## Summary
- remove the fork-startup `build_initial_context` injection
- keep the reconstructed `reference_context_item` as the fork baseline
until the first real turn
- update fork-history tests and the request snapshot, and add a
`TODO(ccunningham)` for remaining nondiffable initial-context inputs
## Why
Fork startup was appending current-session initial context immediately
after reconstructing the parent rollout, then the first real turn could
emit context updates again. That duplicated model-visible context in the
child rollout.
## Impact
Forked sessions now behave like resume for context seeding: startup
reconstructs history and preserves the prior baseline, and the first
real turn handles any current-session context emission.
---------
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
## Summary
- add a snapshot-style core test for fork startup context injection
followed by first-turn diff injection
- capture the current duplicated startup-plus-turn context behavior
without changing runtime logic
## Testing
- not run locally; relying on CI
- just fmt
---------
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
## Summary
- reuse a guardian subagent session across approvals so reviews keep a
stable prompt cache key and avoid one-shot startup overhead
- clear the guardian child history before each review so prior guardian
decisions do not leak into later approvals
- include the `smart_approvals` -> `guardian_approval` feature flag
rename in the same PR to minimize release latency on a very tight
timeline
- add regression coverage for prompt-cache-key reuse without
prior-review prompt bleed
## Request
- Bug/enhancement request: internal guardian prompt-cache and latency
improvement request
---------
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
Move the general `Apps`, `Skills` and `Plugins` instructions blocks out
of `user_instructions` and into the developer message, with new `Apps ->
Skills -> Plugins` order for better clarity.
Also wrap those sections in stable XML-style instruction tags (like
other sections) and update prompt-layout tests/snapshots. This makes the
tests less brittle in snapshot output (we can parse the sections), and
it consolidates the capability instructions in one place.
#### Tests
Updated snapshots, added tests.
`<AGENTS_MD>` disappearing in snapshots is expected: before this change,
the wrapped user-instructions message was kept alive by `Skills`
content. Now that `Skills` and `Plugins` are in the developer message,
that wrapper only appears when there is real
project-doc/user-instructions content.
---------
Co-authored-by: Charley Cunningham <ccunningham@openai.com>
## Summary
- add `approvals_reviewer = "user" | "guardian_subagent"` as the runtime
control for who reviews approval requests
- route Smart Approvals guardian review through core for command
execution, file changes, managed-network approvals, MCP approvals, and
delegated/subagent approval flows
- expose guardian review in app-server with temporary unstable
`item/autoApprovalReview/{started,completed}` notifications carrying
`targetItemId`, `review`, and `action`
- update the TUI so Smart Approvals can be enabled from `/experimental`,
aligned with the matching `/approvals` mode, and surfaced clearly while
reviews are pending or resolved
## Runtime model
This PR does not introduce a new `approval_policy`.
Instead:
- `approval_policy` still controls when approval is needed
- `approvals_reviewer` controls who reviewable approval requests are
routed to:
- `user`
- `guardian_subagent`
`guardian_subagent` is a carefully prompted reviewer subagent that
gathers relevant context and applies a risk-based decision framework
before approving or denying the request.
The `smart_approvals` feature flag is a rollout/UI gate. Core runtime
behavior keys off `approvals_reviewer`.
When Smart Approvals is enabled from the TUI, it also switches the
current `/approvals` settings to the matching Smart Approvals mode so
users immediately see guardian review in the active thread:
- `approval_policy = on-request`
- `approvals_reviewer = guardian_subagent`
- `sandbox_mode = workspace-write`
Users can still change `/approvals` afterward.
Config-load behavior stays intentionally narrow:
- plain `smart_approvals = true` in `config.toml` remains just the
rollout/UI gate and does not auto-set `approvals_reviewer`
- the deprecated `guardian_approval = true` alias migration does
backfill `approvals_reviewer = "guardian_subagent"` in the same scope
when that reviewer is not already configured there, so old configs
preserve their original guardian-enabled behavior
ARC remains a separate safety check. For MCP tool approvals, ARC
escalations now flow into the configured reviewer instead of always
bypassing guardian and forcing manual review.
## Config stability
The runtime reviewer override is stable, but the config-backed
app-server protocol shape is still settling.
- `thread/start`, `thread/resume`, and `turn/start` keep stable
`approvalsReviewer` overrides
- the config-backed `approvals_reviewer` exposure returned via
`config/read` (including profile-level config) is now marked
`[UNSTABLE]` / experimental in the app-server protocol until we are more
confident in that config surface
## App-server surface
This PR intentionally keeps the guardian app-server shape narrow and
temporary.
It adds generic unstable lifecycle notifications:
- `item/autoApprovalReview/started`
- `item/autoApprovalReview/completed`
with payloads of the form:
- `{ threadId, turnId, targetItemId, review, action? }`
`review` is currently:
- `{ status, riskScore?, riskLevel?, rationale? }`
- where `status` is one of `inProgress`, `approved`, `denied`, or
`aborted`
`action` carries the guardian action summary payload from core when
available. This lets clients render temporary standalone pending-review
UI, including parallel reviews, even when the underlying tool item has
not been emitted yet.
These notifications are explicitly documented as `[UNSTABLE]` and
expected to change soon.
