRuntimeOptions({
+      pluginConfig: {},
+      env: {},
+    });
+
+    expect(runtime).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        approvalPolicy: "on-request",
+        sandbox: "workspace-write",
+        approvalsReviewer: "user",
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   it("keeps runtime config keys aligned with manifest schema and UI hints", async () => {
     const manifest = JSON.parse(
       await fs.readFile(new URL("../../openclaw.plugin.json", import.meta.url), "utf8"),
diff --git a/extensions/codex/src/app-server/config.ts b/extensions/codex/src/app-server/config.ts
index 89bdd9f1862..d7f91448e34 100644
--- a/extensions/codex/src/app-server/config.ts
+++ b/extensions/codex/src/app-server/config.ts
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ export function resolveCodexAppServerRuntimeOptions(
     approvalPolicy:
       resolveApprovalPolicy(config.approvalPolicy) ??
       resolveApprovalPolicy(env.OPENCLAW_CODEX_APP_SERVER_APPROVAL_POLICY) ??
-      "never",
+      "on-request",
     sandbox:
       resolveSandbox(config.sandbox) ??
       resolveSandbox(env.OPENCLAW_CODEX_APP_SERVER_SANDBOX) ??
diff --git a/extensions/codex/src/app-server/run-attempt.test.ts b/extensions/codex/src/app-server/run-attempt.test.ts
index 5e37f5e4790..786bf7efded 100644
--- a/extensions/codex/src/app-server/run-attempt.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/codex/src/app-server/run-attempt.test.ts
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ describe("runCodexAppServerAttempt", () => {
       threadId: "thread-existing",
       model: "gpt-5.4-codex",
       modelProvider: "openai",
-      approvalPolicy: "never",
+      approvalPolicy: "on-request",
       approvalsReviewer: "user",
       sandbox: "workspace-write",
       persistExtendedHistory: true,