## Why
The TUI currently handles keyboard shortcuts as hard-coded event matches
spread across app, composer, pager, list, approval, and navigation code.
That makes shortcuts hard to customize, makes displayed hints easy to
drift from actual behavior, and makes future keymap work riskier because
there is no central action inventory.
This PR adds the foundation for configurable, action-based keymaps
without adding the interactive remapping UI yet. Onboarding
intentionally stays on fixed startup shortcuts because users cannot
reasonably configure keymaps before completing onboarding.
This is PR1 in the keymap stack:
- PR1: #18593: configurable keymap foundation
- PR2: #18594: `/keymap` picker and guided remapping UI
- PR3: #18595: Vim composer mode and the remap option
## Design Notes
The new model resolves named actions into concrete runtime bindings once
from config, then passes those bindings to the UI surfaces that handle
input or render shortcut hints.
The main concepts are:
- **Context**: a scope where an action is active, such as `global`,
`chat`, `composer`, `editor`, `pager`, `list`, or `approval`.
- **Action**: a named operation inside a context, such as
`global.open_transcript`, `composer.submit`, or `pager.close`.
- **Binding**: one or more single-key shortcuts assigned to an action,
written as config strings such as `ctrl-t`, `alt-backspace`, or
`page-down`. Multi-step sequences such as `ctrl-x ctrl-s`, `g g`, or
leader-key flows are not part of this PR.
- **Resolution order**: context-specific config wins first, supported
global fallbacks come next, and built-in defaults fill in anything
unset.
- **Explicit unbinding**: an empty array removes an action binding in
that scope and does not fall through to a fallback binding.
- **Conflict validation**: a resolved keymap rejects duplicate active
bindings inside the same scope so one keypress cannot dispatch two
actions.
## What Changed
- Added `TuiKeymap` config support under `[tui.keymap]`, including typed
contexts/actions, key alias normalization, generated schema coverage,
and user-facing config errors.
- Added `RuntimeKeymap` resolution in `codex-rs/tui/src/keymap.rs`,
including fallback precedence, built-in defaults, explicit unbinding,
and per-context conflict validation.
- Rewired existing TUI handlers to consume resolved keymap actions
instead of directly matching hard-coded keys in each component.
- Updated key hint rendering and footer/pager/list surfaces so displayed
shortcuts follow the resolved keymap.
- Kept onboarding shortcuts fixed in
`codex-rs/tui/src/onboarding/keys.rs` instead of exposing them through
`[tui.keymap]`.
## Validation
The branch includes focused coverage for config parsing, key
normalization, runtime fallback resolution, explicit unbinding,
duplicate-key conflict validation, default keymap consistency,
onboarding startup key behavior, and UI hint snapshots affected by
resolved key bindings.
## Why
Fixes#19702.
The TUI markdown renderer could visually attach the next list marker to
a fenced code block inside the previous list item, even when the source
markdown included a blank line before the next item. That made
block-heavy loose lists harder to read, while the desired behavior is
still to keep simple lists compact.
## What changed
- Track whether the current rendered list item contains a code block.
- Preserve one blank separator before the following list marker only
when the previous item contained a code block.
- Add regression coverage for both paths: code-block list items keep the
separator, and simple loose list items stay compact.
## Verification
- `cargo test -p codex-tui markdown_render`
I also manually verified that the bug exists before and is fixed after.
## Before
<img width="437" height="240" alt="Screenshot 2026-04-26 at 1 19 01 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3bc9d64d-2dba-40d9-9d6b-a1d0b3c0f728"
/>
## After
<img width="410" height="269" alt="Screenshot 2026-04-26 at 1 18 54 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/19c15bee-da32-455e-a7cb-e05eb85f4ea0"
/>
## Why
Fixes#19508.
In a fresh TUI session, pressing `Esc` twice entered the rewind
transcript overlay even though there was no user message to rewind to.
That produced an empty header-only transcript view and exposed a rewind
flow that could not select a valid target.
## What changed
The backtrack flow now checks whether a user-message rewind target
exists before opening the transcript preview. If no target exists, Codex
stays in the main TUI and shows `No previous message to edit.` instead
of opening an empty overlay.
The same guard applies when starting rewind preview from the transcript
overlay, and the first `Esc` no longer advertises the “edit previous
message” hint when there is no previous message available.
