diff --git a/docs/prompting/media-and-audio.mdx b/docs/prompting/media-and-audio.mdx
index 9796342208..eee56760ee 100644
--- a/docs/prompting/media-and-audio.mdx
+++ b/docs/prompting/media-and-audio.mdx
@@ -186,7 +186,8 @@ asset and builds a bounded H.264 proxy automatically, cached under
 
 `preview`, `play`, Studio, and published player pages use that proxy for
 playback. A render always decodes the original file, so nothing about final
-quality or color is touched.
+quality or color is touched. `snapshot` also reads frames from the original with
+FFmpeg, so it makes no proxy unless you pass `--proxy`.
 
 `hyperframes lint` also flags the asset at info level (`hevc_preview_codec`) so
 you know a proxy is in play. Proxying is optional. Pass `--no-proxy` per
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.proxy.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.proxy.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..098e15412d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.proxy.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import type { StaticProjectServer } from "../utils/staticProjectServer.js";
+
+const mocks = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+  injectMediaCodecMap: vi.fn(async (html: string) => html),
+  resolveProxy: vi.fn(async () => "/unused-proxy-path"),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("../utils/compositionServer.js", () => ({
+  injectMediaCodecMap: mocks.injectMediaCodecMap,
+}));
+vi.mock("@hyperframes/studio-server/proxy-transcoder", async (importOriginal) => ({
+  ...(await importOriginal<typeof import("@hyperframes/studio-server/proxy-transcoder")>()),
+  resolveProxy: mocks.resolveProxy,
+}));
+
+import { serveCapturePage } from "./snapshot.js";
+
+let server: StaticProjectServer | undefined;
+let dir: string | undefined;
+
+afterEach(async () => {
+  await server?.close();
+  server = undefined;
+  if (dir) rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  dir = undefined;
+  vi.clearAllMocks();
+});
+
+/** A project whose hyperframes.json turns media proxies on, with an iPhone-style HEVC clip. */
+function hostileClipProject(): string {
+  dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hf-snapshot-proxy-"));
+  writeFileSync(join(dir, "hyperframes.json"), JSON.stringify({ media: { autoProxy: true } }));
+  writeFileSync(join(dir, "clip.mov"), "fake hevc bytes");
+  return dir;
+}
+
+const html = '<html><head></head><body><video src="clip.mov"></video></body></html>';
+
+describe("serveCapturePage", () => {
+  it("starts no transcode of a hostile clip by default, whatever hyperframes.json says", async () => {
+    server = await serveCapturePage(hostileClipProject(), html, undefined);
+    const proxy = await fetch(`${server.url}clip.mov?hf-proxy=h264`);
+
+    expect(proxy.status).toBe(404);
+    expect(mocks.injectMediaCodecMap).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(mocks.resolveProxy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("serves copies when --proxy asks for them", async () => {
+    server = await serveCapturePage(hostileClipProject(), html, true);
+
+    expect(mocks.injectMediaCodecMap).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.test.ts
index 593fd106c0..4da4a51b40 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.test.ts
@@ -83,11 +83,11 @@ describe("transparent snapshot capture", () => {
     expect(source).toContain('page.screenshot({ type: "png", omitBackground: true })');
   });
 
-  it("exposes --proxy/--no-proxy and forwards the override to the static server", () => {
+  it("exposes --proxy and forwards it to the snapshot page server", () => {
     const source = readFileSync(new URL("./snapshot.ts", import.meta.url), "utf8");
     expect(source).toContain("proxy: {");
     expect(source).toContain("autoProxy: args.proxy as boolean | undefined");
-    expect(source).toContain("opts.autoProxy");
+    expect(source).toContain("serveCapturePage(projectDir, html, opts.autoProxy)");
   });
 
   it("pairs every frame with the frame-exact reference frame under --against", () => {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts
index c2bb3b2ee5..7bd940c2c4 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/snapshot.ts
@@ -463,6 +463,10 @@ export function computeSnapshotTimes(
   return { times: times.map(round), appendedTail: false };
 }
 
+export function serveCapturePage(projectDir: string, html: string, proxy: boolean | undefined) {
+  return serveStaticProjectHtml(projectDir, html, undefined, [], proxy === true);
+}
+
 /**
  * Render key frames from a composition as PNG screenshots.
  * The agent can Read these to verify its output visually.
@@ -506,7 +510,7 @@ async function captureSnapshots(
   // Localize fonts (embed remote @font-face as data URIs, matching the render
   // path) so snapshots render the real font instead of a fallback sans.
   const html = await bundleWithLocalizedFonts(projectDir);
-  const server = await serveStaticProjectHtml(projectDir, html, undefined, [], opts.autoProxy);
+  const server = await serveCapturePage(projectDir, html, opts.autoProxy);
 
   const savedPaths: string[] = [];
 
@@ -1052,7 +1056,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
     proxy: {
       type: "boolean",
       description:
-        "Auto-transcode browser-hostile video codecs for snapshots (default: on; overrides hyperframes.json media.autoProxy)",
+        "Serve browser-playable copies of hostile video codecs to the snapshot page (default: off; frames come from FFmpeg, and each copy transcodes the whole clip)",
       default: undefined,
     },
     "browser-gpu": {