diff --git a/internal/agent/connect_stale_test.go b/internal/agent/connect_stale_test.go
index 418609f5..2f14e05f 100644
--- a/internal/agent/connect_stale_test.go
+++ b/internal/agent/connect_stale_test.go
@@ -128,3 +128,46 @@ func TestCodexStaleCopiesSayWhichIsLeft(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("Stale: %d, want 6 (one app, not one per process)", n)
 	}
 }
+
+// lychjck's #1461: the managed daemon keeps a long-lived helper next to it
+// (codex app-server daemon pid-update-loop) that a daemon restart doesn't
+// end and that reads no list. It matches the codex startsWith pattern and
+// no --managed-daemon, so it was counted as a "cli" copy from before
+// magpie's change: "A Codex in a terminal" that doesn't exist, forever,
+// and only killing the process cleared the row. A daemon helper is no
+// copy to reopen.
+func TestCodexDaemonHelperIsNoStaleCopy(t *testing.T) {
+	home := t.TempDir()
+	t.Setenv("HOME", home)
+	t.Setenv("USERPROFILE", home)
+	t.Setenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME", filepath.Join(home, ".config"))
+	t.Setenv("XDG_CACHE_HOME", filepath.Join(home, ".cache"))
+	t.Setenv("CODEX_HOME", "")
+	dir := filepath.Join(home, ".codex")
+	os.MkdirAll(dir, 0o755)
+	cfg := filepath.Join(dir, "config.toml")
+	os.WriteFile(cfg, []byte("model = \"gpt-6.1-sol\"\nopenai_base_url = \"http://127.0.0.1:3425/backend-api/codex\"\n"), 0o600)
+	then := time.Now().Add(-2 * time.Hour)
+	os.Chtimes(cfg, then, then)
+
+	was := running
+	t.Cleanup(func() { running = was })
+	running = func(string) []runningProc {
+		return []runningProc{
+			// the helper, from before magpie's change
+			{3 * time.Hour, "/opt/homebrew/bin/codex app-server daemon pid-update-loop"},
+		}
+	}
+	if got := codex(home).StaleCopies(); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("the daemon's helper counted a stale copy: %+v, want none", got)
+	}
+	// a terminal Codex from before is still one
+	running = func(string) []runningProc {
+		return []runningProc{
+			{3 * time.Hour, "/opt/homebrew/bin/codex"},
+		}
+	}
+	if n := codex(home).Stale(); n != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("a terminal codex: %d stale, want 1", n)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/agent/connectinfo.go b/internal/agent/connectinfo.go
index 14e35744..cca26bec 100644
--- a/internal/agent/connectinfo.go
+++ b/internal/agent/connectinfo.go
@@ -187,9 +187,10 @@ func (a *Agent) Stale() int { return len(a.StaleCopies()) }
 type StaleCopy struct {
 	// Kind, for Codex: "app" (the ChatGPT or Codex desktop app, its
 	// app-server and helpers), "ide" (an editor extension's), "daemon"
-	// (the background app-server the CLI leaves running) or "cli"; ""
-	// for other agents; "embedded" is another app's own Codex, named by
-	// App
+	// (the background app-server the CLI leaves running), "helper" (a
+	// subcommand the daemon spawns beside itself, no copy to reopen) or
+	// "cli"; "" for other agents; "embedded" is another app's own Codex,
+	// named by App
 	Kind  string    `json:"kind,omitempty"`
 	App   string    `json:"app,omitempty"`
 	Since time.Time `json:"since"`
@@ -236,6 +237,12 @@ func (a *Agent) StaleCopies() []StaleCopy {
 			if a.ID == "codex" {
 				var app string
 				c.Kind, app = codexCopyKind(p.cmd)
+				if c.Kind == "helper" {
+					// a daemon subcommand's helper reads no list, a
+					// restart of the daemon doesn't end it, and there
+					// is no Codex to quit (#1461)
+					continue
+				}
 				if c.Kind == "embedded" {
 					c.App = app
 				}
@@ -273,6 +280,11 @@ func codexCopyKind(cmd string) (kind, app string) {
 		// the outermost bundle: ChatGPT.app's codex runs from a
 		// CodexCLI.app inside it
 		return "app", exe[:strings.Index(exe, ".app/")+len(".app")]
+	case daemonHelper(cmd):
+		// a subcommand the managed daemon spawns beside itself (codex
+		// app-server daemon pid-update-loop): long-lived, reads no list,
+		// and outlives a daemon restart (#1461)
+		return "helper", ""
 	case slices.Contains(strings.Fields(cmd), "app-server"):
 		// an app that ships a Codex of its own and talks to its
 		// app-server (Agents Anywhere's connector, from its folder in
@@ -290,6 +302,19 @@ func codexCopyKind(cmd string) (kind, app string) {
 	return "cli", ""
 }
 
+// daemonHelper says the command line is a subcommand the managed daemon
+// spawns beside itself: app-server daemon <sub> (pid-update-loop, …). The
+// daemon itself carries --managed-daemon and is told apart above.
+func daemonHelper(cmd string) bool {
+	f := strings.Fields(cmd)
+	for i, s := range f {
+		if s == "app-server" && i+2 < len(f) && f[i+1] == "daemon" {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // elapsed reads ps's etime, [[dd-]hh:]mm:ss.
 func elapsed(s string) (time.Duration, bool) {
 	s = strings.TrimSpace(s)