diff --git a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/codex/README.md b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/codex/README.md
index b01ee75..03eb834 100644
--- a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/codex/README.md
+++ b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/codex/README.md
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ Security vulnerability review focusing on:
 ~/.config/mosaic/tools/codex/codex-security-review.sh -n 42
 ```
 
+PR mode resolves the provider's PR diff rather than relying on the caller's checked-out branch. On Gitea, it fetches the base and `refs/pull/<number>/head` refs and diffs those explicit refs. If the refs cannot be fetched or the resulting diff is empty, the command exits nonzero before Codex runs or a review is posted.
+
 ### Review Against Base Branch
 
 ```bash
@@ -253,7 +255,7 @@ Run the script from inside a git repository.
 
 ### "No changes found to review"
 
-The specified mode (--uncommitted, --base, etc.) found no changes to review.
+The specified non-PR mode (`--uncommitted`, `--base`, etc.) found no changes to review. PR mode instead fails closed with an actionable error when it cannot construct a non-empty provider diff; verify the PR number, remote, provider login, and ref access before retrying.
 
 ### "Codex produced no output"
 
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/codex/common.sh b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/codex/common.sh
index 197f1ec..2241405 100755
--- a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/codex/common.sh
+++ b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/codex/common.sh
@@ -44,38 +44,47 @@ build_diff_context() {
             diff_text=$(git show "$value" 2>/dev/null)
             ;;
         pr)
-            # For PRs, we need to fetch the PR diff
-            detect_platform
+            # Provider detection writes its result to stdout; suppress it so it cannot
+            # be mistaken for diff content when this function is used in a substitution.
+            detect_platform >/dev/null
             if [[ "$PLATFORM" == "github" ]]; then
-                diff_text=$(gh pr diff "$value" 2>/dev/null)
+                diff_text=$(gh pr diff "$value" 2>/dev/null) || {
+                    echo "Error: Failed to fetch the diff for PR #${value}." >&2
+                    return 1
+                }
             elif [[ "$PLATFORM" == "gitea" ]]; then
-                # tea doesn't have a direct pr diff command, use git
-                local pr_base
-                pr_base=$(tea pr list --fields index,base --output simple 2>/dev/null | grep "^${value}" | awk '{print $2}')
-                if [[ -n "$pr_base" ]]; then
-                    diff_text=$(git diff "${pr_base}...HEAD" 2>/dev/null)
-                else
-                    # Fallback: fetch PR info via API
-                    local repo_info
-                    repo_info=$(get_repo_info)
-                    local remote_url
-                    remote_url=$(git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null)
-                    local host
-                    host=$(echo "$remote_url" | sed -E 's|.*://([^/]+).*|\1|; s|.*@([^:]+).*|\1|')
-                    diff_text=$(curl -s "https://${host}/api/v1/repos/${repo_info}/pulls/${value}" \
-                        -H "Authorization: token $(tea login list --output simple 2>/dev/null | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')" \
-                        2>/dev/null | jq -r '.diff_url // empty')
-                    if [[ -n "$diff_text" && "$diff_text" != "null" ]]; then
-                        diff_text=$(curl -s "$diff_text" 2>/dev/null)
-                    else
-                        diff_text=$(git diff "main...HEAD" 2>/dev/null)
-                    fi
+                local pr_base base_ref pr_head_ref
+                pr_base=$(tea pr list --fields index,base --output simple 2>/dev/null | awk -v pr="$value" '$1 == pr { print $2; exit }')
+                if [[ -z "$pr_base" ]]; then
+                    echo "Error: Could not resolve the base branch for Gitea PR #${value}." >&2
+                    return 1
                 fi
+
+                base_ref="refs/remotes/origin/${pr_base}"
+                pr_head_ref="refs/remotes/origin/pr/${value}/head"
+                if ! git fetch --quiet origin \
+                    "+refs/heads/${pr_base}:${base_ref}" \
+                    "+refs/pull/${value}/head:${pr_head_ref}"; then
+                    echo "Error: Failed to fetch the base and head refs for Gitea PR #${value}." >&2
+                    return 1
+                fi
+                diff_text=$(git diff "${base_ref}...${pr_head_ref}") || {
+                    echo "Error: Failed to diff the fetched refs for Gitea PR #${value}." >&2
+                    return 1
+                }
+            else
+                echo "Error: Unsupported git platform while resolving PR #${value}." >&2
+                return 1
             fi
             ;;
     esac
 
-    echo "$diff_text"
+    if [[ "$mode" == "pr" && -z "${diff_text//[[:space:]]/}" ]]; then
+        echo "Error: Unable to construct a non-empty diff for PR #${value}; verify the PR refs and provider access." >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    printf '%s\n' "$diff_text"
 }
 
 # Format JSON findings as markdown for PR comments