diff --git a/docs/system-architecture/target-adapters.md b/docs/system-architecture/target-adapters.md
index 6d785128..a2b11eb4 100644
--- a/docs/system-architecture/target-adapters.md
+++ b/docs/system-architecture/target-adapters.md
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ export function resolveTargetType(
 
   // 4. Check profile config
   if (profileConfig?.target) {
-    // Persisted targets intentionally exclude runtime-only codex.
+    // Persisted targets are validated before profile configuration is saved.
     return profileConfig.target;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/commands/api-command/help.ts b/src/commands/api-command/help.ts
index 2da106d2..1c13d2e5 100644
--- a/src/commands/api-command/help.ts
+++ b/src/commands/api-command/help.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ export async function showApiCommandHelp(writeLine: HelpWriter = console.log): P
     `  ${color('--1m / --no-1m', 'command')}         Write or clear [1m] on compatible Claude mappings`
   );
   writeLine(
-    `  ${color('--target <cli>', 'command')}       Default target: claude or droid (create)`
+    `  ${color('--target <cli>', 'command')}       Default target: claude, droid, or codex (create)`
   );
   writeLine(`  ${color('--register', 'command')}           Register discovered orphan settings`);
   writeLine(`  ${color('--json', 'command')}               JSON output for discover command`);
diff --git a/src/targets/target-metadata.ts b/src/targets/target-metadata.ts
index 035ba432..00b2f60c 100644
--- a/src/targets/target-metadata.ts
+++ b/src/targets/target-metadata.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export const TARGET_METADATA: Record<TargetType, TargetMetadata> = {
     displayName: 'Codex CLI',
     runtimeAliases: ['ccs-codex', 'ccsx', 'ccsxp'],
     legacyAliasEnvVar: 'CCS_CODEX_ALIASES',
-    persistedTarget: false,
+    persistedTarget: true,
   },
 } satisfies Record<TargetType, TargetMetadata>;
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/api/profile-reader.test.ts b/tests/unit/api/profile-reader.test.ts
index f677b2a1..c7bcc24f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/api/profile-reader.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/api/profile-reader.test.ts
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ describe('profile reader target sanitization', () => {
     }
   });
 
-  it('normalizes legacy stored codex targets back to claude for profiles and variants', async () => {
+  it('normalizes legacy invalid stored targets back to claude for profiles and variants', async () => {
     const ccsDir = getScopedCcsDir();
     fs.mkdirSync(ccsDir, { recursive: true });
     fs.writeFileSync(
@@ -64,12 +64,12 @@ describe('profile reader target sanitization', () => {
       JSON.stringify(
         {
           profiles: { demo: '~/.ccs/demo.settings.json' },
-          profile_targets: { demo: 'codex' },
+          profile_targets: { demo: 'glm' },
           cliproxy: {
             routed: {
               provider: 'codex',
               settings: '~/.ccs/routed.settings.json',
-              target: 'codex',
+              target: 'glm',
             },
           },
         },
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ describe('profile reader target sanitization', () => {
     expect(result.variants[0]?.target).toBe('claude');
   });
 
-  it('normalizes unified stored codex targets back to claude for profiles and variants', async () => {
+  it('normalizes unified invalid stored targets back to claude for profiles and variants', async () => {
     const ccsDir = getScopedCcsDir();
     fs.mkdirSync(ccsDir, { recursive: true });
     process.env.CCS_UNIFIED_CONFIG = '1';
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ describe('profile reader target sanitization', () => {
         '  demo:',
         '    type: api',
         '    settings: ~/.ccs/demo.settings.json',
-        '    target: codex',
+        '    target: glm',
         'cliproxy:',
         '  oauth_accounts: {}',
         '  providers: []',
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ describe('profile reader target sanitization', () => {
         '    routed:',
         '      provider: codex',
         '      settings: ~/.ccs/routed.settings.json',
-        '      target: codex',
+        '      target: glm',
         '',
       ].join('\n'),
       'utf8'
diff --git a/tests/unit/commands/api-command-args.test.ts b/tests/unit/commands/api-command-args.test.ts
index 83387831..9eebee5d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/commands/api-command-args.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/commands/api-command-args.test.ts
@@ -71,15 +71,15 @@ describe('api-command arg parser', () => {
 
     expect(parsed.target).toBeUndefined();
     expect(parsed.errors).toEqual([
-      'Invalid --target value "invalid-target". Use: claude or droid',
+      'Invalid --target value "invalid-target". Use: claude, droid, or codex',
     ]);
   });
 
