diff --git a/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/agent/codex_app_server.rs b/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/agent/codex_app_server.rs
index ed1209ddf..0d7017600 100644
--- a/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/agent/codex_app_server.rs
+++ b/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/agent/codex_app_server.rs
@@ -2852,18 +2852,19 @@ async fn read_game_creator_codex_app_server_stdout(
                     else {
                         continue;
                     };
-                    let Some(item_id) = params
+                    let item_id = params
                         .get("itemId")
                         .and_then(serde_json::Value::as_str)
                         .filter(|value| !value.is_empty())
-                    else {
-                        eprintln!(
-                            "agent.direct_codex.protocol_warning event=item/agentMessage/delta missing_item_id"
-                        );
-                        continue;
-                    };
+                        .map(str::to_string)
+                        .unwrap_or_else(|| {
+                            eprintln!(
+                                "agent.direct_codex.protocol_warning event=item/agentMessage/delta missing_item_id"
+                            );
+                            format!("direct-missing-item:{turn_id}")
+                        });
                     CodexTurnEvent::AgentMessageDelta {
-                        item_id: item_id.to_string(),
+                        item_id,
                         delta: delta.to_string(),
                     }
                 }