Best possible solution:

Merge the narrow flag rename after normal maintainer checks, keeping the Codex dependency-specific hook contract inside the Codex plugin.

Do we have a high-confidence way to reproduce the issue?

Yes, source-level reproduction is high confidence: current main generates features.codex_hooks, while the pinned upstream Codex contract marks hooks as the stable key and codex_hooks as a legacy alias. I did not run an installed Settings UI repro in this read-only review.

Is this the best way to solve the issue?

Yes. Replacing only the generated native hook relay feature key and updating the affected tests is the narrowest maintainable fix for the upstream Codex feature-flag contract.

What I checked:

• Current main still emits the legacy key: On current main, buildCodexNativeHookRelayConfig() emits features.codex_hooks: true and the disabled config emits features.codex_hooks: false. (extensions/codex/src/app-server/native-hook-relay.ts:30, a099acc557e0)
• Config reaches Codex thread start/resume path: The run attempt builds native hook relay config and merges it into the thread config passed to the Codex app-server lifecycle. (extensions/codex/src/app-server/run-attempt.ts:727, a099acc557e0)
• Dependency contract checked: OpenClaw pins @openai/codex 0.130.0, and upstream Codex rust-v0.130.0 declares the canonical Codex hooks feature key as hooks, stable, default-enabled; codex_hooks is only a legacy alias. (extensions/codex/package.json:12, a099acc557e0)
• PR scope is focused: The live PR file list contains only five Codex app-server source/test files, with 23 additions and 23 deletions replacing the feature flag key in the generated config and assertions. (b1222c0f73ce)
• Protected maintainer handling applies: The live PR is open, mergeable, non-draft, and labeled maintainer; the provided context identifies the author association as MEMBER. (b1222c0f73ce)
• Related search did not supersede this PR: Search found the open native relay availability issue at Native hook relay remains unavailable after gateway restart and hooks report 5/5 ready #73723, but that report concerns missing relay registrations after restart rather than the deprecated Codex feature flag key.

Likely related people:

• pashpashpash: GitHub commit history shows this user introduced the Codex native hook relay files and the original features.codex_hooks config in the native relay bridge. (role: introduced behavior; confidence: high; commits: 7a958d920c88; files: extensions/codex/src/app-server/native-hook-relay.ts, extensions/codex/src/app-server/run-attempt.ts, extensions/codex/src/app-server/native-hook-relay.test.ts)
• vincentkoc: Recent history shows this user extended the native relay event set with before_agent_finalize / hooks.Stop behavior in the same files. (role: adjacent feature contributor; confidence: medium; commits: f3accc753cf2; files: extensions/codex/src/app-server/native-hook-relay.ts, extensions/codex/src/app-server/native-hook-relay.test.ts, extensions/codex/src/app-server/run-attempt.test.ts)
• steipete: Recent Codex app-server history includes trimming Codex internal exports and nearby app-server runtime work touching the affected native relay and run-attempt surfaces. (role: recent area contributor; confidence: medium; commits: 1c76065ccd29, f12e9c41fa15; files: extensions/codex/src/app-server/native-hook-relay.ts, extensions/codex/src/app-server/run-attempt.ts)

Remaining risk / open question:

• I did not independently run the installed Codex Settings UI path; the PR body also notes that installed-package Settings was not manually reopened.

Codex review notes: model gpt-5.5, reasoning high; reviewed against a099acc557e0.