## 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 stale core tool-spec expectations from `wait` to `wait_agent`
- update the prompt-caching tool-name assertion to match the renamed
tool
- fix the Bazel regressions introduced after #14631 renamed the
multi-agent wait tool
## Testing
- cargo test -p codex-core tools::spec::tests
- cargo test -p codex-core
suite::prompt_caching::prompt_tools_are_consistent_across_requests
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
- make multi_agent stable and enabled by default
- update feature and tool-spec coverage to match the new default
---------
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
Summary
- add the code_mode_only feature flag/config schema and wire its
dependency on code_mode
- update code mode tool descriptions to list nested tools with detailed
headers
- restrict available tools for prompt and exec descriptions when
code_mode_only is enabled and test the behavior
Testing
- Not run (not requested)
- clarify app mentions are in user messages
- clarify what it means for tools to be provided via `codex_apps` MCP
- add plugin descriptions (with basic sanitization) to top-level `##
Plugins` section alongside the corresponding plugin names
- explain that skills from plugins are prefixed with `plugin_name:` in
top-level `##Plugins` section
changes to more logically organize `Apps`, `Skills`, and `Plugins`
instructions will be in a separate PR, as that shuffles dev + user
instructions in ways that change tests broadly.
### Tests
confirmed in local rollout, some new tests.
## Summary
- launch Windows sandboxed children on a private desktop instead of
`Winsta0\Default`
- make private desktop the default while keeping
`windows.sandbox_private_desktop=false` as the escape hatch
- centralize process launch through the shared
`create_process_as_user(...)` path
- scope the private desktop ACL to the launching logon SID
## Why
Today sandboxed Windows commands run on the visible shared desktop. That
leaves an avoidable same-desktop attack surface for window interaction,
spoofing, and related UI/input issues. This change moves sandboxed
commands onto a dedicated per-launch desktop by default so the sandbox
no longer shares `Winsta0\Default` with the user session.
The implementation stays conservative on security with no silent
fallback back to `Winsta0\Default`
If private-desktop setup fails on a machine, users can still opt out
explicitly with `windows.sandbox_private_desktop=false`.
## Validation
- `cargo build -p codex-cli`
- elevated-path `codex exec` desktop-name probe returned
`CodexSandboxDesktop-*`
- elevated-path `codex exec` smoke sweep for shell commands, nested
`pwsh`, jobs, and hidden `notepad` launch
- unelevated-path full private-desktop compatibility sweep via `codex
exec` with `-c windows.sandbox=unelevated`
## Summary
- render code mode tool declarations as single-line TypeScript snippets
- make the JSON schema renderer emit inline object shapes for these
declarations
- update code mode/spec expectations to match the new inline rendering
## Testing
- `just fmt`
- `cargo test -p codex-core render_json_schema_to_typescript`
- `cargo test -p codex-core code_mode_augments_`
- `cargo test -p codex-core --test all exports_all_tools_metadata --
--nocapture`
## Summary
- add targeted diagnostic logging for the
read_only_unless_trusted_requires_approval scenarios in
approval_matrix_covers_all_modes
- add a scoped timeout buffer only for ro_unless_trusted write-file
scenarios: 1000ms -> 2000ms
- keep all other write-file scenarios at 1000ms
## Why
The last two main failures were both in codex-core::all
suite::approvals::approval_matrix_covers_all_modes with exit_code=124 in
the same scenario. This points to execution-time jitter in CI rather
than a semantic approval-policy mismatch.
## Notes
- This does not introduce any >5s timeout and does not
disable/quarantine tests.
- The timeout increase is tightly scoped to the single flaky path and
keeps the matrix deterministic under CI scheduling variance.
This change moves code_mode exec session settings out of the runtime API
and into an optional first-line pragma, so instead of calling runtime
helpers like set_yield_time() or set_max_output_tokens_per_exec_call(),
the model can write // @exec: {"yield_time_ms": ...,
"max_output_tokens": ...} at the top of the freeform exec source. Rust
now parses that pragma before building the source, validates it, and
passes the values directly in the exec start message to the code-mode
broker, which applies them at session start without any worker-runtime
mutation path. The @openai/code_mode module no longer exposes those
setter functions, the docs and grammar were updated to describe the
pragma form, and the existing code_mode tests were converted to use
pragma-based configuration instead.
PR #14005 introduced a regression whereby `codex exec --profile`
overrides were dropped when starting or resuming a thread. That causes
the thread to miss profile-scoped settings like
`model_instructions_file`.
This PR preserve the active profile in the thread start/resume config
overrides so the
app-server rebuild sees the same profile that exec resolved.