Snapshot coverage was added for the unavailable rewind info message,
along with a small target-detection test.
## Summary
- tighten the external migration prompt snapshot around stable synthetic
fixture text
- add focused display_description tests for relative path rewriting and
plugin summaries
- split the path-format assertions into smaller, easier-to-read unit
tests
## Why
The previous prompt snapshot was coupled to path text that came from
detected migration items, which made it noisier and more brittle than
necessary. This change keeps the snapshot focused on stable UI structure
and moves dynamic path formatting checks into targeted unit tests.
## Validation
- cargo test -p codex-tui external_agent_config_migration::tests::
- cargo test -p codex-tui
external_agent_config_migration::tests::display_description_
- just fmt
## Notes
Per the repo instructions, I did not rerun tests after the final `just
fmt` pass.
Fixes stale test fixtures left after the active bundled model catalog
updates in #18586 and #18388. Those changes made `gpt-5.4` the current
default and removed several older hardcoded slugs, which left Windows
Bazel shards failing TUI and config tests.
What changed:
- Refresh TUI model migration, availability NUX, plan-mode, status, and
snapshot fixtures to use active bundled model slugs.
- Update the config edit test expectation for the TOML-quoted
`"gpt-5.2"` migration key.
- Move the model catalog tests into
`codex-rs/tui/src/app/tests/model_catalog.rs` so touching them does not
trip the blob-size policy for `app.rs`.
Verification:
- CI Bazel/lint checks are expected to cover the affected test shards.
Fixes#18539.
## Summary
The recent `/mcp` performance work kept the default command fast by
avoiding resource and resource-template inventory probes, but it also
removed useful diagnostics for users trying to confirm MCP server state.
This keeps bare `/mcp` on the fast tools/auth path and adds `/mcp
verbose` for the slower diagnostic view. Verbose mode requests full MCP
server status from the app-server and restores status, resources, and
resource templates in the TUI output.
## Testing
In addition to running automation, I manually tested the feature to
confirm that it works.
The TUI supports long-running turns and agent threads, but quick side
questions have required interrupting the main flow or manually
forking/navigating threads. This PR adds a guarded `/side` flow so users
can ask brief side-conversation questions in an ephemeral fork while
keeping the primary thread focused. This also helps address the feature
request in #18125.
The implementation creates one side conversation at a time, lets `/side`
open either an empty side thread or immediately submit `/side
<question>`, and returns to the parent with Esc or Ctrl+C. Side
conversations get hidden developer guardrails that treat inherited
history as reference-only and steer the model away from workspace
mutations unless explicitly requested in the side conversation.
The TUI hides most slash commands while side mode is active, leaving
only `/copy`, `/diff`, `/mention`, and `/status` available there.
- When launching the TUI client, if YOLO mode is enabled, display this
in the header.
- Eligibility is determined by `approval_policy = "never"` and
`sandbox_mode = "danger-full-access"`
<img width="886" height="230" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d7064778-e32c-4123-8e44-ca0c9016ab09"
/>
## What
Show an inline `ctrl + t to view transcript` hint when exec output is
truncated in the main TUI chat view.
## Why
Today, truncated exec output shows `… +N lines`, but it does not tell
users that the full content is already available through the existing
transcript overlay. That makes hidden output feel lost instead of
discoverable.
This change closes that discoverability gap without introducing a new
interaction model.
Fixes: CLI-5740
## How
- added an output-specific truncation hint in `ExecCell` rendering
- applied that hint in both exec-output truncation paths:
- logical head/tail truncation before wrapping
- row-budget truncation after wrapping
- preserved the existing row-budget behavior on narrow terminals by
reserving space for the longer hint line
- updated the relevant snapshot and added targeted regression coverage
## Intentional design decisions
- **Aligned shortcut styling with the visible footer UI**
The inline hint uses `ctrl + t`, not `Ctrl+T`, to match the TUI’s
rendered key-hint style.
- **Kept the noun `transcript`**
The product already exposes this flow as the transcript overlay, so the
hint points at the existing concept instead of inventing a new label.
- **Preserved narrow-terminal behavior**
The longer hint text is accounted for in the row-budget truncation path
so the visible output still respects the existing viewport cap.
