`SandboxPolicy::ReadOnly` previously implied broad read access and could
not express a narrower read surface.
This change introduces an explicit read-access model so we can support
user-configurable read restrictions in follow-up work, while preserving
current behavior today.
It also ensures unsupported backends fail closed for restricted-read
policies instead of silently granting broader access than intended.
## What
- Added `ReadOnlyAccess` in protocol with:
- `Restricted { include_platform_defaults, readable_roots }`
- `FullAccess`
- Updated `SandboxPolicy` to carry read-access configuration:
- `ReadOnly { access: ReadOnlyAccess }`
- `WorkspaceWrite { ..., read_only_access: ReadOnlyAccess }`
- Preserved existing behavior by defaulting current construction paths
to `ReadOnlyAccess::FullAccess`.
- Threaded the new fields through sandbox policy consumers and call
sites across `core`, `tui`, `linux-sandbox`, `windows-sandbox`, and
related tests.
- Updated Seatbelt policy generation to honor restricted read roots by
emitting scoped read rules when full read access is not granted.
- Added fail-closed behavior on Linux and Windows backends when
restricted read access is requested but not yet implemented there
(`UnsupportedOperation`).
- Regenerated app-server protocol schema and TypeScript artifacts,
including `ReadOnlyAccess`.
## Compatibility / rollout
- Runtime behavior remains unchanged by default (`FullAccess`).
- API/schema changes are in place so future config wiring can enable
restricted read access without another policy-shape migration.
## Human summary
Sandboxing (specifically `LandlockRestrict`) is means that e.g. `sleep
10` fails immediately. Therefore it cannot be interrupted.
In suite::interrupt::test_shell_command_interruption, sleep 10 is issued
at 17:28:16.554 (ToolCall: shell_command {"command":"sleep 10"...}),
then fails at 17:28:16.589 with duration_ms=34, success=false,
exit_code=101, and
Sandbox(LandlockRestrict).
## Codex summary
- set `sandbox_mode = "danger-full-access"` in `interrupt` and
`v2/turn_interrupt` integration tests
- set `sandbox: Some(SandboxMode::DangerFullAccess)` in
`test_codex_jsonrpc_conversation_flow`
- set `sandbox_policy: Some(SandboxPolicy::DangerFullAccess)` in
`command_execution_notifications_include_process_id`
## Why
On some Linux CI environments, command execution fails immediately with
`LandlockRestrict` when sandboxed. These tests are intended to validate
JSON-RPC/task lifecycle behavior (interrupt semantics, command
notification shape/process id, request flow), but early sandbox startup
failure changes turn flow and can trigger extra follow-up requests,
causing flakes.
This change removes environment-specific sandbox startup dependency from
these tests while preserving their primary intent.
## Testing
- not run in this environment (per request)
I've seen this test fail with:
```
- Mock #1.
Expected range of matching incoming requests: == 2
Number of matched incoming requests: 1
```
This is because we pop the wrong task_complete events and then the test
exits. I think this is because the MCP events are now buffered after
https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/8874.
So:
1. clear the buffer before we do any user message sending
2. additionally listen for task start before task complete
3. use the ID from task start to find the correct task complete event.
The second part of breaking up PR
https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/9116
Summary:
- Add `TextElement` / `ByteRange` to protocol user inputs and user
message events with defaults.
- Thread `text_elements` through app-server v1/v2 request handling and
history rebuild.
- Preserve UI metadata only in user input/events (not `ContentItem`)
while keeping local image attachments in user events for rehydration.
Details:
- Protocol: `UserInput::Text` carries `text_elements`;
`UserMessageEvent` carries `text_elements` + `local_images`.
Serialization includes empty vectors for backward compatibility.
- app-server-protocol: v1 defines `V1TextElement` / `V1ByteRange` in
camelCase with conversions; v2 uses its own camelCase wrapper.
- app-server: v1/v2 input mapping includes `text_elements`; thread
history rebuilds include them.
- Core: user event emission preserves UI metadata while model history
stays clean; history replay round-trips the metadata.
Fix flakiness of CI test:
https://github.com/openai/codex/actions/runs/20350530276/job/58473691434?pr=8282
This PR does two things:
1. move the flakiness test to use responses API instead of chat
completion API
2. make mcp_process agnostic to the order of
responses/notifications/requests that come in, by buffering messages not
read
What changed
- Added `outputSchema` support to the app-server APIs, mirroring `codex
exec --output-schema` behavior.
- V1 `sendUserTurn` now accepts `outputSchema` and constrains the final
assistant message for that turn.
- V2 `turn/start` now accepts `outputSchema` and constrains the final
assistant message for that turn (explicitly per-turn only).
Core behavior
- `Op::UserTurn` already supported `final_output_json_schema`; now V1
`sendUserTurn` forwards `outputSchema` into that field.
- `Op::UserInput` now carries `final_output_json_schema` for per-turn
settings updates; core maps it into
`SessionSettingsUpdate.final_output_json_schema` so it applies to the
created turn context.
