diff --git a/codex/sections/review-mode.md b/codex/sections/review-mode.md
index 84dc1f617..b2599c784 100644
--- a/codex/sections/review-mode.md
+++ b/codex/sections/review-mode.md
@@ -119,8 +119,9 @@ instead of the harness killing the call silently.
 grep "tokens used" "$TMPERR" 2>/dev/null || echo "tokens: unknown"
 ```
 
-4. Determine the gate verdict. **The gate FAILS CLOSED** — a run that cannot be
-verified is a FAIL, never a PASS. Work through these checks IN ORDER; the first
+4. Determine the gate verdict: **PASS**, **FAIL**, or **UNVERIFIED**.
+**The gate FAILS CLOSED**: a run that did not complete is a FAIL, and output the
+gate cannot check is UNVERIFIED, never a PASS. Work through these checks IN ORDER; the first
 match wins:
 
    1. `_CODEX_EXIT` is non-zero (including 124) → **GATE: FAIL** (fail-closed:
@@ -132,18 +133,20 @@ match wins:
    3. The output contains `[P0]` or `[P1]` (or codex's native unbracketed `P0:` /
       `P1:` severity labels) → **GATE: FAIL** (N critical findings). Codex's own
       review rubric treats P0 as blocking; this gate does too.
-   4. The output contains NO `[P0]`, `[P1]`, or `[P2]` tag (nor native `P0:`/`P1:`/
-      `P2:` labels) anywhere → **GATE: FAIL** (fail-closed: untagged output — the
-      severity markers this gate greps for are absent, so "no critical findings"
-      cannot be verified mechanically; a human must read the verbatim output above
-      and judge). "No `[P1]` substring" and "no critical findings" are different
-      claims — never infer PASS from an untagged body.
-   5. Severity tags are present and none is P0/P1 (only P2/advisory) →
+   4. The output contains NO `[P0]`–`[P3]` tag (nor native `P0:`–`P3:` labels)
+      anywhere → **GATE: UNVERIFIED** (Codex completed and tagged nothing; read
+      the output above). `codex review` puts severity tags only in finding titles
+      and prints its structured clean verdict nowhere (verified on 0.160.0), so a
+      clean review is untagged prose. "No `[P1]` substring" and "no critical
+      findings" are different claims: never infer PASS from an untagged body, and
+      never report it as a FAIL or a finding count either.
+   5. Severity tags are present and none is P0/P1 (only P2/P3 advisory) →
       **GATE: PASS**.
 
-   There is no default branch: PASS is only reachable through check 5. When the
-   gate fails closed (checks 1, 2, 4), say explicitly that this is a
-   verification failure requiring human attention, not a finding count.
+   There is no default branch: PASS is only reachable through check 5. For FAIL
+   via checks 1 or 2, say explicitly that the review did not complete. For
+   UNVERIFIED, tell the user to read Codex's verdict above and decide; it is
+   not a blocker by itself and not a pass.
 
 5. Present the output:
 
@@ -161,10 +164,16 @@ or
 GATE: FAIL (N critical findings)
 ```
 
-or, when the run itself could not be verified:
+or, when the run itself did not complete:
 
 ```
-GATE: FAIL (fail-closed: <codex exited N | empty output | untagged output> — needs human attention)
+GATE: FAIL (fail-closed: <codex exited N | empty output> — needs human attention)
+```
+
+or, when Codex completed without severity tags:
+
+```
+GATE: UNVERIFIED (Codex completed and tagged nothing; read the output above)
 ```
 
 5a. **Synthesis recommendation (REQUIRED).** After presenting Codex's verbatim
@@ -198,9 +207,10 @@ CROSS-MODEL ANALYSIS:
 ~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-review-log '{"skill":"codex-review","timestamp":"TIMESTAMP","status":"STATUS","gate":"GATE","findings":N,"findings_fixed":N,"commit":"'"$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"'","completed":COMPLETED,"converged":CONVERGED}' --finish CODEX_REVIEW_START
 ```
 
-Substitute: TIMESTAMP (ISO 8601), STATUS ("clean" if PASS, "issues_found" if FAIL),
-GATE ("pass" or "fail" — fail-closed verdicts log as "fail"), findings (count of
-[P0] + [P1] + [P2] markers; 0 for fail-closed runs, which reviewed nothing),
+Substitute: TIMESTAMP (ISO 8601), STATUS ("clean" if PASS, "issues_found" if FAIL,
+"unverified" if UNVERIFIED), GATE ("pass", "fail" or "unverified" — fail-closed
+verdicts log as "fail"), findings (count of [P0]–[P3] markers; 0 for fail-closed
+and UNVERIFIED runs),
 findings_fixed (count of findings that were addressed/fixed before shipping).
 CODEX_REVIEW_START is the original token from the command path that ran. COMPLETED is true only when the review completed with coverage of the branch diff and current working-tree changes; timeout, failure, refusal, or missing coverage is false. A limited `--commit`/`--uncommitted` review, or a committed-only custom prompt that omitted dirty/untracked source, does not establish whole-branch coverage: log completed false and explain the limitation. CONVERGED is true only for a completed pass with zero edits. Fixes stay stale until a genuine rerun reads the updated diff with a new start token. These evidence fields do not change the gate verdict above.