- **Did not add the hint to long command truncation**
This PR only changes hidden **output** truncation. Long command
truncation still uses the plain ellipsis form because `ctrl + t` is not
the same kind of “show hidden output” escape hatch there.
- **Did not widen scope to other truncation surfaces**
This does not change MCP/tool-call truncation in `history_cell.rs`, and
it does not change transcript-overlay behavior itself.
## Validation
### Automated
- `just fmt`
- `cargo test -p codex-tui`
### Manual
- ran `just tui-with-exec-server`
- executed `!seq 1 200`
- confirmed the main view showed the new `ctrl + t to view transcript`
truncation hint
- pressed `ctrl + t` and confirmed the transcript overlay still exposed
the full output
- closed the overlay and returned to the main view
## Visual proof
Screenshot/video attached in the PR UI showing:
- the truncated exec output row with the new hint
- the transcript overlay after `ctrl + t`
Fast Mode status was still tied to one model name in the TUI and
model-list plumbing. This changes the model metadata shape so a model
can advertise additional speed tiers, carries that field through the
app-server model list, and uses it to decide when to show Fast Mode
status.
For people using Codex, the behavior is intended to stay the same for
existing models. Fast Mode still requires the existing signed-in /
feature-gated path; the difference is that the UI can now recognize any
model the model list marks as Fast-capable, instead of requiring a new
client-side slug check.
Addresses #16244
This was a performance regression introduced when we moved the TUI on
top of the app server API.
Problem: `/mcp` rebuilt a full MCP inventory through
`mcpServerStatus/list`, including resources and resource templates that
made the TUI wait on slow inventory probes.
Solution: add a lightweight `detail` mode to `mcpServerStatus/list`,
have `/mcp` request tools-and-auth only, and cover the fast path with
app-server and TUI tests.
Testing: Confirmed slow (multi-second) response prior to change and
immediate response after change.
I considered two options:
1. Change the existing `mcpServerStatus/list` API to accept an optional
"details" parameter so callers can request only a subset of the
information.
2. Add a separate `mcpServer/list` API that returns only the servers,
tools, and auth but omits the resources.
I chose option 1, but option 2 is also a reasonable approach.
Problem: The resume picker used awkward "Created at" and "Updated at"
headers, and its relative timestamps changed while navigating because
they were recomputed on each redraw.
Solution: Rename the headers to "Created" and "Updated", and anchor
relative timestamp formatting to the picker load time so the displayed
ages stay stable while browsing.
## Why
Now that workspace crate features have been removed and
`.github/scripts/verify_cargo_workspace_manifests.py` hard-bans new
ones, Rust CI should stop building and testing with `--all-features`.
Keeping `--all-features` in CI no longer buys us meaningful coverage for
`codex-rs`, but it still makes the workflow look like we rely on Cargo
feature permutations that we are explicitly trying to eliminate. It also
leaves stale examples in the repo that suggest `--all-features` is a
normal or recommended way to run the workspace.
## What changed
- removed `--all-features` from the Rust CI `cargo chef cook`, `cargo
clippy`, and `cargo nextest` invocations in
`.github/workflows/rust-ci-full.yml`
- updated the `just test` guidance in `justfile` to reflect that
workspace crate features are banned and there should be no need to add
`--all-features`
- updated the multiline command example and snapshot in
`codex-rs/tui/src/history_cell.rs` to stop rendering `cargo test
--all-features --quiet`
- tightened the verifier docstring in
`.github/scripts/verify_cargo_workspace_manifests.py` so it no longer
talks about temporary remaining exceptions
## How tested
- `python3 .github/scripts/verify_cargo_workspace_manifests.py`
- `cargo test -p codex-tui`
This is a follow-up to https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/15922. That
previous PR deleted the old `tui` directory and left the new
`tui_app_server` directory in place. This PR renames `tui_app_server` to
`tui` and fixes up all references.