- V2 `turn/start` does NOT persist the schema via `OverrideTurnContext`
(it’s applied only for the current turn). Other overrides
(cwd/model/etc) keep their existing persistent behavior.
API / docs
- `codex-rs/app-server-protocol/src/protocol/v1.rs`: add `output_schema:
Option<serde_json::Value>` to `SendUserTurnParams` (serialized as
`outputSchema`).
- `codex-rs/app-server-protocol/src/protocol/v2.rs`: add `output_schema:
Option<JsonValue>` to `TurnStartParams` (serialized as `outputSchema`).
- `codex-rs/app-server/README.md`: document `outputSchema` for
`turn/start` and clarify it applies only to the current turn.
- `codex-rs/docs/codex_mcp_interface.md`: document `outputSchema` for v1
`sendUserTurn` and v2 `turn/start`.
Tests added/updated
- New app-server integration tests asserting `outputSchema` is forwarded
into outbound `/responses` requests as `text.format`:
- `codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/output_schema.rs`
- `codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/v2/output_schema.rs`
- Added per-turn semantics tests (schema does not leak to the next
turn):
- `send_user_turn_output_schema_is_per_turn_v1`
- `turn_start_output_schema_is_per_turn_v2`
- Added protocol wire-compat tests for the merged op:
- serialize omits `final_output_json_schema` when `None`
- deserialize works when field is missing
- serialize includes `final_output_json_schema` when `Some(schema)`
Call site updates (high level)
- Updated all `Op::UserInput { .. }` constructions to include
`final_output_json_schema`:
- `codex-rs/app-server/src/codex_message_processor.rs`
- `codex-rs/core/src/codex_delegate.rs`
- `codex-rs/mcp-server/src/codex_tool_runner.rs`
- `codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget.rs`
- `codex-rs/tui2/src/chatwidget.rs`
- plus impacted core tests.
Validation
- `just fmt`
- `cargo test -p codex-core`
- `cargo test -p codex-app-server`
- `cargo test -p codex-mcp-server`
- `cargo test -p codex-tui`
- `cargo test -p codex-tui2`
- `cargo test -p codex-protocol`
- `cargo clippy --all-features --tests --profile dev --fix -- -D
warnings`
Changes the `writable_roots` field of the `WorkspaceWrite` variant of
the `SandboxPolicy` enum from `Vec<PathBuf>` to `Vec<AbsolutePathBuf>`.
This is helpful because now callers can be sure the value is an absolute
path rather than a relative one. (Though when using an absolute path in
a Seatbelt config policy, we still have to _canonicalize_ it first.)
Because `writable_roots` can be read from a config file, it is important
that we are able to resolve relative paths properly using the parent
folder of the config file as the base path.
- 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
There's a lot of visual noise in app-server's integration tests due to
the number of `.expect("<some_msg>")` lines which are largely redundant
/ not very useful. Clean them up by using `anyhow::Result` + `?`
consistently.
Replaces the existing pattern of:
```
let codex_home = TempDir::new().expect("create temp dir");
create_config_toml(codex_home.path()).expect("write config.toml");
let mut mcp = McpProcess::new(codex_home.path())
.await
.expect("spawn mcp process");
timeout(DEFAULT_READ_TIMEOUT, mcp.initialize())
.await
.expect("initialize timeout")
.expect("initialize request");
```
With:
```
let codex_home = TempDir::new()?;
create_config_toml(codex_home.path())?;
let mut mcp = McpProcess::new(codex_home.path()).await?;
timeout(DEFAULT_READ_TIMEOUT, mcp.initialize()).await??;
```
This PR adds support for a model-based summary and risk assessment for
commands that violate the sandbox policy and require user approval. This
aids the user in evaluating whether the command should be approved.
The feature works by taking a failed command and passing it back to the
model and asking it to summarize the command, give it a risk level (low,
medium, high) and a risk category (e.g. "data deletion" or "data
exfiltration"). It uses a new conversation thread so the context in the
existing thread doesn't influence the answer. If the call to the model
fails or takes longer than 5 seconds, it falls back to the current
behavior.
For now, this is an experimental feature and is gated by a config key
`experimental_sandbox_command_assessment`.
Here is a screen shot of the approval prompt showing the risk assessment
and summary.
<img width="723" height="282" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4597dd7c-d5a0-4e9f-9d13-414bd082fd6b"
/>
1. Adds AgentMessage, Reasoning, WebSearch items.
2. Switches the ResponseItem parsing to use new items and then also emit
3. Removes user-item kind and filters out "special" (environment) user
items when returning to clients.
This adds `parsed_cmd: Vec<ParsedCommand>` to `ExecApprovalRequestEvent`
in the core protocol (`protocol/src/protocol.rs`), which is also what
this field is named on `ExecCommandBeginEvent`. Honestly, I don't love
the name (it sounds like a single command, but it is actually a list of
them), but I don't want to get distracted by a naming discussion right
now.
This also adds `parsed_cmd` to `ExecCommandApprovalParams` in
`codex-rs/app-server-protocol/src/protocol.rs`, so it will be available
via `codex app-server`, as well.
