## Summary
- queue input after the user submits `/compact` until that manual
compact turn ends
- mirror the same behavior in the app-server TUI
- add regressions for input queued before compact starts and while it is
running
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
This PR adds a new `thread/shellCommand` app server API so clients can
implement `!` shell commands. These commands are executed within the
sandbox, and the command text and output are visible to the model.
The internal implementation mirrors the current TUI `!` behavior.
- persist shell command execution as `CommandExecution` thread items,
including source and formatted output metadata
- bridge live and replayed app-server command execution events back into
the existing `tui_app_server` exec rendering path
This PR also wires `tui_app_server` to submit `!` commands through the
new API.
## Problem
The app-server TUI (`tui_app_server`) lacked composer history support.
Pressing Up/Down to recall previous prompts hit a stub that logged a
warning and displayed "Not available in app-server TUI yet." New
submissions were silently dropped from the shared history file, so
nothing persisted for future sessions.
## Mental model
Codex maintains a single, append-only history file
(`$CODEX_HOME/history.jsonl`) shared across all TUI processes on the
same machine. The legacy (in-process) TUI already reads/writes this file
through `codex_core::message_history`. The app-server TUI delegates most
operations to a separate process over RPC, but history is intentionally
*not* an RPC concern — it's a client-local file.
This PR makes the app-server TUI access the same history file directly,
bypassing the app-server process entirely. The composer's Up/Down
navigation and submit-time persistence now follow the same code paths as
the legacy TUI, with the only difference being *where* the call is
dispatched (locally in `App`, rather than inside `CodexThread`).
The branch is rebuilt directly on top of `upstream/main`, so it keeps
the
existing app-server restore architecture intact.
`AppServerStartedThread`
still restores transcript history from the server `Thread` snapshot via
`thread_snapshot_events`; this PR only adds composer-history support.
## Non-goals
- Adding history support to the app-server protocol. History remains
client-local.
- Changing the on-disk format or location of `history.jsonl`.
- Surfacing history I/O errors to the user (failures are logged and
silently swallowed, matching the legacy TUI).
## Tradeoffs
| Decision | Why | Risk |
|----------|-----|------|
| Widen `message_history` from `pub(crate)` to `pub` | Avoids
duplicating file I/O logic; the module already has a clean, minimal API
surface. | Other workspace crates can now call these functions — the
contract is no longer crate-private. However, this is consistent with
recent precedent: `590cfa617` exposed `mention_syntax` for TUI
consumption, `752402c4f` exposed plugin APIs (`PluginsManager`), and
`14fcb6645`/`edacbf7b6` widened internal core APIs for other crates.
These were all narrow, intentional exposures of specific APIs — not
broad "make internals public" moves. `1af2a37ad` even went the other
direction, reducing broad re-exports to tighten boundaries. This change
follows the same pattern: a small, deliberate API surface (3 functions)
rather than a wholesale visibility change. |
| Intercept `AddToHistory` / `GetHistoryEntryRequest` in `App` before
RPC fallback | Keeps history ops out of the "unsupported op" error path
without changing app-server protocol. | This now routes through a single
`submit_thread_op` entry point, which is safer than the original
duplicated dispatch. The remaining risk is organizational: future
thread-op submission paths need to keep using that shared entry point. |
| `session_configured_from_thread_response` is now `async` | Needs
`await` on `history_metadata()` to populate real `history_log_id` /
`history_entry_count`. | Adds an async file-stat + full-file newline
scan to the session bootstrap path. The scan is bounded by
`history.max_bytes` and matches the legacy TUI's cost profile, but
startup latency still scales with file size. |
## Architecture
```
User presses Up User submits a prompt
│ │
▼ ▼
ChatComposerHistory ChatWidget::do_submit_turn
navigate_up() encode_history_mentions()
│ │
▼ ▼
AppEvent::CodexOp Op::AddToHistory { text }
(GetHistoryEntryRequest) │
│ ▼
▼ App::try_handle_local_history_op
App::try_handle_local_history_op message_history::append_entry()
spawn_blocking { │
message_history::lookup() ▼
} $CODEX_HOME/history.jsonl
│
▼
AppEvent::ThreadEvent
(GetHistoryEntryResponse)
│
▼
ChatComposerHistory::on_entry_response()
```
## Observability
- `tracing::warn` on `append_entry` failure (includes thread ID).
