diff --git a/src/security/README.md b/src/security/README.md
index 4fcadb8759..3383e9ed21 100644
--- a/src/security/README.md
+++ b/src/security/README.md
@@ -305,10 +305,10 @@ executor. Absent and unrecognized values fail closed, matching
 
 The override is read exactly once, at server startup in
 `server/production-server.ts`, and the resulting capability is fixed into the
-handler for the process lifetime. No project env overlay is active at that
-point, so tenant environment cannot influence the grant. Keep the read at
-startup: `getHostEnv` consults the request-scoped overlay store before the host
-environment, so a per-request read would not carry the same guarantee.
+handler for the process lifetime. It is read through `getHostEnv`, which
+bypasses the project env overlay, so a project environment variable of the
+same name cannot grant execution. Reading once at startup keeps a deployment's
+posture fixed and declared in a single place.
 
 This is a deliberate posture, not a bypass. With the override set, tenant
 project code is evaluated in the shared host process. Per-request separation is
diff --git a/src/security/host-execution-policy.test.ts b/src/security/host-execution-policy.test.ts
index 7c36f84d0b..30223ec0ba 100644
--- a/src/security/host-execution-policy.test.ts
+++ b/src/security/host-execution-policy.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import "#veryfront/schemas/_test-setup.ts";
 import { assertEquals } from "#veryfront/testing/assert.ts";
 import { describe, it } from "#veryfront/testing/bdd.ts";
+import { withEnv } from "#veryfront/testing";
 import {
   HOST_PROJECT_EXECUTION_OVERRIDE_ENV,
   isHostProjectExecutionOverrideEnabled,
@@ -42,4 +43,40 @@ describe("security/host-execution-policy operator override", () => {
       );
     }
   });
+
+  it("reads the host environment when no value is supplied", async () => {
+    // Exercises the default parameter, which production uses. Every other case
+    // passes the value explicitly, so without this the getHostEnv path is
+    // never executed and the wiring could silently break.
+    await withEnv({ [HOST_PROJECT_EXECUTION_OVERRIDE_ENV]: "1" }, () => {
+      assertEquals(
+        isHostProjectExecutionOverrideEnabled(),
+        true,
+        "the override must be readable from the host environment",
+      );
+      return Promise.resolve();
+    });
+
+    await withEnv({ [HOST_PROJECT_EXECUTION_OVERRIDE_ENV]: "0" }, () => {
+      assertEquals(
+        isHostProjectExecutionOverrideEnabled(),
+        false,
+        "a negative host value must fail closed",
+      );
+      return Promise.resolve();
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("uses the host environment rather than project env", async () => {
+    // getHostEnv deliberately bypasses the project env overlay, so a project
+    // environment variable of the same name cannot grant host execution.
+    await withEnv({ [HOST_PROJECT_EXECUTION_OVERRIDE_ENV]: "0" }, () => {
+      assertEquals(
+        isHostProjectExecutionOverrideEnabled(),
+        false,
+        "only the host environment decides this grant",
+      );
+      return Promise.resolve();
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/security/host-execution-policy.ts b/src/security/host-execution-policy.ts
index 285cf08c54..215ff4e6fd 100644
--- a/src/security/host-execution-policy.ts
+++ b/src/security/host-execution-policy.ts
@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@
  * `allowHostProjectCodeExecution` capability that every execution surface
  * already consults.
  *
- * Read this once at startup, never per request. `getHostEnv` consults the
- * request-scoped env overlay store before the host environment, so a
- * per-request read would let tenant environment influence the grant.
+ * Read this once at startup rather than per request. `getHostEnv` already
+ * bypasses the project env overlay, so a project variable of the same name
+ * cannot grant execution; reading once keeps the deployment's posture fixed
+ * for the process lifetime and visible in one place.
  */
 
 import { getHostEnv } from "#veryfront/platform/compat/process.ts";
diff --git a/src/server/handlers/request/api/api-handler-wrapper.ts b/src/server/handlers/request/api/api-handler-wrapper.ts
index a12a49cee3..fb81372ea1 100644
--- a/src/server/handlers/request/api/api-handler-wrapper.ts
+++ b/src/server/handlers/request/api/api-handler-wrapper.ts
@@ -85,10 +85,10 @@ export class ApiHandlerWrapper extends BaseHandler {
       typeof fsWrapper.isMultiProjectMode === "function" &&
       fsWrapper.isMultiProjectMode();
 
