## 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.
this PR enables TUI to approve commands and add their prefixes to an
allowlist:
<img width="708" height="605" alt="Screenshot 2025-11-21 at 4 18 07 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/56a19893-4553-4770-a881-becf79eeda32"
/>
note: we only show the option to whitelist the command when
1) command is not multi-part (e.g `git add -A && git commit -m 'hello
world'`)
2) command is not already matched by an existing rule
This PR moves `ModelsFamily` to `openai_models`. It also propagates
`ModelsManager` to session services and use it to drive model family. We
also make `derive_default_model_family` private because it's a step
towards what we want: one place that gives model configuration.
This is a second step at having one source of truth for models
information and config: `ModelsManager`.
Next steps would be to remove `ModelsFamily` from config. That's massive
because it's being used in 41 occasions mostly pre launching `codex`.
Also, we need to make `find_family_for_model` private. It's also big
because it's being used in 21 occasions ~ all tests.
- Introduce `openai_models` in `/core`
- Move `PRESETS` under it
- Move `ModelPreset`, `ModelUpgrade`, `ReasoningEffortPreset`,
`ReasoningEffortPreset`, and `ReasoningEffortPreset` to `protocol`
- Introduce `Op::ListModels` and `EventMsg::AvailableModels`
Next steps:
- migrate `app-server` and `tui` to use the introduced Operation
### Summary
Added `mcp/servers/list` which is equivalent to `/mcp` slash command in
CLI for response. This will be used in VSCE MCP settings to show log in
status, available tools etc.
If an image can't be read by the API, it will poison the entire history,
preventing any new turn on the conversation.
This detect such cases and replace the image by a placeholder
Add a warning message as a user turn to the model if the model does not
behave as expected (here, for example, if the model opens too many
`unified_exec` sessions)
Title: Improve rollout session initialization error messages
Issue: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/7283
What: add targeted mapping for rollout/session initialization errors so
users get actionable messages when Codex cannot access session files.
Why: session creation previously returned a generic internal error,
hiding permissions/FS issues and making support harder.
How:
- Added rollout::error::map_session_init_error to translate the more
common io::Error kinds into user-facing hints (permission, missing dir,
file blocking, corruption). Others are passed through directly with
`CodexErr::Fatal`.
- Reused the mapper in Codex session creation to preserve root causes
instead of returning InternalAgentDied.
- The total token used returned from the api doesn't account for the
reasoning items before the assistant message
- Account for those for auto compaction
- Add the encrypted reasoning effort in the common tests utils
- Add a test to make sure it works as expected
This introduces a new feature to Codex when it operates as an MCP
_client_ where if an MCP _server_ replies that it has an entry named
`"codex/sandbox-state"` in its _server capabilities_, then Codex will
send it an MCP notification with the following structure:
```json
{
"method": "codex/sandbox-state/update",
"params": {
"sandboxPolicy": {
"type": "workspace-write",
"network-access": false,
"exclude-tmpdir-env-var": false
"exclude-slash-tmp": false
},
"codexLinuxSandboxExe": null,
"sandboxCwd": "/Users/mbolin/code/codex2"
}
}
```
or with whatever values are appropriate for the initial `sandboxPolicy`.
**NOTE:** Codex _should_ continue to send the MCP server notifications
of the same format if these things change over the lifetime of the
thread, but that isn't wired up yet.
The result is that `shell-tool-mcp` can consume these values so that
when it calls `codex_core::exec::process_exec_tool_call()` in
`codex-rs/exec-server/src/posix/escalate_server.rs`, it is now sure to
call it with the correct values (whereas previously we relied on
hardcoded values).
While I would argue this is a supported use case within the MCP
protocol, the `rmcp` crate that we are using today does not support
custom notifications. As such, I had to patch it and I submitted it for
review, so hopefully it will be accepted in some form:
https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/rust-sdk/pull/556
To test out this change from end-to-end:
- I ran `cargo build` in `~/code/codex2/codex-rs/exec-server`
- I built the fork of Bash in `~/code/bash/bash`
- I added the following to my `~/.codex/config.toml`:
```toml
# Use with `codex --disable shell_tool`.
[mcp_servers.execshell]
args = ["--bash", "/Users/mbolin/code/bash/bash"]
command = "/Users/mbolin/code/codex2/codex-rs/target/debug/codex-exec-mcp-server"
```
- From `~/code/codex2/codex-rs`, I ran `just codex --disable shell_tool`
- When the TUI started up, I verified that the sandbox mode is
`workspace-write`
- I ran `/mcp` to verify that the shell tool from the MCP is there:
<img width="1387" height="1400" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1a8addcc-5005-4e16-b59f-95cfd06fd4ab"
/>
- Then I asked it:
> what is the output of `gh issue list`
because this should be auto-approved with our existing dummy policy:
https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/af63e6eccc35783f1bf4dca3c61adb090efb6b8a/codex-rs/exec-server/src/posix.rs#L157-L164
And it worked:
<img width="1387" height="1400" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7568d2f7-80da-4d68-86d0-c265a6f5e6c1"
/>
This updates `ExecParams` so that instead of taking `timeout_ms:
Option<u64>`, it now takes a more general cancellation mechanism,
`ExecExpiration`, which is an enum that includes a
`Cancellation(tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken)` variant.