## Summary
- Moves status surface refresh (`refresh_status_surfaces` /
`refresh_status_line`) from `App` event handlers into `ChatWidget`
setters via a new `refresh_model_dependent_surfaces()` method
- Ensures model-dependent UI stays in sync whenever collaboration mode,
model, or reasoning effort changes, including the footer and terminal
title in both `tui` and `tui_app_server`
- Applies the fix to both `tui` and `tui_app_server` widgets
#15961
## Test plan
- [x] Added snapshot test
`status_line_model_with_reasoning_plan_mode_footer` verifying footer
renders correctly in plan mode
- [x] Added
`terminal_title_model_updates_on_model_change_without_manual_refresh` in
`tui_app_server`
- [ ] Verify switching collaboration modes updates the footer in real
TUI
- [ ] Verify model/reasoning effort changes reflect in the status bar
and terminal title
---------
Co-authored-by: Eric Traut <etraut@openai.com>
This is the part 1 of 2 PRs that will delete the `tui` /
`tui_app_server` split. This part simply deletes the existing `tui`
directory and marks the `tui_app_server` feature flag as removed. I left
the `tui_app_server` feature flag in place for now so its presence
doesn't result in an error. It is simply ignored.
Part 2 will rename the `tui_app_server` directory `tui`. I did this as
two parts to reduce visible code churn.
## Summary
- detect custom prompts in `$CODEX_HOME/prompts` during TUI startup
- show a deprecation notice only when prompts are present, with guidance
to use `$skill-creator`
- add TUI tests and snapshot coverage for present, missing, and empty
prompts directories
## Testing
- Manually tested
Make `interrupted` an agent state and make it not final. As a result, a
`wait` won't return on an interrupted agent and no notification will be
send to the parent agent.
The rationals are:
* If a user interrupt a sub-agent for any reason, you don't want the
parent agent to instantaneously ask the sub-agent to restart
* If a parent agent interrupt a sub-agent, no need to add a noisy
notification in the parent agen
- include the requested sub-agent model and reasoning effort in the
spawn begin event\n- render that metadata next to the spawned agent name
and role in the TUI transcript
---------
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
- add a speed row to the startup/session header under the model row
- render the speed row with the same styling pattern as the model row,
using /fast to change
- show only Fast or Standard to users and update the affected snapshots
---------
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
- override startup tooltips with model availability NUX and persist
per-model show counts in config
- stop showing each model after four exposures and fall back to normal
tooltips
## Problem
The TUI diff renderer uses hardcoded background palettes for
insert/delete lines that don't respect the user's chosen syntax theme.
When a theme defines `markup.inserted` / `markup.deleted` scope
backgrounds (the convention used by GitHub, Solarized, Monokai, and most
VS Code themes), those colors are ignored — the diff always renders with
the same green/red tints regardless of theme selection.
Separately, ANSI-16 terminals (and Windows Terminal sessions misreported
as ANSI-16) rendered diff backgrounds as full-saturation blocks that
obliterated syntax token colors, making highlighted diffs unreadable.
## Mental model
Diff backgrounds are resolved in three layers:
1. **Color level detection** — `diff_color_level_for_terminal()` maps
the raw `supports-color` probe + Windows Terminal heuristics to a
`DiffColorLevel` (TrueColor / Ansi256 / Ansi16). Windows Terminal gets
promoted from Ansi16 to TrueColor when `WT_SESSION` is present.
2. **Background resolution** — `resolve_diff_backgrounds()` queries the
active syntax theme for `markup.inserted`/`markup.deleted` (falling back
to `diff.inserted`/`diff.deleted`), then overlays those on top of the
hardcoded palette. For ANSI-256, theme RGB values are quantized to the
nearest xterm-256 index. For ANSI-16, backgrounds are `None`
(foreground-only).
3. **Style composition** — The resolved `ResolvedDiffBackgrounds` is
threaded through every call to `style_add`, `style_del`, `style_sign_*`,
and `style_line_bg_for`, which decide how to compose
foreground+background for each line kind and theme variant.
A new `RichDiffColorLevel` type (a subset of `DiffColorLevel` without
Ansi16) encodes the invariant "we have enough depth for tinted
backgrounds" at the type level, so background-producing functions have
exhaustive matches without unreachable arms.
## Non-goals
- No change to gutter (line number column) styling — gutter backgrounds
still use the hardcoded palette.
- No per-token scope background resolution — this is line-level
background only; syntax token colors come from the existing
`highlight_code_to_styled_spans` path.
- No dark/light theme auto-switching from scope backgrounds —
`DiffTheme` is still determined by querying the terminal's background
color.
