diff --git a/openapi.yaml b/openapi.yaml
index d959224b..c6a45277 100644
--- a/openapi.yaml
+++ b/openapi.yaml
@@ -8981,7 +8981,7 @@ paths:
       tags:
         - CodexConfig
       summary: Read a single file body
-      description: 'Read-only. Returns the body of one file. Strict path containment: the resolved absolute path must live under CODEX_HOME, the project .codex dir, or (only for a file literally named AGENTS.md) the project root.'
+      description: 'Read-only, no filesystem side effect. Returns the body of one file. Strict path containment: the resolved absolute path must live under CODEX_HOME, the project .codex dir, or (only for a file literally named AGENTS.md) the project root, and must not escape that root through a symlink. Error messages never reveal what does or does not exist outside the root.'
       operationId: codexConfigGetFile
       parameters:
         - name: path
@@ -9012,7 +9012,16 @@ paths:
               example:
                 error:
                   code: READ_DENIED
-                  message: path is outside allowed roots
+                  message: path escapes the allowed root
+        '404':
+          content:
+            application/json:
+              schema:
+                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
+              example:
+                error:
+                  code: NOT_FOUND
+                  message: file not found
     put:
       tags:
         - CodexConfig
diff --git a/server/__tests__/codex-config.test.js b/server/__tests__/codex-config.test.js
index 3b58ae0f..5593afef 100644
--- a/server/__tests__/codex-config.test.js
+++ b/server/__tests__/codex-config.test.js
@@ -247,6 +247,26 @@ describe("/api/codex-config", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("file endpoint 404s on a missing file inside an existing root", async () => {
+    const target = path.join(FAKE_HOME, "rules", "does-not-exist.rules");
+    const { status, body } = await fetchJson(
+      `/api/codex-config/file?cwd=${encodeURIComponent(FAKE_PROJECT)}&path=${encodeURIComponent(target)}`
+    );
+    assert.equal(status, 404);
+    assert.equal(body.error.code, "NOT_FOUND");
+  });
+
+  it("file endpoint 404s on a ?cwd= that doesn't exist yet, and creates nothing", async () => {
+    const missingCwd = path.join(TMP, `never-existed-${process.hrtime.bigint()}`);
+    const target = path.join(missingCwd, "AGENTS.md");
+    const { status, body } = await fetchJson(
+      `/api/codex-config/file?cwd=${encodeURIComponent(missingCwd)}&path=${encodeURIComponent(target)}`
+    );
+    assert.equal(status, 404);
+    assert.equal(body.error.code, "NOT_FOUND");
+    assert.equal(fs.existsSync(missingCwd), false, "GET /file must not create the missing root");
+  });
+
   it("file endpoint requires a path", async () => {
     const { status, body } = await fetchJson("/api/codex-config/file");
     assert.equal(status, 400);
@@ -450,6 +470,23 @@ describe("/api/codex-config", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("GET /mcp|/plugins|/marketplaces treat empty stdout as an empty list (fresh-install case), not a 502", async () => {
+    const restore = stubCodex(""); // exits 0, prints nothing — the normal fresh-install state
+    try {
+      for (const [route, key] of [
+        ["/api/codex-config/mcp", "mcp"],
+        ["/api/codex-config/plugins", "plugins"],
+        ["/api/codex-config/marketplaces", "marketplaces"],
+      ]) {
+        const { status, body } = await fetchJson(route);
+        assert.equal(status, 200, route);
+        assert.deepEqual(body[key], [], route);
+      }
+    } finally {
+      restore();
+    }
+  });
+
   it("GET /mcp reports unparseable CLI JSON as 502, not a type-confused 200", async () => {
     const restore = stubCodex('echo "not json"');
     try {
diff --git a/server/lib/codex-discovery.js b/server/lib/codex-discovery.js
index c3f8b0cd..b2b3a8f7 100644
--- a/server/lib/codex-discovery.js
+++ b/server/lib/codex-discovery.js
@@ -300,6 +300,16 @@ function readOverview(opts = {}) {
  * symlink-escape guard the write side (codex-mutate.js) uses — a string-only
  * `isUnder` check alone would let a symlink dropped anywhere along the path
  * read arbitrary files outside the root.
+ *
+ * A GET has no filesystem side effect: `assertNotSymlinkEscape` is called
+ * with `{create: false}` so it never mkdirs a caller-chosen root, and a
+ * missing root or file both come back as `{notFound: true}` rather than the
+ * write side's `EOUTOFROOT`. Failure messages never include the resolved
+ * path — a `GET /file` response is not the place to reveal what does or
+ * does not exist outside the root.
+ *
+ * @returns {{ok:true,file:string,size:number,mtime:number,truncated:boolean,text:string}
+ *   | {notFound:true} | {error:string}}
  */
 function readFileSafe(absPath, opts = {}) {
   const codexHome = getCodexHome();
@@ -323,13 +333,16 @@ function readFileSafe(absPath, opts = {}) {
       ? projectCodexDir
       : projectRoot;
   try {
-    assertNotSymlinkEscape(trustedRoot, resolved);
+    assertNotSymlinkEscape(trustedRoot, resolved, { create: false });
   } catch (err) {
-    return { error: err.message };
+    // A root that doesn't exist yet (ENOENT from realpathSync, since this
+    // call never mkdirs it) means there is nothing to find, not a refusal.
+    if (err.code === "ENOENT") return { notFound: true };
+    return { error: "path escapes the allowed root" };
   }
 
