diff --git a/crates/agent-artifact-admission/src/policy.rs b/crates/agent-artifact-admission/src/policy.rs
index 2a1d30ff..f54a2e05 100644
--- a/crates/agent-artifact-admission/src/policy.rs
+++ b/crates/agent-artifact-admission/src/policy.rs
@@ -247,13 +247,15 @@ fn validate_artifact_operands(intent: &InstallIntent, reason_codes: &mut Vec<Rea
     };
     let arguments = &intent.argv[1..];
     let command_prefix_len = match executable {
-        "uv" if arguments.first().is_some_and(|argument| argument == "pip")
-            && arguments
-                .get(1)
-                .is_some_and(|argument| argument == "install") =>
-        {
-            2
-        }
+        "uv" => match uv_active_command_index(arguments) {
+            Some(pip_index)
+                if arguments.get(pip_index).map(String::as_str) == Some("pip")
+                    && arguments.get(pip_index + 1).map(String::as_str) == Some("install") =>
+            {
+                pip_index + 2
+            }
+            _ => return,
+        },
         "npm" | "pnpm" | "yarn" | "bun" | "pip" | "pip3" | "cargo" | "docker" | "podman" => 1,
         _ => return,
     };
@@ -370,10 +372,10 @@ fn is_install_root_selector_value(executable: &str, arguments: &[String], index:
         {
             &["--target", "-t", "--root", "--prefix"]
         }
-        "uv" if arguments.first().is_some_and(|argument| argument == "pip")
-            && arguments
-                .get(1)
-                .is_some_and(|argument| argument == "install") =>
+        "uv" if uv_active_command_index(arguments).is_some_and(|pip_index| {
+            arguments.get(pip_index).map(String::as_str) == Some("pip")
+                && arguments.get(pip_index + 1).map(String::as_str) == Some("install")
+        }) =>
         {
             &["--target", "-t", "--root", "--prefix", "--python", "-p"]
         }
diff --git a/crates/agent-artifact-admission/tests/uv_global_artifact_operand_authority_contract.rs b/crates/agent-artifact-admission/tests/uv_global_artifact_operand_authority_contract.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9001dd7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/agent-artifact-admission/tests/uv_global_artifact_operand_authority_contract.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,183 @@
+use wardnet_agent_artifact_admission::{
+    AdmissionPolicy, ApprovedArtifact, ApprovedManifest, ArtifactCoordinate, DecisionKind,
+    InstallIntent, InstructionSource, InstructionSourceKind, ReasonCode, admission_decision,
+    sha256_hex,
+};
+
+#[test]
+fn approved_uv_install_without_global_parser_options_remains_admissible() {
+    let (policy, intent) = approved_uv_install();
+
+    let decision = admission_decision(&policy, &intent);
+
+    assert_eq!(decision.decision, DecisionKind::Allow);
+    assert!(decision.reason_codes.is_empty());
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn uv_global_options_preserve_undeclared_artifact_causal_evidence() {
+    let (policy, mut hostile) = approved_uv_install();
+    hostile.argv = vec![
+        "uv".to_string(),
+        "--color".to_string(),
+        "never".to_string(),
+        "pip".to_string(),
+        "install".to_string(),
+        "cwl-example==1.2.3".to_string(),
+        "undeclared-example==9.9.9".to_string(),
+        "--require-hashes".to_string(),
+        "--no-deps".to_string(),
+        "--no-python-downloads".to_string(),
+    ];
+
+    let decision = admission_decision(&policy, &hostile);
+
+    assert_eq!(decision.decision, DecisionKind::Block);
+    assert!(
+        decision
+            .reason_codes
+            .contains(&ReasonCode::ForbiddenCommand),
+        "reviewed uv global-option grammar remains outside the deliberately narrow supported install command: {:?}",
+        decision.reason_codes
+    );
+    assert!(
+        decision
+            .reason_codes
+            .contains(&ReasonCode::ArtifactNotApproved),
+        "parser-valid uv global options must not erase causal evidence for an undeclared artifact: {:?}",
+        decision.reason_codes
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        decision.command_sha256,
+        sha256_hex(hostile.argv.join("\u{1f}").as_bytes()),
+        "audit identity must remain bound to the exact submitted argv"
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn uv_global_install_root_value_is_not_fabricated_as_an_artifact_operand() {
+    let (policy, mut intent) = approved_uv_install();
