diff --git a/.agents/skills/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job b/.agents/skills/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job
index fe26298..49d9751 100755
--- a/.agents/skills/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job
+++ b/.agents/skills/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job/multi-agent-mux-delegate-job
@@ -585,6 +585,17 @@ _inject_acknowledged() {
   done
 }
 
+# ISSUE-14: herdr's agent_status is blind for some agents (codex stays `idle`
+# for the whole turn), so "still working" must also accept the pane's own busy
+# token - the same evidence send_keys_safe uses to confirm delivery. Without it
+# a codex review longer than the idle timeout was closed as deadline_timeout
+# mid-turn and its eventual `completed` refused.
+_agent_still_working() {
+  local sess="$1" target="$2"
+  [ "$(_sks_agent_status "$sess" "$target")" = "working" ] && return 0
+  _pane_tail "$sess" 8 2>/dev/null | grep -Fq "esc to interrupt"
+}
+
 _map_sub_rc() {
   local sub_rc="$1" job_id="$2"
   local job_status="running"
@@ -661,23 +672,12 @@ finalize_unfinished() {
     local sess="${target_sess#herdr:}"
     local target_agent
     target_agent=$(_sanitize_herdr_agent_name "$sess")
-    local agent_st=""
+    local still_working=0
     if [ "$sess" != "human" ] && [ -n "$sess" ]; then
-      local raw_st
-      raw_st="$(_sks_herdr agent get "$target_agent" 2>/dev/null || _sks_herdr agent get "$sess" 2>/dev/null || true)"
-      if [ -n "$raw_st" ]; then
-        agent_st="$("$(_delegate_py_bin)" -c '
-import sys, json
-try:
-    d = json.loads(sys.stdin.read())
-    print((d.get("result", {}).get("agent", {}) or {}).get("agent_status", "") or "")
-except Exception:
-    print("")
-' <<< "$raw_st" 2>/dev/null || true)"
-      fi
+      _agent_still_working "$sess" "$target_agent" && still_working=1
     fi
 
-    if [ "$agent_st" = "working" ]; then
+    if [ "$still_working" = "1" ]; then
       local now elapsed remaining
       now=$(date +%s)
       elapsed=$(( now - ${START_TIME:-now} ))
@@ -692,19 +692,7 @@ except Exception:
           [ "$disk_st" = "completed" ] && return 0
           break
         fi
-        local cur_raw cur_st=""
-        cur_raw="$(_sks_herdr agent get "$target_agent" 2>/dev/null || _sks_herdr agent get "$sess" 2>/dev/null || true)"
-        if [ -n "$cur_raw" ]; then
-          cur_st="$("$(_delegate_py_bin)" -c '
-import sys, json
-try:
-    d = json.loads(sys.stdin.read())
-    print((d.get("result", {}).get("agent", {}) or {}).get("agent_status", "") or "")
-except Exception:
-    print("")
-' <<< "$cur_raw" 2>/dev/null || true)"
-        fi
-        if [ "$cur_st" != "working" ]; then
+        if ! _agent_still_working "$sess" "$target_agent"; then
           sleep 1
           disk_st="$(_disk_status "$job_id")"
           if [ "$disk_st" = "completed" ] || [ "$disk_st" = "error" ] || [ "$disk_st" = "cancelled" ]; then
diff --git a/tests/test_issue14_delivery_ack.py b/tests/test_issue14_delivery_ack.py
index 219740a..99ba462 100644
--- a/tests/test_issue14_delivery_ack.py
+++ b/tests/test_issue14_delivery_ack.py
@@ -240,3 +240,65 @@ def test_wrapper_honours_registry_ack_over_unconfirmed_inject(tmp_path, mock_her
         assert "agent_blocked" not in events_log.read_text(), events_log.read_text()
     job_data = json.loads((reg_dir / f"{jid}.json").read_text())
     assert job_data.get("status") != "pending"
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# wrapper: idle-timeout grace (R1) must see a working codex through the pane
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+def test_wrapper_idle_timeout_grace_accepts_pane_busy_token(tmp_path, mock_herdr):
+    """herdr keeps reporting `idle` for a codex-like agent that is visibly
+    working (busy token in the pane). When the subscriber idles out, the
+    wrapper must keep waiting for the on-disk result instead of closing the
+    job as deadline_timeout mid-turn; the agent then completes out of band."""
+    reg_dir = tmp_path / "jobs"
+    reg_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    state_file = Path(mock_herdr)
+    state = json.loads(state_file.read_text())
+    # `timeout` from agent prompt keeps agent_status idle; the mock appends the
+    # busy token to the pane on submission, exactly like a codex turn.
+    state["agents"]["slow-codex"] = {
+        "agent": "codex",
+        "agent_status": "idle",
+        "prompt_wait_result": "timeout",
+        "buffer": "Ready",
+    }
+    state_file.write_text(json.dumps(state, indent=2))
+
+    env = _base_env(tmp_path, {"SKS_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS": "500", "SKS_DELIVERY_GRACE_S": "5"})
+    proc = subprocess.Popen(
+        [
+            "bash", str(WRAPPER), "submit",
+            "--agent", "codex",
+            "--agent-session", "herdr:slow-codex",
+            "--prompt", "issue 14 idle grace",
+            "--registry-dir", str(reg_dir),
+            "--workdir", str(tmp_path),
+            "--timeout", "40",
+            "--idle-timeout", "3",
+        ],
+        cwd=str(tmp_path), env=env, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, text=True,
+    )
+
+    jid = ""
+    for _ in range(100):
+        job_files = list(reg_dir.glob("*.json"))
+        if job_files:
+            jid = job_files[0].stem
+            break
+        time.sleep(0.1)
+    assert jid, "job was not registered"
+
+    # Well past the 3 s idle timeout, the agent finishes.
+    time.sleep(14)
+    done = subprocess.run(
+        [sys.executable, str(REGISTRY_PY), "--registry-dir", str(reg_dir),
+         "update", "--job", jid, "--status", "completed"],
+        capture_output=True, text=True, cwd=str(tmp_path), env=env,
+    )
+    assert done.returncode == 0, done.stderr
+
+    stdout, stderr = proc.communicate(timeout=90)
+    job_data = json.loads((reg_dir / f"{jid}.json").read_text())
+    assert job_data.get("status") == "completed", f"status={job_data.get('status')}\n{stdout}\n{stderr}"
+    assert proc.returncode == 0, f"expected rc=0 after the working grace, got {proc.returncode}\n{stdout}\n{stderr}"