## Tradeoffs
- **Theme trust vs. visual safety:** When a theme defines scope
backgrounds, we trust them unconditionally for rich color levels. A
badly authored theme could produce illegible combinations. The fallback
for `None` backgrounds (foreground-only) is intentionally conservative.
- **Quantization quality:** ANSI-256 quantization uses perceptual
distance across indices 16–255, skipping system colors. The result is
approximate — a subtle theme tint may land on a noticeably different
xterm index.
- **Single-query caching:** `resolve_diff_backgrounds` is called once
per `render_change` invocation (i.e., once per file in a diff). If the
theme changes mid-render (live preview), the next file picks up the new
backgrounds.
## Architecture
Files changed:
| File | Role |
|---|---|
| `tui/src/render/highlight.rs` | New: `DiffScopeBackgroundRgbs`,
`diff_scope_background_rgbs()`, scope extraction helpers |
| `tui/src/diff_render.rs` | New: `RichDiffColorLevel`,
`ResolvedDiffBackgrounds`, `resolve_diff_backgrounds*`,
`quantize_rgb_to_ansi256`, Windows Terminal promotion; modified: all
style helpers to accept/thread `ResolvedDiffBackgrounds` |
The scope-extraction code lives in `highlight.rs` because it uses
`syntect::highlighting::Highlighter` and the theme singleton. The
resolution and quantization logic lives in `diff_render.rs` because it
depends on diff-specific types (`DiffTheme`, `DiffColorLevel`, ratatui
`Color`).
## Observability
No runtime logging was added. The most useful debugging aid is the
`diff_color_level_for_terminal` function, which is pure and fully
unit-tested — to diagnose a color-depth mismatch, log its four inputs
(`StdoutColorLevel`, `TerminalName`, `WT_SESSION` presence,
`FORCE_COLOR` presence).
Scope resolution can be tested by loading a custom `.tmTheme` with known
`markup.inserted` / `markup.deleted` backgrounds and checking the diff
output in a truecolor terminal.
## Tests
- **Windows Terminal promotion:** 7 unit tests cover every branch of
`diff_color_level_for_terminal` (ANSI-16 promotion, `WT_SESSION`
unconditional promotion, `FORCE_COLOR` suppression, conservative
`Unknown` level).
- **ANSI-16 foreground-only:** Tests verify that `style_add`,
`style_del`, `style_sign_*`, `style_line_bg_for`, and `style_gutter_for`
all return `None` backgrounds on ANSI-16.
- **Scope resolution:** Tests verify `markup.*` preference over
`diff.*`, `None` when no scope matches, bundled theme resolution, and
custom `.tmTheme` round-trip.
- **Quantization:** Test verifies ANSI-256 quantization of a known RGB
triple.
- **Insta snapshots:** 2 new snapshot tests
(`ansi16_insert_delete_no_background`,
`theme_scope_background_resolution`) lock visual output.
## Summary
- Promote ANSI-16 to truecolor for diff rendering when running inside
Windows Terminal
- Respect explicit `FORCE_COLOR` override, skipping promotion when set
- Extract a pure `diff_color_level_for_terminal` function for
testability
- Strip background tints from ANSI-16 diff output, rendering add/delete
lines with foreground color only
- Introduce `RichDiffColorLevel` to type-safely restrict background
fills to truecolor and ansi256
## Problem
Windows Terminal fully supports 24-bit (truecolor) rendering but often
does not provide the usual TERM metadata (`TERM`, `TERM_PROGRAM`,
`COLORTERM`) in `cmd.exe`/PowerShell sessions. In those environments,
`supports-color` can report only ANSI-16 support. The diff renderer
therefore falls back to a 16-color palette, producing washed-out,
hard-to-read diffs.
The screenshots below demonstrate that both PowerShell and cmd.exe don't
set any `*TERM*` environment variables.
| PowerShell | cmd.exe |
|---|---|
| <img width="2032" height="1162" alt="SCR-20260226-nfvy"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/59e968cc-4add-4c7b-a415-07163297e86a"
/> | <img width="2032" height="1162" alt="SCR-20260226-nfyc"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d06b3e39-bf91-4ce3-9705-82bf9563a01b"
/> |
## Mental model
`StdoutColorLevel` (from `supports-color`) is the _detected_ capability.
