diff --git a/codex-rs/app-server/Cargo.toml b/codex-rs/app-server/Cargo.toml
index b2126f1947..7d6b340755 100644
--- a/codex-rs/app-server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/codex-rs/app-server/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ license.workspace = true
 name = "codex-app-server"
 path = "src/main.rs"
 
+[[bin]]
+name = "codex-app-server-test-notify-capture"
+path = "src/bin/notify_capture.rs"
+
 [lib]
 name = "codex_app_server"
 path = "src/lib.rs"
@@ -18,14 +22,12 @@ workspace = true
 [dependencies]
 anyhow = { workspace = true }
 async-trait = { workspace = true }
-base64 = { workspace = true }
 codex-arg0 = { workspace = true }
 codex-cloud-requirements = { workspace = true }
 codex-core = { workspace = true }
 codex-otel = { workspace = true }
 codex-shell-command = { workspace = true }
 codex-utils-cli = { workspace = true }
-codex-utils-pty = { workspace = true }
 codex-backend-client = { workspace = true }
 codex-file-search = { workspace = true }
 codex-chatgpt = { workspace = true }
@@ -66,6 +68,7 @@ axum = { workspace = true, default-features = false, features = [
     "json",
     "tokio",
 ] }
+base64 = { workspace = true }
 core_test_support = { workspace = true }
 codex-utils-cargo-bin = { workspace = true }
 pretty_assertions = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/codex-rs/app-server/src/bin/notify_capture.rs b/codex-rs/app-server/src/bin/notify_capture.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7217e26310
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codex-rs/app-server/src/bin/notify_capture.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+use std::env;
+use std::fs;
+use std::fs::File;
+use std::io::Write;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+use anyhow::Context;
+use anyhow::Result;
+use anyhow::anyhow;
+use anyhow::bail;
+
+fn main() -> Result<()> {
+    let mut args = env::args_os();
+    let _program = args.next();
+    let output_path = PathBuf::from(
+        args.next()
+            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("expected output path as first argument"))?,
+    );
+    let payload = args
+        .next()
+        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("expected payload as final argument"))?;
+
+    if args.next().is_some() {
+        bail!("expected payload as final argument");
+    }
+
+    let payload = payload.to_string_lossy();
+    let temp_path = PathBuf::from(format!("{}.tmp", output_path.display()));
+    let mut file = File::create(&temp_path)
+        .with_context(|| format!("failed to create {}", temp_path.display()))?;
+    file.write_all(payload.as_bytes())
+        .with_context(|| format!("failed to write {}", temp_path.display()))?;
+    file.sync_all()
+        .with_context(|| format!("failed to sync {}", temp_path.display()))?;
+    fs::rename(&temp_path, &output_path).with_context(|| {
+        format!(
+            "failed to move {} into {}",
+            temp_path.display(),
+            output_path.display()
+        )
+    })?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/v2/initialize.rs b/codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/v2/initialize.rs
index de437c5bf5..8887e87f52 100644
--- a/codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/v2/initialize.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/v2/initialize.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ use codex_app_server_protocol::ThreadStartResponse;
 use codex_app_server_protocol::TurnStartParams;
 use codex_app_server_protocol::TurnStartResponse;
 use codex_app_server_protocol::UserInput as V2UserInput;
+use codex_utils_cargo_bin::cargo_bin;
 use core_test_support::fs_wait;
 use pretty_assertions::assert_eq;
 use serde_json::Value;
@@ -191,29 +192,22 @@ async fn turn_start_notify_payload_includes_initialize_client_name() -> Result<(
     let responses = vec![create_final_assistant_message_sse_response("Done")?];
     let server = create_mock_responses_server_sequence_unchecked(responses).await;
     let codex_home = TempDir::new()?;
-    let notify_script = codex_home.path().join("notify.py");
-    std::fs::write(
-        &notify_script,
-        r#"from pathlib import Path
-import sys
-
-payload_path = Path(__file__).with_name("notify.json")
-tmp_path = payload_path.with_suffix(".json.tmp")
-tmp_path.write_text(sys.argv[-1], encoding="utf-8")
-tmp_path.replace(payload_path)
-"#,
-    )?;
     let notify_file = codex_home.path().join("notify.json");
-    let notify_script = notify_script
+    let notify_capture = cargo_bin("codex-app-server-test-notify-capture")?;
+    let notify_capture = notify_capture
         .to_str()
-        .expect("notify script path should be valid UTF-8");
+        .expect("notify capture path should be valid UTF-8");
+    let notify_file_str = notify_file
+        .to_str()
+        .expect("notify file path should be valid UTF-8");
     create_config_toml_with_extra(
         codex_home.path(),
         &server.uri(),
         "never",
         &format!(
-            "notify = [\"python3\", {}]",
-            toml_basic_string(notify_script)
+            "notify = [{}, {}]",
+            toml_basic_string(notify_capture),
+            toml_basic_string(notify_file_str)
         ),
     )?;
 
@@ -297,6 +291,9 @@ model_provider = "mock_provider"
 
 {extra}
 
+[features]
+shell_snapshot = false
+
 [model_providers.mock_provider]
 name = "Mock provider for test"
 base_url = "{server_uri}/v1"