For consistency, I also updated `ExecApprovalElicitRequestParams` in
`codex-rs/mcp-server/src/exec_approval.rs` to include this field under
the name `codex_parsed_cmd`, as that struct already has a number of
special `codex_*` fields. Note this is the code for when Codex is used
as an MCP _server_ and therefore has to conform to the official spec for
an MCP elicitation type.
# Extract and Centralize Sandboxing
- Goal: Improve safety and clarity by centralizing sandbox planning and
execution.
- Approach:
- Add planner (ExecPlan) and backend registry (Direct/Seatbelt/Linux)
with run_with_plan.
- Refactor codex.rs to plan-then-execute; handle failures/escalation via
the plan.
- Delegate apply_patch to the codex binary and run it with an empty env
for determinism.
We continue the separation between `codex app-server` and `codex
mcp-server`.
In particular, we introduce a new crate, `codex-app-server-protocol`,
and migrate `codex-rs/protocol/src/mcp_protocol.rs` into it, renaming it
`codex-rs/app-server-protocol/src/protocol.rs`.
Because `ConversationId` was defined in `mcp_protocol.rs`, we move it
into its own file, `codex-rs/protocol/src/conversation_id.rs`, and
because it is referenced in a ton of places, we have to touch a lot of
files as part of this PR.
We also decide to get away from proper JSON-RPC 2.0 semantics, so we
also introduce `codex-rs/app-server-protocol/src/jsonrpc_lite.rs`, which
is basically the same `JSONRPCMessage` type defined in `mcp-types`
except with all of the `"jsonrpc": "2.0"` removed.
Getting rid of `"jsonrpc": "2.0"` makes our serialization logic
considerably simpler, as we can lean heavier on serde to serialize
directly into the wire format that we use now.
Manually curating `protocol-ts/src/lib.rs` was error-prone, as expected.
I finally asked Codex to write some Rust macros so we can ensure that:
- For every variant of `ClientRequest` and `ServerRequest`, there is an
associated `params` and `response` type.
- All response types are included automatically in the output of `codex
generate-ts`.
This is a very large PR with some non-backwards-compatible changes.
Historically, `codex mcp` (or `codex mcp serve`) started a JSON-RPC-ish
server that had two overlapping responsibilities:
- Running an MCP server, providing some basic tool calls.
- Running the app server used to power experiences such as the VS Code
extension.
This PR aims to separate these into distinct concepts:
- `codex mcp-server` for the MCP server
- `codex app-server` for the "application server"
Note `codex mcp` still exists because it already has its own subcommands
for MCP management (`list`, `add`, etc.)
The MCP logic continues to live in `codex-rs/mcp-server` whereas the
refactored app server logic is in the new `codex-rs/app-server` folder.
Note that most of the existing integration tests in
`codex-rs/mcp-server/tests/suite` were actually for the app server, so
all the tests have been moved with the exception of
`codex-rs/mcp-server/tests/suite/mod.rs`.
Because this is already a large diff, I tried not to change more than I
had to, so `codex-rs/app-server/tests/common/mcp_process.rs` still uses
the name `McpProcess` for now, but I will do some mechanical renamings
to things like `AppServer` in subsequent PRs.
While `mcp-server` and `app-server` share some overlapping functionality
(like reading streams of JSONL and dispatching based on message types)
and some differences (completely different message types), I ended up
doing a bit of copypasta between the two crates, as both have somewhat
similar `message_processor.rs` and `outgoing_message.rs` files for now,
though I expect them to diverge more in the near future.
One material change is that of the initialize handshake for `codex
app-server`, as we no longer use the MCP types for that handshake.
Instead, we update `codex-rs/protocol/src/mcp_protocol.rs` to add an
`Initialize` variant to `ClientRequest`, which takes the `ClientInfo`
object we need to update the `USER_AGENT_SUFFIX` in
`codex-rs/app-server/src/message_processor.rs`.
One other material change is in
`codex-rs/app-server/src/codex_message_processor.rs` where I eliminated
a use of the `send_event_as_notification()` method I am generally trying
to deprecate (because it blindly maps an `EventMsg` into a
`JSONNotification`) in favor of `send_server_notification()`, which
takes a `ServerNotification`, as that is intended to be a custom enum of
all notification types supported by the app server. So to make this
update, I had to introduce a new variant of `ServerNotification`,
`SessionConfigured`, which is a non-backwards compatible change with the
old `codex mcp`, and clients will have to be updated after the next
release that contains this PR. Note that
`codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/list_resume.rs` also had to be update
to reflect this change.
I introduced `codex-rs/utils/json-to-toml/src/lib.rs` as a small utility
crate to avoid some of the copying between `mcp-server` and
`app-server`.
Michael Bolin ·
jif-oai ·
gt-oai ·
charley-oai ·
Celia Chen ·
Anton Panasenko ·
Eric Traut ·
Ahmed Ibrahim ·
pakrym-oai ·
Owen Lin ·