If the cancellation token is fired, then `process_exec_tool_call()`
returns in the same way as if a timeout was exceeded.
This is necessary so that in #6973, we can manage the timeout logic
external to the `process_exec_tool_call()` because we want to "suspend"
the timeout when an elicitation from a human user is pending.
---
[//]: # (BEGIN SAPLING FOOTER)
Stack created with [Sapling](https://sapling-scm.com). Best reviewed
with [ReviewStack](https://reviewstack.dev/openai/codex/pull/6972).
* #7005
* #6973
* __->__ #6972
This PR adds the API V2 version of the apply_patch approval flow, which
centers around `ThreadItem::FileChange`.
This PR wires the new RPC (`item/fileChange/requestApproval`, V2 only)
and related events (`item/started`, `item/completed` for
`ThreadItem::FileChange`, which are emitted in both V1 and V2) through
the app-server
protocol. The new approval RPC is only sent when the user initiates a
turn with the new `turn/start` API so we don't break backwards
compatibility with VSCE.
Similar to https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/6758, the approach I
took was to make as few changes to the Codex core as possible,
leveraging existing `EventMsg` core events, and translating those in
app-server. I did have to add a few additional fields to
`EventMsg::PatchApplyBegin` and `EventMsg::PatchApplyEnd`, but those
were fairly lightweight.
However, the `EventMsg`s emitted by core are the following:
```
1) Auto-approved (no request for approval)
- EventMsg::PatchApplyBegin
- EventMsg::PatchApplyEnd
2) Approved by user
- EventMsg::ApplyPatchApprovalRequest
- EventMsg::PatchApplyBegin
- EventMsg::PatchApplyEnd
3) Declined by user
- EventMsg::ApplyPatchApprovalRequest
- EventMsg::PatchApplyBegin
- EventMsg::PatchApplyEnd
```
For a request triggering an approval, this would result in:
```
item/fileChange/requestApproval
item/started
item/completed
```
which is different from the `ThreadItem::CommandExecution` flow
introduced in https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/6758, which does the
below and is preferable:
```
item/started
item/commandExecution/requestApproval
item/completed
```
To fix this, we leverage `TurnSummaryStore` on codex_message_processor
to store a little bit of state, allowing us to fire `item/started` and
`item/fileChange/requestApproval` whenever we receive the underlying
`EventMsg::ApplyPatchApprovalRequest`, and no-oping when we receive the
`EventMsg::PatchApplyBegin` later.
This is much less invasive than modifying the order of EventMsg within
core (I tried).
The resulting payloads:
```
{
"method": "item/started",
"params": {
"item": {
"changes": [
{
"diff": "Hello from Codex!\n",
"kind": "add",
"path": "/Users/owen/repos/codex/codex-rs/APPROVAL_DEMO.txt"
}
],
"id": "call_Nxnwj7B3YXigfV6Mwh03d686",
"status": "inProgress",
"type": "fileChange"
}
}
}
```
```
{
"id": 0,
"method": "item/fileChange/requestApproval",
"params": {
"grantRoot": null,
"itemId": "call_Nxnwj7B3YXigfV6Mwh03d686",
"reason": null,
"threadId": "019a9e11-8295-7883-a283-779e06502c6f",
"turnId": "1"
}
}
```
```
{
"id": 0,
"result": {
"decision": "accept"
}
}
```
```
{
"method": "item/completed",
"params": {
"item": {
"changes": [
{
"diff": "Hello from Codex!\n",
"kind": "add",
"path": "/Users/owen/repos/codex/codex-rs/APPROVAL_DEMO.txt"
}
],
"id": "call_Nxnwj7B3YXigfV6Mwh03d686",
"status": "completed",
"type": "fileChange"
}
}
}
```
This reverts commit c2ec477d93.
# 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.
This PR threads execpolicy2 into codex-core.
activated via feature flag: exec_policy (on by default)
reads and parses all .codexpolicy files in `codex_home/codex`
refactored tool runtime API to integrate execpolicy logic
---------
Co-authored-by: Michael Bolin <mbolin@openai.com>
## Summary
Setting `/approvals` before the start of a conversation was not updating
the environment_context for a conversation. Not sure exactly when this
problem was introduced, but this should reduce model confusion
dramatically.
## Testing
- [x] Added unit test to reproduce bug, confirmed fix with update
- [x] Tested locally
This adds the following fields to `ThreadStartResponse` and
`ThreadResumeResponse`:
```rust
pub model: String,
pub model_provider: String,
pub cwd: PathBuf,
pub approval_policy: AskForApproval,
pub sandbox: SandboxPolicy,
pub reasoning_effort: Option<ReasoningEffort>,
```
This is important because these fields are optional in
`ThreadStartParams` and `ThreadResumeParams`, so the caller needs to be
able to determine what values were ultimately used to start/resume the
conversation. (Though note that any of these could be changed later
between turns in the conversation.)