This PR does **not** persist guardian review state onto `thread/read`
tool items. The intended follow-up is to attach guardian review state to
the reviewed tool item lifecycle instead, which would improve
consistency with manual approvals and allow thread history / reconnect
flows to replay guardian review state directly.
## TUI behavior
- `/experimental` exposes the rollout gate as `Smart Approvals`
- enabling it in the TUI enables the feature and switches the current
session to the matching Smart Approvals `/approvals` mode
- disabling it in the TUI clears the persisted `approvals_reviewer`
override when appropriate and returns the session to default manual
review when the effective reviewer changes
- `/approvals` still exposes the reviewer choice directly
- the TUI renders:
- pending guardian review state in the live status footer, including
parallel review aggregation
- resolved approval/denial state in history
## Scope notes
This PR includes the supporting core/runtime work needed to make Smart
Approvals usable end-to-end:
- shell / unified-exec / apply_patch / managed-network / MCP guardian
review
- delegated/subagent approval routing into guardian review
- guardian review risk metadata and action summaries for app-server/TUI
- config/profile/TUI handling for `smart_approvals`, `guardian_approval`
alias migration, and `approvals_reviewer`
- a small internal cleanup of delegated approval forwarding to dedupe
fallback paths and simplify guardian-vs-parent approval waiting (no
intended behavior change)
Out of scope for this PR:
- redesigning the existing manual approval protocol shapes
- persisting guardian review state onto app-server `ThreadItem`s
- delegated MCP elicitation auto-review (the current delegated MCP
guardian shim only covers the legacy `RequestUserInput` path)
---------
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
## Summary
- update the guardian prompting
- clarify the guardian rejection message so an action may still proceed
if the user explicitly approves it after being informed of the risk
## Testing
- cargo run on selected examples
## Summary
- restore the guardian review request snapshot test and its tracked
snapshot after it was dropped from `main`
- make Bazel Rust unit-test wrappers resolve runfiles correctly on
manifest-only platforms like macOS and point Insta at the real workspace
root
- harden the shell-escalation socket-closure assertion so the musl Bazel
test no longer depends on fd reuse behavior
## Verification
- cargo test -p codex-core
guardian_review_request_layout_matches_model_visible_request_snapshot
- cargo test -p codex-shell-escalation
- bazel test //codex-rs/exec:exec-unit-tests
//codex-rs/shell-escalation:shell-escalation-unit-tests
Supersedes #13894.
---------
Co-authored-by: Ahmed Ibrahim <aibrahim@openai.com>
Co-authored-by: viyatb-oai <viyatb@openai.com>
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
## Summary
This test is good, but flakey and we have to figure out some bazel build
issues. Let's get CI back go green and then land a stable version!
## Test Summary
- [x] CI Passes
## Summary
- add the guardian reviewer flow for `on-request` approvals in command,
patch, sandbox-retry, and managed-network approval paths
- keep guardian behind `features.guardian_approval` instead of exposing
a public `approval_policy = guardian` mode
- route ordinary `OnRequest` approvals to the guardian subagent when the
feature is enabled, without changing the public approval-mode surface
## Public model
- public approval modes stay unchanged
- guardian is enabled via `features.guardian_approval`
- when that feature is on, `approval_policy = on-request` keeps the same
approval boundaries but sends those approval requests to the guardian
reviewer instead of the user
- `/experimental` only persists the feature flag; it does not rewrite
`approval_policy`
- CLI and app-server no longer expose a separate `guardian` approval
mode in this PR
## Guardian reviewer
- the reviewer runs as a normal subagent and reuses the existing
subagent/thread machinery
- it is locked to a read-only sandbox and `approval_policy = never`
- it does not inherit user/project exec-policy rules
- it prefers `gpt-5.4` when the current provider exposes it, otherwise
falls back to the parent turn's active model
- it fail-closes on timeout, startup failure, malformed output, or any
other review error
- it currently auto-approves only when `risk_score < 80`
## Review context and policy
- guardian mirrors `OnRequest` approval semantics rather than
introducing a separate approval policy
- explicit `require_escalated` requests follow the same approval surface
as `OnRequest`; the difference is only who reviews them
- managed-network allowlist misses that enter the approval flow are also
reviewed by guardian
- the review prompt includes bounded recent transcript history plus
recent tool call/result evidence
- transcript entries and planned-action strings are truncated with
explicit `<guardian_truncated ... />` markers so large payloads stay
bounded
- apply-patch reviews include the full patch content (without
duplicating the structured `changes` payload)
- the guardian request layout is snapshot-tested using the same
model-visible Responses request formatter used elsewhere in core
## Guardian network behavior
- the guardian subagent inherits the parent session's managed-network
allowlist when one exists, so it can use the same approved network
surface while reviewing
- exact session-scoped network approvals are copied into the guardian
session with protocol/port scope preserved
- those copied approvals are now seeded before the guardian's first turn
is submitted, so inherited approvals are available during any immediate
review-time checks
## Out of scope / follow-ups
- the sandbox-permission validation split was pulled into a separate PR
and is not part of this diff
- a future follow-up can enable `serde_json` preserve-order in
`codex-core` and then simplify the guardian action rendering further
---------
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
maja-openaiandMichael Bolin
Dylan HurdandGitHub