   const r = safeReadText(resolved);
-  if (!r) return { error: "file not readable" };
+  if (!r) return { notFound: true };
   return { ok: true, file: resolved, ...r };
 }
 
diff --git a/server/lib/codex-mutate.js b/server/lib/codex-mutate.js
index c28862c8..2d593e9c 100644
--- a/server/lib/codex-mutate.js
+++ b/server/lib/codex-mutate.js
@@ -153,15 +153,19 @@ function rmTreeSync(p) {
  *
  * `trustedRoot` is created first (mkdirSync recursive — safe, it is never
  * attacker-controlled) so the walk is guaranteed to bottom out at or below
- * it, never wander past it into whatever happens to contain it.
+ * it, never wander past it into whatever happens to contain it. Pass
+ * `{create: false}` for a read-only caller (codex-discovery.js's
+ * readFileSafe): a GET must have no filesystem side effect, so it skips the
+ * mkdir and instead lets a missing `trustedRoot` surface as the native
+ * `ENOENT` from `realpathSync` — the caller treats that as "not found".
  *
  * ponytail: this check and the write/delete that follows are not atomic —
  * a symlink swapped in between them could still redirect one write. Closing
  * that needs O_NOFOLLOW-style fd work with real platform variance; out of
  * scope for this task (see task-5 fix round 2).
  */
-function assertNotSymlinkEscape(trustedRoot, target) {
-  fs.mkdirSync(trustedRoot, { recursive: true });
+function assertNotSymlinkEscape(trustedRoot, target, opts = {}) {
+  if (opts.create !== false) fs.mkdirSync(trustedRoot, { recursive: true });
   const realRoot = fs.realpathSync(trustedRoot);
 
   let dir = target;
diff --git a/server/openapi-extra/codex-config.js b/server/openapi-extra/codex-config.js
index 46de53ab..091c71ea 100644
--- a/server/openapi-extra/codex-config.js
+++ b/server/openapi-extra/codex-config.js
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ const paths = {
       tags: ["CodexConfig"],
       summary: "Read a single file body",
       description:
-        "Read-only. Returns the body of one file. Strict path containment: the resolved absolute path must live under CODEX_HOME, the project .codex dir, or (only for a file literally named AGENTS.md) the project root.",
+        "Read-only, no filesystem side effect. Returns the body of one file. Strict path containment: the resolved absolute path must live under CODEX_HOME, the project .codex dir, or (only for a file literally named AGENTS.md) the project root, and must not escape that root through a symlink. Error messages never reveal what does or does not exist outside the root.",
       operationId: "codexConfigGetFile",
       parameters: [
         {
@@ -391,7 +391,8 @@ const paths = {
             },
           },
         },
-        400: errorResponse("READ_DENIED", "path is outside allowed roots"),
+        400: errorResponse("READ_DENIED", "path escapes the allowed root"),
+        404: errorResponse("NOT_FOUND", "file not found"),
       },
     },
     put: {
diff --git a/server/routes/codex-config.js b/server/routes/codex-config.js
index ade362a3..896a9e7b 100644
--- a/server/routes/codex-config.js
+++ b/server/routes/codex-config.js
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ router.get("/file", (req, res) => {
     return res.status(400).json({ error: { code: "BAD_PATH", message: "path is required" } });
   }
   const result = codexDiscovery.readFileSafe(p, { cwd: cwdOf(req) });
+  if (result.notFound)
+    return res.status(404).json({ error: { code: "NOT_FOUND", message: "file not found" } });
   if (result.error)
     return res.status(400).json({ error: { code: "READ_DENIED", message: result.error } });
   res.json(result);
@@ -201,14 +203,16 @@ function cliFailure(res, result) {
 
 /**
  * Read-through result for a GET route backed by `codex … --json`. `result.data`
- * is only set when stdout parsed as JSON (see runCodex) — an ok:true result
- * with unparseable stdout means the CLI's output shape changed under us, so
- * this is a 502, not a 200 with a string where the OpenAPI fragment promises
- * an array/object.
+ * is only set when stdout parsed as JSON (see runCodex). A fresh install with
+ * zero MCP servers/plugins/marketplaces is the normal case and prints nothing
+ * — that's an empty list, not a parse failure. Only stdout that has content
+ * and still doesn't parse (the CLI's output shape changed under us) is a 502,
+ * never a 200 with a string where the OpenAPI fragment promises an array/object.
  */
 function cliRead(res, result, key) {
   if (!result.ok) return cliFailure(res, result);
   if (result.data === undefined) {
+    if (!result.stdout.trim()) return res.json({ [key]: [] });
     return res.status(502).json({
       error: {
         code: "ECLIBADOUTPUT",