Though to get this information reliably, it must be read from the
internal `SessionConfiguredEvent` that is created in response to the
start of a conversation. Because `SessionConfiguredEvent` (as defined in
`codex-rs/protocol/src/protocol.rs`) did not have all of these fields, a
number of them had to be added as part of this PR.
Because `SessionConfiguredEvent` is referenced in many tests, test
instances of `SessionConfiguredEvent` had to be updated, as well, which
is why this PR touches so many files.
- This PR is to make it on path for truncating by tokens. This path will
be initially used by unified exec and context manager (responsible for
MCP calls mainly).
- We are exposing new config `calls_output_max_tokens`
- Use `tokens` as the main budget unit but truncate based on the model
family by Introducing `TruncationPolicy`.
- Introduce `truncate_text` as a router for truncation based on the
mode.
In next PRs:
- remove truncate_with_line_bytes_budget
- Add the ability to the model to override the token budget.
This PR adds the API V2 version of the command‑execution approval flow
for the shell tool.
This PR wires the new RPC (`item/commandExecution/requestApproval`, V2
only) and related events (`item/started`, `item/completed`, and
`item/commandExecution/delta`, which are emitted in both V1 and V2)
through the app-server
protocol. The new approval RPC is only sent when the user initiates a
turn with the new `turn/start` API so we don't break backwards
compatibility with VSCE.
The approach I took was to make as few changes to the Codex core as
possible, leveraging existing `EventMsg` core events, and translating
those in app-server. I did have to add additional fields to
`EventMsg::ExecCommandEndEvent` to capture the command's input so that
app-server can statelessly transform these events to a
`ThreadItem::CommandExecution` item for the `item/completed` event.
Once we stabilize the API and it's complete enough for our partners, we
can work on migrating the core to be aware of command execution items as
a first-class concept.
**Note**: We'll need followup work to make sure these APIs work for the
unified exec tool, but will wait til that's stable and landed before
doing a pass on app-server.
Example payloads below:
```
{
"method": "item/started",
"params": {
"item": {
"aggregatedOutput": null,
"command": "/bin/zsh -lc 'touch /tmp/should-trigger-approval'",
"cwd": "/Users/owen/repos/codex/codex-rs",
"durationMs": null,
"exitCode": null,
"id": "call_lNWWsbXl1e47qNaYjFRs0dyU",
"parsedCmd": [
{
"cmd": "touch /tmp/should-trigger-approval",
"type": "unknown"
}
],
"status": "inProgress",
"type": "commandExecution"
}
}
}
```
```
{
"id": 0,
"method": "item/commandExecution/requestApproval",
"params": {
"itemId": "call_lNWWsbXl1e47qNaYjFRs0dyU",
"parsedCmd": [
{
"cmd": "touch /tmp/should-trigger-approval",
"type": "unknown"
}
],
"reason": "Need to create file in /tmp which is outside workspace sandbox",
"risk": null,
"threadId": "019a93e8-0a52-7fe3-9808-b6bc40c0989a",
"turnId": "1"
}
}
```
```
{
"id": 0,
"result": {
"acceptSettings": {
"forSession": false
},
"decision": "accept"
}
}
```
```
{
"params": {
"item": {
"aggregatedOutput": null,
"command": "/bin/zsh -lc 'touch /tmp/should-trigger-approval'",
"cwd": "/Users/owen/repos/codex/codex-rs",
"durationMs": 224,
"exitCode": 0,
"id": "call_lNWWsbXl1e47qNaYjFRs0dyU",
"parsedCmd": [
{
"cmd": "touch /tmp/should-trigger-approval",
"type": "unknown"
}
],
"status": "completed",
"type": "commandExecution"
}
}
}
```
This PR does the following:
- Add compact prefix to the summary
- Change the compaction prompt
- Allow multiple compaction for long running tasks
- Filter out summary messages on the following compaction
Considerations:
- Filtering out the summary message isn't the most clean
- Theoretically, we can end up in infinite compaction loop if the user
messages > compaction limit . However, that's not possible in today's
code because we have hard cap on user messages.
- We need to address having multiple user messages because it confuses
the model.
Testing:
- Making sure that after compact we always end up with one user message
(task) and one summary, even on multiple compaction.
core event to app server event mapping:
1. `codex/event/reasoning_content_delta` ->
`item/reasoning/summaryTextDelta`.
2. `codex/event/reasoning_raw_content_delta` ->
`item/reasoning/textDelta`
3. `codex/event/agent_message_content_delta` →
`item/agentMessage/delta`.
4. `codex/event/agent_reasoning_section_break` ->
`item/reasoning/summaryPartAdded`.
Also added a change in core to pass down content index, summary index
and item id from events.
Tested with the `git checkout owen/app_server_test_client && cargo run
-p codex-app-server-test-client -- send-message-v2 "hello"` and verified
that new events are emitted correctly.
zhao-oaiandGitHub
Ahmed IbrahimandGitHub
Michael BolinandGitHub
Shijie RaoandGitHub
jif-oaiandGitHub
Job ChongandGitHub
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