diff --git a/lib/sandbox/manager.mjs b/lib/sandbox/manager.mjs
index b1c8492..29faaec 100644
--- a/lib/sandbox/manager.mjs
+++ b/lib/sandbox/manager.mjs
@@ -125,6 +125,32 @@ export async function bootstrapSandbox(opts = {}) {
       : { active: false, reason: _initConfig?.failReason ?? 'sandbox not available' };
   }
 
+  // OLP_SANDBOX_DISABLED env-var gate (2026-05-28 PR-B emergency disable):
+  // Live PI231 evidence showed that even with the exit-null guard, HTTP-path
+  // anthropic spawns produced no claude stdout when wrapped (manual exec of
+  // the SAME wrap script in the same process did produce output — root cause
+  // not yet isolated; likely interaction between SandboxManager in-process
+  // proxy sockets and OLP's request-handler event loop). Until the root cause
+  // is debugged + Suite 44-equivalent E2E tests cover the HTTP path, the
+  // sandbox bootstrap is opt-out via OLP_SANDBOX_DISABLED=1 in the server env.
+  //
+  // Default is sandbox-enabled (no env var = try-and-bootstrap). Sandbox is
+  // skipped only when the operator explicitly disables.
+  //
+  // Future PR-B follow-up: investigate the in-process proxy lifecycle
+  // interaction with OLP's HTTP server event loop; capture diagnostic
+  // transcript; ship Suite 44-equivalent that exercises the full HTTP
+  // request → sandbox spawn → response pipeline.
+  if (process.env.OLP_SANDBOX_DISABLED === '1') {
+    _initialized = true;
+    _active = false;
+    _initConfig = { failReason: 'OLP_SANDBOX_DISABLED=1 — sandbox bootstrap skipped by operator' };
+    return {
+      active: false,
+      reason: 'OLP_SANDBOX_DISABLED=1 — sandbox bootstrap skipped by operator',
+    };
+  }
+
   // Reset state for re-bootstrap
   _initialized = false;
   _active = false;