diff --git a/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/auth.rs b/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/auth.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c18ca8b882
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/auth.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+//! Supplies sensitive request headers without copying the locked API key.
+
+use std::fmt;
+
+use anyhow::Result;
+use reqwest::header::HeaderValue;
+
+pub(crate) enum Auth {
+    ApiKey(&'static str),
+}
+
+impl fmt::Debug for Auth {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        match self {
+            Self::ApiKey(_) => f.debug_tuple("ApiKey").field(&"[REDACTED]").finish(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+pub(crate) struct AuthHeader {
+    pub(crate) value: HeaderValue,
+}
+
+impl Auth {
+    pub(crate) fn redirect_policy(&self) -> reqwest::redirect::Policy {
+        match self {
+            Self::ApiKey(_) => reqwest::redirect::Policy::default(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Returns a sensitive authorization header. API keys are validated when read,
+    /// so this currently always succeeds. The fallible return type allows later
+    /// credential providers to report acquisition failures.
+    pub(crate) fn header(&self) -> Result<AuthHeader> {
+        match self {
+            Self::ApiKey(value) => {
+                // Keep the existing locked, static API key allocation.
+                let mut header = HeaderValue::from_static(value);
+                header.set_sensitive(true);
+                Ok(AuthHeader { value: header })
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+#[path = "auth_tests.rs"]
+mod tests;
diff --git a/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/auth_tests.rs b/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/auth_tests.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c55a13ec40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/auth_tests.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+//! Ensures authentication diagnostics do not expose credentials.
+
+use super::Auth;
+
+#[test]
+fn debug_redacts_api_keys_in_both_formats() {
+    let auth = Auth::ApiKey("Bearer test-secret-for-proxy-auth");
+
+    for output in [format!("{auth:?}"), format!("{auth:#?}")] {
+        assert!(!output.contains("test-secret-for-proxy-auth"));
+        assert!(output.contains("ApiKey"));
+        assert!(output.contains("[REDACTED]"));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/lib.rs b/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/lib.rs
index 307fa05bb8..d096d8bf68 100644
--- a/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/lib.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/lib.rs
@@ -28,8 +28,10 @@ use tiny_http::Response;
 use tiny_http::Server;
 use tiny_http::StatusCode;
 
+mod auth;
 mod dump;
 mod read_api_key;
+use auth::Auth;
 use dump::ExchangeDumper;
 use read_api_key::read_auth_header_from_stdin;
 
@@ -71,7 +73,7 @@ struct ForwardConfig {
 
 /// Entry point for the library main, for parity with other crates.
 pub fn run_main(args: Args) -> Result<()> {
-    let auth_header = read_auth_header_from_stdin()?;
+    let auth = Arc::new(Auth::ApiKey(read_auth_header_from_stdin()?));
 
     let upstream_url = Url::parse(&args.upstream_url).context("parsing --upstream-url")?;
     let host = match (upstream_url.host_str(), upstream_url.port()) {
@@ -101,6 +103,7 @@ pub fn run_main(args: Args) -> Result<()> {
         .map_err(|err| anyhow!("creating HTTP server: {err}"))?;
     let client = Arc::new(
         Client::builder()
+            .redirect(auth.redirect_policy())
             // Disable reqwest's 30s default so long-lived response streams keep flowing.
             .timeout(None::<Duration>)
             .build()
@@ -112,6 +115,7 @@ pub fn run_main(args: Args) -> Result<()> {
     let http_shutdown = args.http_shutdown;
     for request in server.incoming_requests() {
         let client = client.clone();
+        let auth = auth.clone();
         let forward_config = forward_config.clone();
         let dump_dir = dump_dir.clone();
         std::thread::spawn(move || {
@@ -122,7 +126,7 @@ pub fn run_main(args: Args) -> Result<()> {
 
             if let Err(e) = forward_request(
                 &client,
-                auth_header,
+                &auth,
                 &forward_config,
                 dump_dir.as_deref(),
                 request,
@@ -162,7 +166,7 @@ fn write_server_info(path: &Path, port: u16) -> Result<()> {
 
 fn forward_request(
     client: &Client,
-    auth_header: &'static str,
+    auth: &Auth,
     config: &ForwardConfig,
     dump_dir: Option<&ExchangeDumper>,
     mut req: Request,
@@ -212,11 +216,15 @@ fn forward_request(
         }
     }
 
-    // As part of our effort to to keep `auth_header` secret, we use a
-    // combination of `from_static()` and `set_sensitive(true)`.
-    let mut auth_header_value = HeaderValue::from_static(auth_header);
-    auth_header_value.set_sensitive(true);
-    headers.insert(AUTHORIZATION, auth_header_value);
+    let auth_header = match auth.header() {
+        Ok(value) => value,
+        Err(err) => {
+            // No token, request URL or upstream error body is exposed to the caller.
+            let _ = req.respond(Response::new_empty(StatusCode(502)));
+            return Err(err);
+        }
+    };
+    headers.insert(AUTHORIZATION, auth_header.value);
 
     headers.insert(HOST, config.host_header.clone());
 
diff --git a/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/read_api_key.rs b/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/read_api_key.rs
index df5e2106c7..e9e9034c81 100644
--- a/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/read_api_key.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/responses-api-proxy/src/read_api_key.rs
@@ -12,21 +12,20 @@ const AUTH_HEADER_PREFIX: &[u8] = b"Bearer ";
 /// value with the auth token used with `Bearer`. The header value is returned
 /// as a `&'static str` whose bytes are locked in memory to avoid accidental
 /// exposure.
-#[cfg(unix)]
 pub(crate) fn read_auth_header_from_stdin() -> Result<&'static str> {
-    read_auth_header_with(read_from_unix_stdin)
+    read_auth_header_with(read_from_stdin)
 }
 
 #[cfg(windows)]
-pub(crate) fn read_auth_header_from_stdin() -> Result<&'static str> {
+pub(crate) fn read_from_stdin(buffer: &mut [u8]) -> std::io::Result<usize> {
     use std::io::Read;
 
     // Use of `stdio::io::stdin()` has the problem mentioned in the docstring on
-    // the UNIX version of `read_from_unix_stdin()`, so this should ultimately
+    // the UNIX version of `read_from_stdin()`, so this should ultimately
     // be replaced the low-level Windows equivalent. Because we do not have an
     // equivalent of mlock() on Windows right now, it is not pressing until we
     // address that issue.
-    read_auth_header_with(|buffer| std::io::stdin().read(buffer))
+    std::io::stdin().read(buffer)
 }
 
 /// We perform a low-level read with `read(2)` because `stdio::io::stdin()` has
@@ -38,7 +37,7 @@ pub(crate) fn read_auth_header_from_stdin() -> Result<&'static str> {
 /// it out, whereas we aim to guarantee there is exactly one copy of the API key
 /// in memory, protected by mlock(2).
 #[cfg(unix)]
-fn read_from_unix_stdin(buffer: &mut [u8]) -> std::io::Result<usize> {
+pub(crate) fn read_from_stdin(buffer: &mut [u8]) -> std::io::Result<usize> {
     use libc::c_void;
     use libc::read;