+    intent.argv = vec![
+        "uv".to_string(),
+        "--color".to_string(),
+        "never".to_string(),
+        "pip".to_string(),
+        "install".to_string(),
+        "cwl-example==1.2.3".to_string(),
+        "--target".to_string(),
+        "/tmp/wardnet-admission".to_string(),
+        "--require-hashes".to_string(),
+        "--no-deps".to_string(),
+        "--no-python-downloads".to_string(),
+    ];
+
+    let decision = admission_decision(&policy, &intent);
+
+    assert_eq!(decision.decision, DecisionKind::Block);
+    assert!(
+        decision
+            .reason_codes
+            .contains(&ReasonCode::ForbiddenCommand)
+    );
+    assert!(
+        decision
+            .reason_codes
+            .contains(&ReasonCode::AlternateInstallRoot)
+    );
+    assert!(
+        !decision
+            .reason_codes
+            .contains(&ReasonCode::ArtifactNotApproved),
+        "the consumed --target value is install-root authority, not a package operand: {:?}",
+        decision.reason_codes
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn non_install_uv_grammar_does_not_inherit_artifact_operand_semantics() {
+    let (policy, mut intent) = approved_uv_install();
+    intent.argv = vec![
+        "uv".to_string(),
+        "--color".to_string(),
+        "never".to_string(),
+        "pip".to_string(),
+        "sync".to_string(),
+        "cwl-example==1.2.3".to_string(),
+        "undeclared-example==9.9.9".to_string(),
+        "--no-python-downloads".to_string(),
+    ];
+
+    let decision = admission_decision(&policy, &intent);
+
+    assert_eq!(decision.decision, DecisionKind::Block);
+    assert!(
+        decision
+            .reason_codes
+            .contains(&ReasonCode::ForbiddenCommand)
+    );
+    assert!(
+        !decision
+            .reason_codes
+            .contains(&ReasonCode::ArtifactNotApproved),
+        "non-install uv grammar must not inherit pip-install artifact-operand evidence: {:?}",
+        decision.reason_codes
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        decision.command_sha256,
+        sha256_hex(intent.argv.join("\u{1f}").as_bytes())
+    );
+}
+
+fn approved_uv_install() -> (AdmissionPolicy, InstallIntent) {
+    let artifact = ArtifactCoordinate {
+        ecosystem: "pypi".to_string(),
+        name: "cwl-example".to_string(),
+        version: "1.2.3".to_string(),
+        registry_url: "https://pypi.org/simple".to_string(),
+        owner: "ContextualWisdomLab".to_string(),
+        sha256: "cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc".to_string(),
+        artifact_argument: "cwl-example==1.2.3".to_string(),
+    };
+    let policy = AdmissionPolicy {
+        policy_id: "uv-global-artifact-operand-authority".to_string(),
+        policy_revision: "2026-09-14.1".to_string(),
+        allowed_executables: vec!["uv".to_string()],
+        approved_manifests: vec![ApprovedManifest {
+            workspace_id: "ContextualWisdomLab/wardnet".to_string(),
+            sha256: "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa".to_string(),
+        }],
+        approved_artifacts: vec![ApprovedArtifact {
+            ecosystem: artifact.ecosystem.clone(),
+            name: artifact.name.clone(),
+            version: artifact.version.clone(),
+            registry_url: artifact.registry_url.clone(),
+            owner: artifact.owner.clone(),
+            sha256: artifact.sha256.clone(),
+            artifact_argument: artifact.artifact_argument.clone(),
+        }],
+    };
+    let intent = InstallIntent {
+        request_id: "req-uv-global-artifact-operand-authority".to_string(),
+        actor_id: "agent:wardnet:admission".to_string(),
+        workspace_id: "ContextualWisdomLab/wardnet".to_string(),
+        operation: "install".to_string(),
+        argv: vec![
+            "uv".to_string(),
+            "pip".to_string(),
+            "install".to_string(),
+            "cwl-example==1.2.3".to_string(),
+            "--require-hashes".to_string(),
+            "--no-deps".to_string(),
+            "--no-python-downloads".to_string(),
+        ],
+        manifest_sha256: "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
+            .to_string(),
+        source: InstructionSource {
+            kind: InstructionSourceKind::ReviewedConfig,
+            uri: None,
+            content_sha256: None,
+        },
+        artifacts: vec![artifact],
+    };
+    (policy, intent)
+}