diff --git a/cmd/launch/codex_app.go b/cmd/launch/codex_app.go
index b098e6914..41fd7457a 100644
--- a/cmd/launch/codex_app.go
+++ b/cmd/launch/codex_app.go
@@ -2160,12 +2160,7 @@ func defaultCodexAppIsRunning() bool {
 	case "windows":
 		return len(codexAppMatchingProcessIDs()) > 0
 	case "darwin":
-		out, err := exec.Command("osascript", "-e", `tell application "System Events" to exists process "ChatGPT"`).Output()
-		if err == nil && strings.TrimSpace(string(out)) == "true" {
-			return true
-		}
-		out, err = exec.Command("osascript", "-e", `tell application "System Events" to exists process "Codex"`).Output()
-		if err == nil && strings.TrimSpace(string(out)) == "true" {
+		if err := exec.Command("pgrep", "-a", "-x", "ChatGPT|Codex").Run(); err == nil {
 			return true
 		}
 		return len(codexAppMatchingProcessIDs()) > 0
diff --git a/cmd/launch/codex_app_test.go b/cmd/launch/codex_app_test.go
index 522370312..876bf6e5f 100644
--- a/cmd/launch/codex_app_test.go
+++ b/cmd/launch/codex_app_test.go
@@ -67,6 +67,22 @@ func withCodexAppProcessHooks(t *testing.T, isRunning func() bool, quit func() e
 	})
 }
 
+func stubCodexAppProcessCommands(t *testing.T, commands map[string]string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		t.Skip("test commands require a POSIX shell")
+	}
+
+	binDir := t.TempDir()
+	for name, script := range commands {
+		if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(binDir, name), []byte("#!/bin/sh\n"+script), 0o755); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	// Never fall back to the real osascript or another system command.
+	t.Setenv("PATH", binDir)
+}
+
 func TestCodexAppIntegration(t *testing.T) {
 	c := &CodexApp{}
 
@@ -3422,6 +3438,80 @@ func TestCodexAppRunRejectsExtraArgs(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestDefaultCodexAppIsRunningProcesses(t *testing.T) {
+	otherPID := os.Getpid() + 1
+	for _, tt := range []struct {
+		name          string
+		goos          string
+		output        string
+		exitCode      string
+		nameMatchExit string
+		want          bool
+	}{
+		{name: "no processes", goos: "darwin"},
+		{name: "apps stopped or absent", goos: "darwin", output: "1 /sbin/launchd\n100 /Applications/Ollama.app/Contents/MacOS/Ollama\n"},
+		{name: "ChatGPT main", goos: "darwin", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/ChatGPT.app/Contents/MacOS/ChatGPT\n", otherPID), want: true},
+		{name: "Codex main", goos: "darwin", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/MacOS/Codex\n", otherPID), want: true},
+		{name: "renamed ChatGPT bundle", goos: "darwin", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/ChatGPT Preview.app/Contents/MacOS/ChatGPT\n", otherPID), nameMatchExit: "0", want: true},
+		{name: "renamed Codex bundle", goos: "darwin", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/Codex Preview.app/Contents/MacOS/Codex\n", otherPID), nameMatchExit: "0", want: true},
+		{name: "Codex installed as ChatGPT", goos: "darwin", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/ChatGPT.app/Contents/MacOS/Codex\n", otherPID), nameMatchExit: "0", want: true},
+		{name: "ChatGPT app server", goos: "darwin", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/ChatGPT.app/Contents/Resources/codex app-server --analytics-default-enabled\n", otherPID), want: true},
+		{name: "Codex app server", goos: "darwin", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/codex app-server --analytics-default-enabled\n", otherPID), want: true},
+		{name: "ChatGPT helper only", goos: "darwin", output: "105 /Applications/ChatGPT.app/Contents/Frameworks/ChatGPT Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/ChatGPT Helper\n"},
+		{name: "Codex helpers only", goos: "darwin", output: "106 /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Frameworks/Codex Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Codex Helper\n107 /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework/Helpers/chrome_crashpad_handler\n"},
+		{name: "current process", goos: "darwin", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/ChatGPT.app/Contents/MacOS/ChatGPT\n", os.Getpid())},
+		{name: "malformed process list", goos: "darwin", output: "\n108\ninvalid /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/MacOS/Codex\n"},
+		{name: "failed process lookup", goos: "darwin", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/ChatGPT.app/Contents/MacOS/ChatGPT\n", otherPID), exitCode: "1"},
+		{name: "name match with failed process lookup", goos: "darwin", exitCode: "1", nameMatchExit: "0", want: true},
+		{name: "failed name lookup falls back to process list", goos: "darwin", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/ChatGPT.app/Contents/MacOS/ChatGPT\n", otherPID), nameMatchExit: "3", want: true},
+		{name: "Windows stopped", goos: "windows"},
+		{name: "Windows running", goos: "windows", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d\r\n", otherPID), want: true},
+		{name: "Windows current process", goos: "windows", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d\r\n", os.Getpid())},
+		{name: "unsupported platform", goos: "linux", output: fmt.Sprintf("%d /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/MacOS/Codex\n", otherPID)},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			withCodexAppPlatform(t, tt.goos)
+			command := "ps"
+			if tt.goos == "windows" {
+				command = "powershell.exe"
+			}
+			commands := map[string]string{
+				command: "printf '%s' \"$OLLAMA_TEST_CODEX_APP_PROCESSES\"\nexit \"${OLLAMA_TEST_CODEX_APP_EXIT_CODE:-0}\"\n",
+			}
+			if tt.goos == "darwin" {
+				// Exact names exclude helpers; -a includes the app if it launched Ollama.
+				commands["pgrep"] = "[ \"$*\" = '-a -x ChatGPT|Codex' ] || exit 2\nexit \"${OLLAMA_TEST_CODEX_APP_NAME_EXIT_CODE:-1}\"\n"
+			}
+			stubCodexAppProcessCommands(t, commands)
+			t.Setenv("OLLAMA_TEST_CODEX_APP_PROCESSES", tt.output)
+			t.Setenv("OLLAMA_TEST_CODEX_APP_EXIT_CODE", tt.exitCode)
+			t.Setenv("OLLAMA_TEST_CODEX_APP_NAME_EXIT_CODE", tt.nameMatchExit)
+
+			if got := defaultCodexAppIsRunning(); got != tt.want {
+				t.Fatalf("defaultCodexAppIsRunning() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDefaultCodexAppIsRunningDoesNotCallAppleScript(t *testing.T) {
+	withCodexAppPlatform(t, "darwin")
+	marker := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "osascript-called")
+	t.Setenv("OLLAMA_TEST_CODEX_APP_OSASCRIPT_MARKER", marker)
+	stubCodexAppProcessCommands(t, map[string]string{
+		"ps": "exit 0\n",
+		// Simulate slow System Events without contacting the real application.
+		"osascript": "printf called > \"$OLLAMA_TEST_CODEX_APP_OSASCRIPT_MARKER\"\nexec /bin/sleep 1\n",
+	})
+
+	if defaultCodexAppIsRunning() {
+		t.Fatal("reported a running app with no matching processes")
+	}
+	if _, err := os.Stat(marker); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Fatalf("running-state detection invoked osascript: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestCodexAppProcessMatchesMainAndAppServer(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, command := range []string{
 		"/Applications/ChatGPT.app/Contents/MacOS/ChatGPT",