-  test('rejects runtime-only codex as a persisted API target value', () => {
+  test('accepts codex as a persisted API target value', () => {
     const parsed = parseApiCommandArgs(['my-api', '--target', 'codex']);
 
-    expect(parsed.target).toBeUndefined();
-    expect(parsed.errors).toEqual(['Invalid --target value "codex". Use: claude or droid']);
+    expect(parsed.target).toBe('codex');
+    expect(parsed.errors).toEqual([]);
   });
 
   test('collects missing-value error for --target with no value', () => {
diff --git a/tests/unit/commands/cliproxy-variant-args.test.ts b/tests/unit/commands/cliproxy-variant-args.test.ts
index a810bceb..5e3f514c 100644
--- a/tests/unit/commands/cliproxy-variant-args.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/commands/cliproxy-variant-args.test.ts
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ describe('cliproxy variant arg parser', () => {
     expect(parsed.errors).toEqual(['Missing value for --target']);
   });
 
-  test('rejects runtime-only codex as a persisted variant target value', () => {
+  test('accepts codex as a persisted variant target value', () => {
     const parsed = parseProfileArgs(['variant-a', '--target', 'codex']);
 
-    expect(parsed.target).toBeUndefined();
-    expect(parsed.errors).toEqual(['Invalid --target value "codex". Use: claude or droid']);
+    expect(parsed.target).toBe('codex');
+    expect(parsed.errors).toEqual([]);
   });
 
   test('uses last --target value when repeated', () => {
diff --git a/tests/unit/targets/target-resolver.test.ts b/tests/unit/targets/target-resolver.test.ts
index 72bfbdaa..172da6e0 100644
--- a/tests/unit/targets/target-resolver.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/targets/target-resolver.test.ts
@@ -68,9 +68,9 @@ describe('resolveTargetType', () => {
     expect(resolveTargetType([], { target: 'invalid-target' as never })).toBe('claude');
   });
 
-  it('should ignore runtime-only codex target when it appears in persisted profile config', () => {
+  it('should use codex from persisted profile config', () => {
     process.argv = ['node', 'ccs'];
-    expect(resolveTargetType([], { target: 'codex' })).toBe('claude');
+    expect(resolveTargetType([], { target: 'codex' })).toBe('codex');
   });
 
   it('should prioritize --target flag over profile config', () => {
diff --git a/tests/unit/web-server/target-parse-routes.test.ts b/tests/unit/web-server/target-parse-routes.test.ts
index b0446dab..d1942308 100644
--- a/tests/unit/web-server/target-parse-routes.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/web-server/target-parse-routes.test.ts
@@ -7,16 +7,16 @@ describe('route target parsing', () => {
   it('accepts valid target values', () => {
     expect(parseProfileTarget('claude')).toBe('claude');
     expect(parseProfileTarget('DROID')).toBe('droid');
+    expect(parseProfileTarget('codex')).toBe('codex');
     expect(parseVariantTarget(' claude ')).toBe('claude');
     expect(parseVariantTarget('droid')).toBe('droid');
+    expect(parseVariantTarget(' codex ')).toBe('codex');
   });
 
   it('returns null for invalid target values', () => {
     expect(parseProfileTarget('glm')).toBeNull();
-    expect(parseProfileTarget('codex')).toBeNull();
     expect(parseProfileTarget('')).toBeNull();
     expect(parseVariantTarget('factory')).toBeNull();
-    expect(parseVariantTarget('codex')).toBeNull();
     expect(parseVariantTarget('  ')).toBeNull();
   });