diff --git a/plugins/nemo-deployments/src/nemo_deployments_plugin/backends/openshell/backend.py b/plugins/nemo-deployments/src/nemo_deployments_plugin/backends/openshell/backend.py
index 19b334874b..a2878d052e 100644
--- a/plugins/nemo-deployments/src/nemo_deployments_plugin/backends/openshell/backend.py
+++ b/plugins/nemo-deployments/src/nemo_deployments_plugin/backends/openshell/backend.py
@@ -58,7 +58,8 @@
 from nemo_deployments_plugin.entities import Container, DeploymentConfig
 from nemo_deployments_plugin.secrets import SecretResolutionError, resolve_deployment_config_secrets
 from nemo_deployments_plugin.types import DeploymentStatus, Endpoint
-from nemo_platform.resources.entities import AsyncEntitiesResource
+from nemo_platform_plugin.client.adapter import client_from_platform
+from nemo_platform_plugin.entities.client import AsyncEntitiesClient
 from nemo_platform_plugin.entity_client import NemoEntitiesClient, NemoEntityNotFoundError
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@
 
 _OPENSHELL_INSTALL_HINT = (
     "The 'openshell' package is required for OpenShellDeploymentBackend. "
-    "Install it with: uv sync --package nemo-deployments-plugin --extra openshell"
+    'Install it with: uv pip install "openshell>=0.0.92" "grpcio>=1.78.0" "protobuf>=6.31.1"'
 )
 
 _SERVE_LOG = "/tmp/nemo-serve.log"
@@ -154,7 +155,7 @@ class OpenShellDeploymentBackend(DeploymentBackend):
     def init(self) -> None:
         _ensure_openshell()
         self._executor_config = OpenShellExecutorConfig.model_validate(self._config)
-        self._entities = NemoEntitiesClient(AsyncEntitiesResource(self._sdk))
+        self._entities = NemoEntitiesClient(client_from_platform(self._sdk, AsyncEntitiesClient))
         # Build the policy once (fail fast on a bad path/shape). The gateway default
         # policy would not permit the agent's own exec paths, so we always apply one.
         self._policy = self._build_executor_policy()
diff --git a/plugins/nemo-deployments/src/nemo_deployments_plugin/backends/openshell/policy.py b/plugins/nemo-deployments/src/nemo_deployments_plugin/backends/openshell/policy.py
index ed8dbe1c41..8c138a5bb6 100644
--- a/plugins/nemo-deployments/src/nemo_deployments_plugin/backends/openshell/policy.py
+++ b/plugins/nemo-deployments/src/nemo_deployments_plugin/backends/openshell/policy.py
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ def generate_sandbox_policy(*, filesystem: SandboxFilesystem, egress: PlatformEg
 
 _OPENSHELL_INSTALL_HINT = (
     "The 'openshell' package is required to build OpenShell sandbox policies. "
-    "Install it with: uv sync --package nemo-deployments-plugin --extra openshell"
+    'Install it with: uv pip install "openshell>=0.0.92" "grpcio>=1.78.0" "protobuf>=6.31.1"'
 )
 
 
diff --git a/plugins/nemo-deployments/tests/unit/backends/openshell/conftest.py b/plugins/nemo-deployments/tests/unit/backends/openshell/conftest.py
index fc7a442594..3a94d6ee6d 100644
--- a/plugins/nemo-deployments/tests/unit/backends/openshell/conftest.py
+++ b/plugins/nemo-deployments/tests/unit/backends/openshell/conftest.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def openshell_backend(
     mock_sdk: MagicMock, mock_entities: AsyncMock, mock_stub: MagicMock
 ) -> Iterator[OpenShellDeploymentBackend]:
     with (
-        patch("nemo_deployments_plugin.backends.openshell.backend.AsyncEntitiesResource"),
+        patch("nemo_deployments_plugin.backends.openshell.backend.client_from_platform"),
         patch("nemo_deployments_plugin.backends.openshell.backend.NemoEntitiesClient", return_value=mock_entities),
         patch("grpc.insecure_channel", return_value=MagicMock()),
     ):
diff --git a/plugins/nemo-deployments/tests/unit/backends/openshell/test_openshell_backend_mocked.py b/plugins/nemo-deployments/tests/unit/backends/openshell/test_openshell_backend_mocked.py
index 67c1092f19..12a6ba6025 100644
--- a/plugins/nemo-deployments/tests/unit/backends/openshell/test_openshell_backend_mocked.py
+++ b/plugins/nemo-deployments/tests/unit/backends/openshell/test_openshell_backend_mocked.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock, patch
 
 import grpc
+import httpx
 import pytest
 from nemo_deployments_plugin.backends.labels import (
     CONFIG_NAME_LABEL,
@@ -35,6 +36,8 @@
 from nemo_deployments_plugin.constants import MANAGED_BY_LABEL
 from nemo_deployments_plugin.entities import Container, ContainerPort, DeploymentConfig, EnvVar
 from nemo_deployments_plugin.secrets import SecretResolutionError
+from nemo_platform import AsyncNeMoPlatform
+from nemo_platform_plugin.entity_client import NemoEntityNotFoundError
 
 pytest.importorskip("openshell")  # platform-restricted extra; skip where not installed (e.g. CI)
 
@@ -126,6 +129,34 @@ def test_registry_contains_openshell() -> None:
     assert BACKEND_CLASSES["openshell"] is OpenShellDeploymentBackend
 
 
+async def test_load_deployment_config_wraps_an_entities_client_that_accepts_query_params() -> None:
+    """init() must adapt the SDK with client_from_platform(AsyncEntitiesClient), not wrap the
+    raw generated AsyncEntitiesResource (AIRCORE-977).
+
+    NemoEntitiesClient.get() forwards a ``query_params`` kwarg. The generated resource does not
+    accept it, so wrapping the resource made every first reconcile die with
+    ``TypeError: ... unexpected keyword argument 'query_params'`` before any request left the box.
+    Drive the real contract with a live entities client over a mock transport: a 404 must surface
+    as NemoEntityNotFoundError, which is only reachable once ``get_entity_by_name(query_params=...)``
+    is accepted and the request actually goes out.
+    """
+
+    def handler(request: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
+        return httpx.Response(404, json={"detail": "not found"}, request=request)
+
+    sdk = AsyncNeMoPlatform(
+        base_url="http://entities.test",
+        workspace="default",
+        http_client=httpx.AsyncClient(transport=httpx.MockTransport(handler)),
+    )
+    with patch("grpc.insecure_channel", return_value=MagicMock()):
+        backend = OpenShellDeploymentBackend(sdk, {"gateway_endpoint": "http://127.0.0.1:17670"})
+
+    # Old (buggy) wrapping raised TypeError about query_params here; the fix reaches the 404.
+    with pytest.raises(NemoEntityNotFoundError):
+        await backend._load_deployment_config("default", "missing-config")
+
+
 def test_sandbox_name_within_limit_and_deterministic() -> None:
     name = _sandbox_name("a-long-workspace-name", "a-long-deployment-name")
     assert name.startswith("nmp-")