diff --git a/container/agent-runner/src/poll-loop.ts b/container/agent-runner/src/poll-loop.ts
index 43c9cf1..fb54378 100644
--- a/container/agent-runner/src/poll-loop.ts
+++ b/container/agent-runner/src/poll-loop.ts
@@ -21,10 +21,15 @@ function generateId(): string {
   return `msg-${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 8)}`;
 }
 
-const AUTH_REQUIRED_USER_TEXT =
-  "I can't reach my Anthropic credentials right now. The operator running NanoClaw needs to re-run setup, or run `claude` in the project directory on the machine I'm running on.";
+// Generic fallback for providers that classify auth failures via
+// `isAuthRequired` but don't supply their own remediation text. Concrete
+// providers (Claude, Codex, …) override this with a provider-specific
+// message via `authRequiredMessage()`.
+const GENERIC_AUTH_REQUIRED_MESSAGE =
+  "I can't reach my credentials right now. The operator running NanoClaw needs to re-authenticate on the host machine.";
 
-function writeAuthRequiredMessage(routing: RoutingContext): void {
+function writeAuthRequiredMessage(provider: AgentProvider, routing: RoutingContext): void {
+  const text = provider.authRequiredMessage?.() ?? GENERIC_AUTH_REQUIRED_MESSAGE;
   log('Auth-required detected — substituting host-aware message for the user');
   writeMessageOut({
     id: generateId(),
@@ -32,7 +37,7 @@ function writeAuthRequiredMessage(routing: RoutingContext): void {
     platform_id: routing.platformId,
     channel_type: routing.channelType,
     thread_id: routing.threadId,
-    content: JSON.stringify({ text: AUTH_REQUIRED_USER_TEXT }),
+    content: JSON.stringify({ text }),
   });
 }
 
@@ -205,7 +210,7 @@ export async function runPollLoop(config: PollLoopConfig): Promise<void> {
       }
 
       if (config.provider.isAuthRequired?.(errMsg)) {
-        writeAuthRequiredMessage(routing);
+        writeAuthRequiredMessage(config.provider, routing);
       } else {
         writeMessageOut({
           id: generateId(),
@@ -330,7 +335,7 @@ async function processQuery(
         markCompleted(initialBatchIds);
         if (event.text) {
           if (provider.isAuthRequired?.(event.text)) {
-            writeAuthRequiredMessage(routing);
+            writeAuthRequiredMessage(provider, routing);
           } else {
             dispatchResultText(event.text, routing);
           }
diff --git a/container/agent-runner/src/providers/claude.test.ts b/container/agent-runner/src/providers/claude.test.ts
index d906280..91836e4 100644
--- a/container/agent-runner/src/providers/claude.test.ts
+++ b/container/agent-runner/src/providers/claude.test.ts
@@ -35,3 +35,13 @@ describe('ClaudeProvider.isAuthRequired', () => {
     expect(provider.isAuthRequired('Tool execution failed: timeout')).toBe(false);
   });
 });
+
+describe('ClaudeProvider.authRequiredMessage', () => {
+  const provider = new ClaudeProvider();
+
+  it('returns the Anthropic-specific remediation', () => {
+    const msg = provider.authRequiredMessage();
+    expect(msg).toContain('Anthropic credentials');
+    expect(msg).toContain('claude');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/container/agent-runner/src/providers/claude.ts b/container/agent-runner/src/providers/claude.ts
index 11ea4b0..89dd5cd 100644
--- a/container/agent-runner/src/providers/claude.ts
+++ b/container/agent-runner/src/providers/claude.ts
@@ -275,6 +275,10 @@ export class ClaudeProvider implements AgentProvider {
     return AUTH_REQUIRED_RE.test(text);
   }
 
+  authRequiredMessage(): string {
+    return "I can't reach my Anthropic credentials right now. The operator running NanoClaw needs to re-run setup, or run `claude` in the project directory on the machine I'm running on.";
+  }
+
   query(input: QueryInput): AgentQuery {
     const stream = new MessageStream();
     stream.push(input.prompt);
diff --git a/container/agent-runner/src/providers/types.ts b/container/agent-runner/src/providers/types.ts
index 99833a7..3124c07 100644
--- a/container/agent-runner/src/providers/types.ts
+++ b/container/agent-runner/src/providers/types.ts
@@ -17,11 +17,24 @@ export interface AgentProvider {
 
   /**
    * True if the given text/error indicates the underlying SDK or CLI has no
-   * usable Anthropic auth (e.g. Claude Code's "Not logged in · Please run
+   * usable credentials (e.g. Claude Code's "Not logged in · Please run
    * /login"). The poll-loop swaps the raw output for a host-aware message
-   * since the user can't run /login from chat.
+   * since the user can't authenticate from chat.
+   *
+   * Paired with `authRequiredMessage()` — providers that implement one
+   * should implement both. The matcher is provider-specific because each
+   * SDK/CLI has its own auth-failure banner format.
    */
   isAuthRequired?(text: string): boolean;
+
+  /**
+   * User-facing remediation message returned when `isAuthRequired` matches.
+   * Provider-specific because the actionable instruction differs across
+   * providers (e.g. Claude vs Codex vs OpenCode each direct the operator
+   * to a different auth flow). Falls back to a generic message in the
+   * poll-loop if a provider implements `isAuthRequired` but not this.
+   */
+  authRequiredMessage?(): string;
 }
 
 /**