`DiffColorLevel` is the _intended_ capability for diff rendering. A new
intermediary — `diff_color_level_for_terminal` — maps one to the other
and is the single place where terminal-specific overrides live.
Windows Terminal is detected two independent ways: the `TerminalName`
parsed by `terminal_info()` and the raw presence of `WT_SESSION`. When
`WT_SESSION` is present and `FORCE_COLOR` is not set, we promote
unconditionally to truecolor. When `WT_SESSION` is absent but
`TerminalName::WindowsTerminal` is detected, we promote only the ANSI-16
level (not `Unknown`).
A single override helper — `has_force_color_override()` — checks whether
`FORCE_COLOR` is set. When it is, both the `WT_SESSION` fast-path and
the `TerminalName`-based promotion are suppressed, preserving explicit
user intent.
| PowerShell | cmd.exe | WSL | Bash for Windows |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
## Non-goals
- This does not change color detection for anything outside the diff
renderer (e.g. the chat widget, markdown rendering).
- This does not add a user-facing config knob; `FORCE_COLOR` already
serves that role.
## Tradeoffs
- The `has_wt_session` signal is intentionally kept separate from
`TerminalName::WindowsTerminal`. `terminal_info()` is derived with
`TERM_PROGRAM` precedence, so it can differ from raw `WT_SESSION`.
- Real-world validation in this issue: in both `cmd.exe` and PowerShell,
`TERM`/`TERM_PROGRAM`/`COLORTERM` were absent, so TERM-based capability
hints were unavailable in those sessions.
- Checking `FORCE_COLOR` for presence rather than parsing its value is a
simplification. In practice `supports-color` has already parsed it, so
our check is a coarse "did the user set _anything_?" gate. The effective
color level still comes from `supports-color`.
- When `WT_SESSION` is present without `FORCE_COLOR`, we promote to
truecolor regardless of `stdout_level` (including `Unknown`). This is
aggressive but correct: `WT_SESSION` is a strong signal that we're in
Windows Terminal.
- ANSI-16 add/delete backgrounds (bright green/red) overpower
syntax-highlighted token colors, making diffs harder to read.
Foreground-only cues (colored text, gutter signs) preserve readability
on low-color terminals.
## Architecture
```
stdout_color_level() ──┐
terminal_info().name ──┤
WT_SESSION presence ──┼──▶ diff_color_level_for_terminal() ──▶ DiffColorLevel
FORCE_COLOR presence ──┘ │
▼
RichDiffColorLevel::from_diff_color_level()
│
┌──────────┴──────────┐
│ Some(TrueColor|256) │ → bg tints
│ None (Ansi16) │ → fg only
└─────────────────────┘
```
`diff_color_level()` is the environment-reading entry point; it gathers
the four runtime signals and delegates to the pure, testable
`diff_color_level_for_terminal()`.
## Observability
No new logs or metrics. Incorrect color selection is immediately visible
as broken diff rendering; the test suite covers the decision matrix
exhaustively.