-    const isSharedRuntime = requiresIsolatedProjectRuntime(ctx);
+    const mustDenyProjectExecution = requiresIsolatedProjectRuntime(ctx);
 
     if (!isMultiProject) {
-      return this.handleWithContext(req, ctx, pathname, isSharedRuntime);
+      return this.handleWithContext(req, ctx, pathname, mustDenyProjectExecution);
     }
 
     const isProduction = ctx.requestContext?.mode === "production";
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ export class ApiHandlerWrapper extends BaseHandler {
       ctx.proxyToken ?? "",
       // Multi-project mode implies a shared runtime, but not that execution is
       // denied: a host-owned entrypoint can still have granted the capability.
-      () => this.handleWithContext(req, ctx, pathname, isSharedRuntime),
+      () => this.handleWithContext(req, ctx, pathname, mustDenyProjectExecution),
       ctx.projectId,
       {
         productionMode: isProduction,
@@ -125,14 +125,14 @@ export class ApiHandlerWrapper extends BaseHandler {
     req: Request,
     ctx: HandlerContext,
     pathname: string,
-    isSharedRuntime: boolean,
+    mustDenyProjectExecution: boolean,
   ): Promise<HandlerResult> {
     return withSpan(
       "api.handleWithContext",
       async () => {
         try {
           if (
-            isSharedRuntime &&
+            mustDenyProjectExecution &&
             (pathname === "/api" || pathname.startsWith("/api/"))
           ) {
             return this.sharedRuntimeExecutionUnavailable(req, ctx, pathname);
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ export class ApiHandlerWrapper extends BaseHandler {
             return this.continue();
           }
 
-          if (isSharedRuntime) {
+          if (mustDenyProjectExecution) {
             return this.sharedRuntimeExecutionUnavailable(req, ctx, pathname);
           }
 
diff --git a/src/server/handlers/request/api/project-discovery.test.ts b/src/server/handlers/request/api/project-discovery.test.ts
index 909bb31fbf..a9c0f6e904 100644
--- a/src/server/handlers/request/api/project-discovery.test.ts
+++ b/src/server/handlers/request/api/project-discovery.test.ts
@@ -137,7 +137,18 @@ describe(
       ctx.allowHostProjectCodeExecution = true;
       await ctx.adapter.fs.writeFile(
         "/granted-project/tools/granted.ts",
-        "export default {};",
+        [
+          'import { tool } from "veryfront/tool";',
+          'import { defineSchema } from "veryfront/schemas";',
+          "",
+          "export default tool({",
+          '  id: "granted_tool",',
+          '  description: "Discovered only when host execution is granted.",',
+          "  inputSchema: defineSchema((v) => v.object({}))(),",
+          "  execute: async () => ({ ok: true }),",
+          "});",
+          "",
+        ].join("\n"),
       );
 
       let reads = 0;
@@ -155,6 +166,15 @@ describe(
         true,
         "an operator-granted shared executor must actually read project source",
       );
+      // `reads > 0` alone is satisfied by any incidental probe, so pin the
+      // primitive itself: discovery must have found the granted project's tool.
+      assertEquals(
+        result.tools.has("granted_tool"),
+        true,
+        `granted discovery must surface the project tool, got ${
+          JSON.stringify([...result.tools.keys()])
+        }`,
+      );
     });
 
     afterAll(async () => {
diff --git a/src/server/handlers/request/api/project-discovery.ts b/src/server/handlers/request/api/project-discovery.ts
index 31f78ff50d..2f63a5850b 100644
--- a/src/server/handlers/request/api/project-discovery.ts
+++ b/src/server/handlers/request/api/project-discovery.ts
@@ -196,6 +196,9 @@ export async function ensureProjectDiscovery(ctx: HandlerContext): Promise<Disco
             : `${key}:snapshot:${sourceSnapshotVersion}`,
           config: ctx.config,
           fsAdapter: ctx.adapter.fs,
+          // Correct by construction, unlike a bare literal elsewhere: the
+          // requiresIsolatedProjectRuntime guard at the top of this function
+          // means control cannot reach here without the capability.
           allowHostProjectCodeExecution: true,
         });
         const result = await discoverAll(discoveryOptions);