Tool suggest still misfires when model needs tool_search, updating the
prompts to further disambiguate it:
- [x] rename it from `tool_suggest` to `request_plugin_install`
- [x] rephrase "suggestion" to "install" in the tool descriptions.
- [x] disambiguate "the tool" vs "the plugin/connector".
Tested with the Codex App and verified it still works.
## Summary
- Tighten `tool_suggest` guidance so it prefers explicit plugin install
requests, while still allowing a connector install when the relevant
plugin is already installed and a needed connector from that plugin is
missing.
- Tell the model not to call `tool_suggest` in parallel with other
tools.
## Testing
- `cargo test -p codex-tools tool_suggest`
- `cargo test -p codex-core tool_suggest`
- [x] Polish tool suggest prompts to distinguish between missing
connectors and discoverable plugins, and be very precise about the
triggering conditions.
- [x] Add mentions of connectors because model always think in connector
terms in its CoT.
- [x] Suppress list_mcp_resources in favor of tool search for available
apps.
## Why
to support a new bring your own search tool in Responses
API(https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/tools-tool-search#client-executed-tool-search)
we migrating our bm25 search tool to use official way to execute search
on client and communicate additional tools to the model.
## What
- replace the legacy `search_tool_bm25` flow with client-executed
`tool_search`
- add protocol, SSE, history, and normalization support for
`tool_search_call` and `tool_search_output`
- return namespaced Codex Apps search results and wire namespaced
follow-up tool calls back into MCP dispatch
### What changed
1. Removed per-turn MCP selection reset in `core/src/tasks/mod.rs`.
2. Added `SessionState::set_mcp_tool_selection(Vec<String>)` in
`core/src/state/session.rs` for authoritative restore behavior (deduped,
order-preserving, empty clears).
3. Added rollout parsing in `core/src/codex.rs` to recover
`active_selected_tools` from prior `search_tool_bm25` outputs:
- tracks matching `call_id`s
- parses function output text JSON
- extracts `active_selected_tools`
- latest valid payload wins
- malformed/non-matching payloads are ignored
4. Applied restore logic to resumed and forked startup paths in
`core/src/codex.rs`.
5. Updated instruction text to session/thread scope in
`core/templates/search_tool/tool_description.md`.
6. Expanded tests in `core/tests/suite/search_tool.rs`, plus unit
coverage in:
- `core/src/codex.rs`
- `core/src/state/session.rs`
### Behavior after change
1. Search activates matched tools.
2. Additional searches union into active selection.
3. Selection survives new turns in the same thread.
4. Resume/fork restores selection from rollout history.
5. Separate threads do not inherit selection unless forked.
## Summary
- Limit `search_tool_bm25` indexing to `codex_apps` tools only, so
non-Apps MCP servers are no longer discoverable through this search
path.
- Move search-tool discovery guidance into the `search_tool_bm25` tool
description (via template include) instead of injecting it as a separate
developer message.
- Update Apps discovery guidance wording to clarify when to use
`search_tool_bm25` for Apps-backed systems (for example Slack, Google
Drive, Jira, Notion) and when to call tools directly.
- Remove dead `core` helper code (`filter_codex_apps_mcp_tools` and
`codex_apps_connector_id`) that is no longer used after the
tool-selection refactor.
- Update `core` search-tool tests to assert codex-apps-only behavior and
to validate guidance from the tool description.
## Validation
- ✅ `just fmt`
- ✅ `cargo test -p codex-core search_tool`
- ⚠️ `cargo test -p codex-core` was attempted, but the run repeatedly
stalled on
`tools::js_repl::tests::js_repl_can_attach_image_via_view_image_tool`.
## Tickets
- None
**Why We Did This**
- The goal is to reduce MCP tool context pollution by not exposing the
full MCP tool list up front
- It forces an explicit discovery step (`search_tool_bm25`) so the model
narrows tool scope before making MCP calls, which helps relevance and
lowers prompt/tool clutter.
**What It Changed**
- Added a new experimental feature flag `search_tool` in
`core/src/features.rs:90` and `core/src/features.rs:430`.
- Added config/schema support for that flag in
`core/config.schema.json:214` and `core/config.schema.json:1235`.
- Added BM25 dependency (`bm25`) in `Cargo.toml:129` and
`core/Cargo.toml:23`.
- Added new tool handler `search_tool_bm25` in
`core/src/tools/handlers/search_tool_bm25.rs:18`.
- Registered the handler and tool spec in
`core/src/tools/handlers/mod.rs:11` and `core/src/tools/spec.rs:780` and
`core/src/tools/spec.rs:1344`.
- Extended `ToolsConfig` to carry `search_tool` enablement in
`core/src/tools/spec.rs:32` and `core/src/tools/spec.rs:56`.
- Injected dedicated developer instructions for tool-discovery workflow
in `core/src/codex.rs:483` and `core/src/codex.rs:1976`, using
`core/templates/search_tool/developer_instructions.md:1`.
- Added session state to store one-shot selected MCP tools in
`core/src/state/session.rs:27` and `core/src/state/session.rs:131`.
- Added filtering so when feature is enabled, only selected MCP tools
are exposed on the next request (then consumed) in
`core/src/codex.rs:3800` and `core/src/codex.rs:3843`.
- Added E2E suite coverage for
enablement/instructions/hide-until-search/one-turn-selection in
`core/tests/suite/search_tool.rs:72`,
`core/tests/suite/search_tool.rs:109`,
`core/tests/suite/search_tool.rs:147`, and
`core/tests/suite/search_tool.rs:218`.
- Refactored test helper utilities to support config-driven tool
collection in `core/tests/suite/tools.rs:281`.
**Net Behavioral Effect**
- With `search_tool` **off**: existing MCP behavior (tools exposed
normally).
- With `search_tool` **on**: MCP tools start hidden, model must call
`search_tool_bm25`, and only returned `selected_tools` are available for
the next model call.
Matthew Zeng ·
Anton Panasenko ·