- `tracing::warn` on `spawn_blocking` lookup join error.
- `tracing::warn` from `message_history` internals on file-open, lock,
or parse failures.
## Tests
- `chat_composer_history::tests::navigation_with_async_fetch` — verifies
that Up emits `Op::GetHistoryEntryRequest` (was: checked for stub error
cell).
- `app::tests::history_lookup_response_is_routed_to_requesting_thread` —
verifies multi-thread composer recall routes the lookup result back to
the originating thread.
-
`app_server_session::tests::resume_response_relies_on_snapshot_replay_not_initial_messages`
— verifies app-server session restore still uses the upstream
thread-snapshot path.
-
`app_server_session::tests::session_configured_populates_history_metadata`
— verifies bootstrap sets nonzero `history_log_id` /
`history_entry_count` from the shared local history file.
## Problem
When the TUI connects to a **remote** app-server (via WebSocket), resume
and fork operations lost all conversation history.
`AppServerStartedThread` carried only the `SessionConfigured` event, not
the full `Thread` snapshot. After resume or fork, the chat transcript
was empty — prior turns were silently discarded.
A secondary issue: `primary_session_configured` was not cleared on
reset, causing stale session state after reconnection.
## Approach: TUI-side only, zero app-server changes
The app-server **already returns** the full `Thread` object (with
populated `turns: Vec<Turn>`) in its `ThreadStartResponse`,
`ThreadResumeResponse`, and `ThreadForkResponse`. The data was always
there — the TUI was simply throwing it away. The old
`AppServerStartedThread` struct only kept the `SessionConfiguredEvent`,
discarding the rich turn history that the server had already provided.
This PR fixes the problem entirely within `tui_app_server` (3 files
changed, 0 changes to `app-server`, `app-server-protocol`, or any other
crate). Rather than modifying the server to send history in a different
format or adding a new endpoint, the fix preserves the existing `Thread`
snapshot and replays it through the TUI's standard event pipeline —
making restored sessions indistinguishable from live ones.
## Solution
Add a **thread snapshot replay** path. When the server hands back a
`Thread` object (on start, resume, or fork),
`restore_started_app_server_thread` converts its historical turns into
the same core `Event` sequence the TUI already processes for live
interactions, then replays them into the event store so the chat widget
renders them.
Key changes:
- **`AppServerStartedThread` now carries the full `Thread`** —
`started_thread_from_{start,resume,fork}_response` clone the thread into
the struct alongside the existing `SessionConfiguredEvent`.
- **`thread_snapshot_events()`** walks the thread's turns and items,
producing `TurnStarted` → `ItemCompleted`* →
`TurnComplete`/`TurnAborted` event sequences that the TUI already knows
how to render.
- **`restore_started_app_server_thread()`** pushes the session event +
history events into the thread channel's store, activates the channel,
and replays the snapshot — used for initial startup, resume, and fork.
- **`primary_session_configured` cleared on reset** to prevent stale
session state after reconnection.
## Tradeoffs
- **`Thread` is cloned into `AppServerStartedThread`**: The full thread
snapshot (including all historical turns) is cloned at startup. For
long-lived threads this could be large, but it's a one-time cost and
avoids lifetime gymnastics with the response.
## Tests
- `restore_started_app_server_thread_replays_remote_history` —
end-to-end: constructs a `Thread` with one completed turn, restores it,
and asserts user/agent messages appear in the transcript.
- `bridges_thread_snapshot_turns_for_resume_restore` — unit: verifies
`thread_snapshot_events` produces the correct event sequence for
completed and interrupted turns.
## Test plan
- [ ] Verify `cargo check -p codex-tui-app-server` passes
- [ ] Verify `cargo test -p codex-tui-app-server` passes
- [ ] Manual: connect to a remote app-server, resume an existing thread,
confirm history renders in the chat widget
- [ ] Manual: fork a thread via remote, confirm prior turns appear
This PR replicates the `tui` code directory and creates a temporary
parallel `tui_app_server` directory. It also implements a new feature
flag `tui_app_server` to select between the two tui implementations.
Once the new app-server-based TUI is stabilized, we'll delete the old
`tui` directory and feature flag.
Charley Cunningham ·
Eric Traut ·
Felipe Coury ·
jif-oai ·