Files
codex/codex-rs/tools
jif-oaiandGitHub 1824685a00 feat: extract shared tool executor interface (#22359)
## Why

Codex still models model-visible tools and executable behavior largely
inside `codex-core`, which makes it harder to evolve the tool system
toward a single reusable abstraction for built-ins, MCP-backed tools,
dynamic tools, and later tools injected from outside core.

This PR takes the next incremental step in that direction by moving the
common execution-facing pieces out of core and separating them from
core-only orchestration. The intent is to let shared tool abstractions
improve in one place, while `codex-core` keeps the parts that are still
inherently host-specific today, such as `ToolInvocation`, dispatch
wiring, and hook integration.

This PR is mostly moving things around. The only interesting piece is
this abstraction:
https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/22359/changes#diff-81af519002548ba51ed102bdaaf77e081d40a1e73a6e5f9b104bbbc96a6f1b3dR13

## What changed

- Added `codex_tools::ToolExecutor<Invocation>` as the shared execution
trait for model-visible tools.
- Moved the reusable execution support types from `codex-core` into
`codex-tools`:
  - `FunctionCallError`
  - `ToolPayload`
  - `ToolOutput`
- Refactored core tool implementations so that execution behavior lives
on `ToolExecutor<ToolInvocation>`, while `ToolHandler` remains the
core-local extension point for hook payloads, telemetry tags, diff
consumers, and other orchestration concerns.
- Kept the registry and dispatch flow behaviorally unchanged while
making the shared/extracted boundary explicit across built-in, MCP,
dynamic, extension-backed, shell, and multi-agent tool handlers.

## Verification

- `cargo test -p codex-tools`
- `just fix -p codex-tools`
- `just fix -p codex-core`
- `cargo test -p codex-core` progressed through the updated tool
surfaces and then hit the existing unrelated multi-agent stack overflow
in
`tools::handlers::multi_agents::tests::tool_handlers_cascade_close_and_resume_and_keep_explicitly_closed_subtrees_closed`.
2026-05-13 11:31:27 +02:00
..

codex-tools

codex-tools is the host-side support crate for building, adapting, and planning tool sets outside codex-core.

It is deliberately not the API that external tool owners should depend on. Crates that contribute ordinary function tools through extensions should use codex-tool-api, which owns only that small executable-tool seam.

Today this crate owns the host-facing tool models and helpers that no longer need to live in core/src/tools/spec.rs or core/src/client_common.rs:

  • aggregate host models such as ToolSpec, ConfiguredToolSpec, LoadableToolSpec, ResponsesApiNamespace, and ResponsesApiNamespaceTool
  • host config and discovery models used while assembling tool sets, including ToolsConfig, discoverable-tool models, and request-plugin-install helpers
  • host adapters such as schema sanitization, MCP/dynamic conversion, code-mode augmentation, and image-detail normalization

That extraction is the first step in a longer migration. The goal is not to move all of core/src/tools into this crate in one shot. Instead, the plan is to peel off reusable pieces in reviewable increments while keeping compatibility-sensitive orchestration in codex-core until the surrounding boundaries are ready.

Vision

Over time, this crate should hold host-side tool machinery that is shared by multiple consumers, for example:

  • host-visible aggregate tool models
  • tool-set planning and discovery helpers
  • MCP and dynamic-tool adaptation into Responses API shapes
  • code-mode compatibility shims that do not depend on codex-core
  • other narrowly scoped host utilities that multiple crates need

The corresponding non-goals are just as important:

  • do not become the extension-facing authoring API for executable tools
  • do not move codex-core orchestration here prematurely
  • do not pull Session / TurnContext / approval flow / runtime execution logic into this crate unless those dependencies have first been split into stable shared interfaces
  • do not turn this crate into a grab-bag for unrelated helper code

Migration approach

The expected migration shape is:

  1. Keep ordinary contributed function-tool authoring in codex-tool-api.
  2. Move host-side planning/adaptation helpers here when they no longer need to stay coupled to codex-core.
  3. Leave compatibility-sensitive adapters in codex-core while downstream call sites are updated.
  4. Only extract higher-level host infrastructure after the crate boundaries are clear and independently testable.

Crate conventions

This crate should start with stricter structure than core/src/tools so it stays easy to grow:

  • src/lib.rs should remain exports-only.
  • Business logic should live in named module files such as foo.rs.
  • Unit tests for foo.rs should live in a sibling foo_tests.rs.
  • The implementation file should wire tests with:
#[cfg(test)]
#[path = "foo_tests.rs"]
mod tests;

If this crate starts accumulating code that needs runtime state from codex-core, that is a sign to revisit the extraction boundary before adding more here.