Fixes#14515
Summary
- make all code-mode tools accessible as globals so callers only need
`tools.<name>`
- rename text/image helpers and key globals (store, load, ALL_TOOLS,
etc.) to reflect the new shared namespace
- update the JS bridge, runners, descriptions, router, and tests to
follow the new API
Testing
- Not run (not requested)
- Update the code-mode executor, wait handler, and protocol plumbing to
use cell IDs instead of session IDs for node communication
- Switch tool metadata, wait description, and suite tests to refer to
cell IDs so user-visible messages match the new terminology
**Testing**
- Not run (not requested)
**Summary**
- disable the `code_mode_nested_tool_calls_can_run_in_parallel` test on
Windows where `exec_command` is unavailable
**Testing**
- Not run (not requested)
Summary
- pin tests to `test-gpt-5.1-codex` so code-mode suites exercise that
model explicitly
- add a regression test that ensures nested tool calls can execute in
parallel and assert on timing
- refresh `codex-rs/Cargo.lock` for the updated dependency tree (add
`codex-utils-pty`, drop `codex-otel`)
Testing
- Not run (not requested)
Summary
- expose the default yield timeout through code mode runtime so the
handler, wait tool, and protocol share the same 10s value that matches
unified exec
- document the timeout change in the tool descriptions and propagate the
value all the way into the runner metadata
- adjust Cargo.lock to keep the dependency tree in sync with the added
code mode tool dependency
Testing
- Not run (not requested)
## Summary
- start a code mode worker once per turn and let it pump nested tool
calls through a dedicated queue
- simplify code mode request/response dispatch around request ids and
generic runner-unavailable errors
- clean up the code mode process API and runner protocol plumbing
## Testing
- not run yet
## Summary
- address the follow-up review nits from #13996 in a separate PR
- make the approvals test command a raw string and keep the
managed-network path using env proxy routing
- inline `--apply-seccomp-then-exec` in the Linux sandbox inner command
builder
- remove the bubblewrap-specific sandbox metric tag path and drop the
`use_legacy_landlock` shim from `sandbox_tag`/`TurnMetadataState::new`
- restore the `Feature` import that `origin/main` currently still needs
in `connectors.rs`
## Testing
- `cargo test -p codex-linux-sandbox`
- focused `codex-core` tests were rerun/started, but the final
verification pass was interrupted when I pushed at request
## Summary
- make bubblewrap the default Linux sandbox and keep
`use_legacy_landlock` as the only override
- remove `use_linux_sandbox_bwrap` from feature, config, schema, and
docs surfaces
- update Linux sandbox selection, CLI/config plumbing, and related
tests/docs to match the new default
- fold in the follow-up CI fixes for request-permissions responses and
Linux read-only sandbox error text
## Summary
- persist the code mode runner process in the session-scoped code mode
store
- switch the runner protocol from `init` to `start` with explicit
session ids
- handle runner-side session processing without the init waiter queue
## Validation
- just fmt
- cargo check -p codex-core
- node --check codex-rs/core/src/tools/code_mode_runner.cjs
- Clarify that spawn_agent requires explicit user permission for
delegation or parallel agent work.
- Add a regression test covering the new description text.
## Summary
This PR keeps app-server RPC request trace context alive for the full
lifetime of the work that request kicks off (e.g. for `thread/start`,
this is `app-server rpc handler -> tokio background task -> core op
submissions`). Previously we lose trace lineage once the request handler
returns or hands work off to background tasks.
This approach is especially relevant for `thread/start` and other RPC
handlers that run in a non-blocking way. In the near future we'll most
likely want to make all app-server handlers run in a non-blocking way by
default, and only queue operations that must operate in order (e.g.
thread RPCs per thread?), so we want to make sure tracing in app-server
just generally works.
Depends on https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/14300
**Before**
<img width="155" height="207" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c9487459-36f1-436c-beb7-fafeb40737af"
/>
**After**
<img width="299" height="337" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/727392b2-d072-4427-9dc4-0502d8652dea"
/>
## What changed
- Keep request-scoped trace context around until we send the final
response or error, or the connection closes.
- Thread that trace context through detached `thread/start` work so
background startup stays attached to the originating request.
- Pass request trace context through to downstream core operations,
including:
- thread creation
- resume/fork flows
- turn submission
- review
- interrupt
- realtime conversation operations
- Add tracing tests that verify:
- remote W3C trace context is preserved for `thread/start`
- remote W3C trace context is preserved for `turn/start`
- downstream core spans stay under the originating request span
- request-scoped tracing state is cleaned up correctly
- Clean up shutdown behavior so detached background tasks and spawned
threads are drained before process exit.
