fix(app-server): set originator header from initialize JSON-RPC request (#8873)

**Motivation**
The `originator` header is important for codex-backend’s Responses API
proxy because it identifies the real end client (codex cli, codex vscode
extension, codex exec, future IDEs) and is used to categorize requests
by client for our enterprise compliance API.

Today the `originator` header is set by either:
- the `CODEX_INTERNAL_ORIGINATOR_OVERRIDE` env var (our VSCode extension
does this)
- calling `set_default_originator()` which sets a global immutable
singleton (`codex exec` does this)

For `codex app-server`, we want the `initialize` JSON-RPC request to set
that header because it is a natural place to do so. Example:
```json
{
  "method": "initialize",
  "id": 0,
  "params": {
    "clientInfo": {
      "name": "codex_vscode",
      "title": "Codex VS Code Extension",
      "version": "0.1.0"
    }
  }
}
```
and when app-server receives that request, it can call
`set_default_originator()`. This is a much more natural interface than
asking third party developers to set an env var.

One hiccup is that `originator()` reads the global singleton and locks
in the value, preventing a later `set_default_originator()` call from
setting it. This would be fine but is brittle, since any codepath that
calls `originator()` before app-server can process an `initialize`
JSON-RPC call would prevent app-server from setting it. This was
actually the case with OTEL initialization which runs on boot, but I
also saw this behavior in certain tests.

Instead, what we now do is:
- [unchanged] If `CODEX_INTERNAL_ORIGINATOR_OVERRIDE` env var is set,
`originator()` would return that value and `set_default_originator()`
with some other value does NOT override it.
- [new] If no env var is set, `originator()` would return the default
value which is `codex_cli_rs` UNTIL `set_default_originator()` is called
once, in which case it is set to the new value and becomes immutable.
Later calls to `set_default_originator()` returns
`SetOriginatorError::AlreadyInitialized`.

**Other notes**
- I updated `codex_core::otel_init::build_provider` to accepts a service
name override, and app-server sends a hardcoded `codex_app_server`
service name to distinguish it from `codex_cli_rs` used by default (e.g.
TUI).

**Next steps**
- Update VSCE to set the proper value for `clientInfo.name` on
`initialize` and drop the `CODEX_INTERNAL_ORIGINATOR_OVERRIDE` env var.
- Delete support for `CODEX_INTERNAL_ORIGINATOR_OVERRIDE` in codex-rs.
This commit is contained in:
Owen Lin
2026-01-09 08:17:13 -08:00
committed by GitHub
parent cacdae8c05
commit ea56186c2b
15 changed files with 294 additions and 27 deletions
@@ -21,8 +21,10 @@ use codex_core::AuthManager;
use codex_core::ThreadManager;
use codex_core::config::Config;
use codex_core::config_loader::LoaderOverrides;
use codex_core::default_client::SetOriginatorError;
use codex_core::default_client::USER_AGENT_SUFFIX;
use codex_core::default_client::get_codex_user_agent;
use codex_core::default_client::set_default_originator;
use codex_feedback::CodexFeedback;
use codex_protocol::protocol::SessionSource;
use toml::Value as TomlValue;
@@ -121,6 +123,27 @@ impl MessageProcessor {
title: _title,
version,
} = params.client_info;
if let Err(error) = set_default_originator(name.clone()) {
match error {
SetOriginatorError::InvalidHeaderValue => {
let error = JSONRPCErrorError {
code: INVALID_REQUEST_ERROR_CODE,
message: format!(
"Invalid clientInfo.name: '{name}'. Must be a valid HTTP header value."
),
data: None,
};
self.outgoing.send_error(request_id, error).await;
return;
}
SetOriginatorError::AlreadyInitialized => {
// No-op. This is expected to happen if the originator is already set via env var.
// TODO(owen): Once we remove support for CODEX_INTERNAL_ORIGINATOR_OVERRIDE,
// this will be an unexpected state and we can return a JSON-RPC error indicating
// internal server error.
}
}
}
let user_agent_suffix = format!("{name}; {version}");
if let Ok(mut suffix) = USER_AGENT_SUFFIX.lock() {
*suffix = Some(user_agent_suffix);