## Why
`execpolicy` currently keys `prefix_rule()` matching off the literal
first token. That works for rules like `["/usr/bin/git"]`, but it means
shared basename rules such as `["git"]` do not help when a caller passes
an absolute executable path like `/usr/bin/git`.
This PR lays the groundwork for basename-aware matching without changing
existing callers yet. It adds typed host-executable metadata and an
opt-in resolution path in `codex-execpolicy`, so a follow-up PR can
adopt the new behavior in `unix_escalation.rs` and other call sites
without having to redesign the policy layer first.
## What Changed
- added `host_executable(name = ..., paths = [...])` to the execpolicy
parser and validated it with `AbsolutePathBuf`
- stored host executable mappings separately from prefix rules inside
`Policy`
- added `MatchOptions` and opt-in `*_with_options()` APIs that preserve
existing behavior by default
- implemented exact-first matching with optional basename fallback,
gated by `host_executable()` allowlists when present
- normalized executable names for cross-platform matching so Windows
paths like `git.exe` can satisfy `host_executable(name = "git", ...)`
- updated `match` / `not_match` example validation to exercise the
host-executable resolution path instead of only raw prefix-rule matching
- preserved source locations for deferred example-validation errors so
policy load failures still point at the right file and line
- surfaced `resolvedProgram` on `RuleMatch` so callers can tell when a
basename rule matched an absolute executable path
- preserved host executable metadata when requirements policies overlay
file-based policies in `core/src/exec_policy.rs`
- documented the new rule shape and CLI behavior in
`execpolicy/README.md`
## Verification
- `cargo test -p codex-execpolicy`
- added coverage in `execpolicy/tests/basic.rs` for parsing, precedence,
empty allowlists, basename fallback, exact-match precedence, and
host-executable-backed `match` / `not_match` examples
- added a regression test in `core/src/exec_policy.rs` to verify
requirements overlays preserve `host_executable()` metadata
- verified `cargo test -p codex-core --lib`, including source-rendering
coverage for deferred validation errors
Adds an optional `justification` parameter to the `prefix_rule()`
execpolicy DSL so policy authors can attach human-readable rationale to
a rule. That justification is propagated through parsing/matching and
can be surfaced to the model (or approval UI) when a command is blocked
or requires approval.
When a command is rejected (or gated behind approval) due to policy, a
generic message makes it hard for the model/user to understand what went
wrong and what to do instead. Allowing policy authors to supply a short
justification improves debuggability and helps guide the model toward
compliant alternatives.
Example:
```python
prefix_rule(
pattern = ["git", "push"],
decision = "forbidden",
justification = "pushing is blocked in this repo",
)
```
If Codex tried to run `git push origin main`, now the failure would
include:
```
`git push origin main` rejected: pushing is blocked in this repo
```
whereas previously, all it was told was:
```
execpolicy forbids this command
```
We decided that `*.rules` is a more fitting (and concise) file extension
than `*.codexpolicy`, so we are changing the file extension for the
"execpolicy" effort. We are also changing the subfolder of `$CODEX_HOME`
from `policy` to `rules` to match.
This PR updates the in-repo docs and we will update the public docs once
the next CLI release goes out.
Locally, I created `~/.codex/rules/default.rules` with the following
contents:
```
prefix_rule(pattern=["gh", "pr", "view"])
```
And then I asked Codex to run:
```
gh pr view 7888 --json title,body,comments
```
and it was able to!
## Refactor of the `execpolicy` crate
To illustrate why we need this refactor, consider an agent attempting to
run `apple | rm -rf ./`. Suppose `apple` is allowed by `execpolicy`.
Before this PR, `execpolicy` would consider `apple` and `pear` and only
render one rule match: `Allow`. We would skip any heuristics checks on
`rm -rf ./` and immediately approve `apple | rm -rf ./` to run.
To fix this, we now thread a `fallback` evaluation function into
`execpolicy` that runs when no `execpolicy` rules match a given command.
In our example, we would run `fallback` on `rm -rf ./` and prevent
`apple | rm -rf ./` from being run without approval.
adding execpolicycheck tool onto codex cli
this is useful for validating policies (can be multiple) against
commands.
it will also surface errors in policy syntax:
<img width="1150" height="281" alt="Screenshot 2025-11-19 at 12 46
21 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8f99b403-564c-4172-acc9-6574a8d13dc3"
/>
this PR also changes output format when there's no match in the CLI.
instead of returning the raw string `noMatch`, we return
`{"noMatch":{}}`
this PR is a rewrite of: https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/6932 (due
to the numerous merge conflicts present in the original PR)
---------
Co-authored-by: Michael Bolin <mbolin@openai.com>
As described in detail in `codex-rs/execpolicy/README.md` introduced in
this PR, `execpolicy` is a tool that lets you define a set of _patterns_
used to match [`execv(3)`](https://linux.die.net/man/3/execv)
invocations. When a pattern is matched, `execpolicy` returns the parsed
version in a structured form that is amenable to static analysis.
The primary use case is to define patterns match commands that should be
auto-approved by a tool such as Codex. This supports a richer pattern
matching mechanism that the sort of prefix-matching we have done to
date, e.g.:
https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/5e40d9d2211737f46136610497bcd9a8271009e0/codex-cli/src/approvals.ts#L333-L354
Note we are still playing with the API and the `system_path` option in
particular still needs some work.
Michael Bolin ·
zhao-oai ·