## 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
## Summary
This PR narrows original image detail handling to a single opt-in
feature:
- `image_detail_original` lets the model request `detail: "original"` on
supported models
- Omitting `detail` preserves the default resized behavior
The model only sees `detail: "original"` guidance when the active model
supports it:
- JS REPL instructions include the guidance and examples only on
supported models
- `view_image` only exposes a `detail` parameter when the feature and
model can use it
The image detail API is intentionally narrow and consistent across both
paths:
- `view_image.detail` supports only `"original"`; otherwise omit the
field
- `codex.emitImage(..., detail)` supports only `"original"`; otherwise
omit the field
- Unsupported explicit values fail clearly at the API boundary instead
of being silently reinterpreted
- Unsupported explicit `detail: "original"` requests fall back to normal
behavior when the feature is disabled or the model does not support
original detail
## Summary
This PR adds two read-only path helpers to `js_repl`:
- `codex.cwd`
- `codex.homeDir`
They are exposed alongside the existing `codex.tmpDir` helper so the
REPL can reference basic host path context without reopening direct
`process` access.
## Implementation
- expose `codex.cwd` and `codex.homeDir` from the js_repl kernel
- make `codex.homeDir` come from the kernel process environment
- pass session dependency env through js_repl kernel startup so
`codex.homeDir` matches the env a shell-launched process would see
- keep existing shell `HOME` population behavior unchanged
- update js_repl prompt/docs and add runtime/integration coverage for
the new helpers
## Summary
- defer fresh-session `build_initial_context()` until the first real
turn instead of seeding model-visible context during startup
- rely on the existing `reference_context_item == None` turn-start path
to inject full initial context on that first real turn (and again after
baseline resets such as compaction)
- add a regression test for `InitialHistory::New` and update affected
deterministic tests / snapshots around developer-message layout,
collaboration instructions, personality updates, and compact request
shapes
## Notes
- this PR does not add any special empty-thread `/compact` behavior
- most of the snapshot churn is the direct result of moving the initial
model-visible context from startup to the first real turn, so first-turn
request layouts no longer contain a pre-user startup copy of permissions
/ environment / other developer-visible context
- remote manual `/compact` with no prior user still skips the remote
compact request; local first-turn `/compact` still issues a compact
request, but that request now reflects the lack of startup-seeded
context
---------
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
- tell agents when a role pins model or reasoning effort so they know
those settings are not changeable
- add prompt-builder coverage for the locked-setting notes
# External (non-OpenAI) Pull Request Requirements
Before opening this Pull Request, please read the dedicated
"Contributing" markdown file or your PR may be closed:
https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/main/docs/contributing.md
If your PR conforms to our contribution guidelines, replace this text
with a detailed and high quality description of your changes.
Include a link to a bug report or enhancement request.
## What changed
- Drop failed websocket connections immediately after a terminal stream
error instead of awaiting a graceful close handshake before forwarding
the error to the caller.
- Keep the success path and the closed-connection guard behavior
unchanged.
## Why this fixes the flake
- The failing integration test waits for the second websocket stream to
surface the model error before issuing a follow-up request.
- On slower runners, the old error path awaited
`ws_stream.close().await` before sending the error downstream. If that
close handshake stalled, the test kept waiting for an error that had
already happened server-side and nextest timed it out.
- Dropping the failed websocket immediately makes the terminal error
observable right away and marks the session closed so the next request
reconnects cleanly instead of depending on a best-effort close
handshake.
## Code or test?
- This is a production logic fix in `codex-api`. The existing websocket
integration test already exercises the regression path.
Summary
- update the code-mode handler, runner, instructions, and error text to
refer to the `exec` tool name everywhere that used to say `code_mode`
- ensure generated documentation strings and tool specs describe `exec`
and rely on the shared `PUBLIC_TOOL_NAME`
- refresh the suite tests so they invoke `exec` instead of the old name
Testing
- Not run (not requested)
## Summary
- add `skill_approval` to `RejectConfig` and the app-server v2
`AskForApproval::Reject` payload so skill-script prompts can be
configured independently from sandbox and rule-based prompts
- update Unix shell escalation to reject prompts based on the actual
decision source, keeping prefix rules tied to `rules`, unmatched command
fallbacks tied to `sandbox_approval`, and skill scripts tied to
`skill_approval`
- regenerate the affected protocol/config schemas and expand
unit/integration coverage for the new flag and skill approval behavior
Pass more params to /compact. This should give us parity with the
/responses endpoint to improve caching.
I'm torn about the MCP await. Blocking will give us parity but it seems
like we explicitly don't block on MCPs. Happy either way
Charley Cunningham ·
pakrym-oai ·
Ahmed Ibrahim ·
sayan-oai ·
Jack Mousseau ·
Won Park ·
iceweasel-oai ·
Channing Conger ·
alexsong-oai ·
Eric Traut ·
Rasmus Rygaard ·
Anton Panasenko ·
viyatb-oai ·
Matthew Zeng ·
Owen Lin ·
Curtis 'Fjord' Hawthorne ·
Celia Chen ·