## Tests
Six new unit tests exercise every branch of
`diff_color_level_for_terminal`:
| Test | Inputs | Expected |
|------|--------|----------|
| `windows_terminal_promotes_ansi16_to_truecolor_for_diffs` | Ansi16 +
WindowsTerminal name | TrueColor |
| `wt_session_promotes_ansi16_to_truecolor_for_diffs` | Ansi16 +
WT_SESSION only | TrueColor |
| `non_windows_terminal_keeps_ansi16_diff_palette` | Ansi16 + WezTerm |
Ansi16 |
| `wt_session_promotes_unknown_color_level_to_truecolor` | Unknown +
WT_SESSION | TrueColor |
| `explicit_force_override_keeps_ansi16_on_windows_terminal` | Ansi16 +
WindowsTerminal + FORCE_COLOR | Ansi16 |
| `explicit_force_override_keeps_ansi256_on_windows_terminal` | Ansi256
+ WT_SESSION + FORCE_COLOR | Ansi256 |
| `ansi16_add_style_uses_foreground_only` | Dark + Ansi16 | fg=Green,
bg=None |
| (and any other new snapshot/assertion tests from commits d757fee and
d7c78b3) | | |
## Test plan
- [x] Verify all new unit tests pass (`cargo test -p codex-tui --lib`)
- [x] On Windows Terminal: confirm diffs render with truecolor
backgrounds
- [x] On Windows Terminal with `FORCE_COLOR` set: confirm promotion is
disabled and output follows the forced `supports-color` level
- [x] On macOS/Linux terminals: confirm no behavior change
Fixes https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/12904
Fixes https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/12890
Fixes https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/12912
Fixes https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/12840
## Summary
- make resume/fork targets explicit and typed as `SessionTarget { path,
thread_id }` (non-optional `thread_id`)
- resolve `thread_id` centrally via `resolve_session_thread_id(...)`:
- use CLI input directly when it is a UUID (`--resume <uuid>` / `--fork
<uuid>`)
- otherwise read `thread_id` from rollout `SessionMeta` for path-based
selections (picker, `--resume-last`, name-based resume/fork)
- use `thread_id` to read cwd from SQLite first during resume/fork cwd
resolution
- keep rollout fallback for cwd resolution when SQLite is unavailable or
does not return thread metadata (`TurnContext` tail, then `SessionMeta`)
- keep the resume picker open when a selected row has unreadable session
metadata, and show an inline recoverable error instead of aborting the
TUI
## Why
This removes ad-hoc rollout filename parsing and makes resume/fork
target identity explicit. The resume/fork cwd check can use indexed
SQLite lookup by `thread_id` in the common path, while preserving
rollout-based fallback behavior. It also keeps malformed legacy rows
recoverable in the picker instead of letting a selection failure unwind
the app.
## Notes
- minimal TUI-only change; no schema/protocol changes
- includes TUI test coverage for SQLite cwd precedence when `thread_id`
is available
- includes TUI regression coverage for picker inline error rendering /
non-fatal unreadable session rows
## Codex author
`codex resume 019c9205-7f8b-7173-a2a2-f082d4df3de3`
we recently changed file linking so the model uses markdown links when
it wants something to be clickable.
This works well across the GUI surfaces because they can render markdown
cleanly and use the full absolute path in the anchor target.
A previous pass hid the absolute path in the TUI (and only showed the
label), but that also meant we could lose useful location info when the
model put the line number or range in the anchor target instead of the
label.
This follow-up keeps the TUI behavior simple while making local file
links feel closer to the old TUI file reference style.
key changes:
- Local markdown file links in the TUI keep the old file-ref feel: code
styling, no underline, no visible absolute path.
- If the hidden local anchor target includes a location suffix and the
label does not already include one, we append that suffix to the visible
label.
- This works for single lines, line/column references, and ranges.
- If the label already includes the location, we leave it alone.
- normal web links keep the old TUI markdown-link behavior
some examples:
- `[foo.rs](/abs/path/foo.rs)` renders as `foo.rs`
- `[foo.rs](/abs/path/foo.rs:45)` renders as `foo.rs:45`
- `[foo.rs](/abs/path/foo.rs:45:3-48:9)` renders as `foo.rs:45:3-48:9`
- `[foo.rs:45](/abs/path/foo.rs:45)` stays `foo.rs:45`
- `[docs](https://example.com/docs)` still renders like a normal web
link
how it looks:
<img width="732" height="813" alt="Screenshot 2026-02-26 at 9 27 55 AM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d51bf236-653a-4e83-96e4-9427f0804471"
/>
Currently there is no bound on the length of a user message submitted in
the TUI or through the app server interface. That means users can paste
many megabytes of text, which can lead to bad performance, hangs, and
crashes. In extreme cases, it can lead to a [kernel
panic](https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/12323).
This PR limits the length of a user input to 2**20 (about 1M)
characters. This value was chosen because it fills the entire context
window on the latest models, so accepting longer inputs wouldn't make
sense anyway.
Summary
- add a shared `MAX_USER_INPUT_TEXT_CHARS` constant in codex-protocol
and surface it in TUI and app server code
- block oversized submissions in the TUI submit flow and emit error
history cells when validation fails
- reject heavy app-server requests with JSON-RPC `-32602` and structured
`input_too_large` data, plus document the behavior
Testing
- ran the IDE extension with this change and verified that when I
attempt to paste a user message that's several MB long, it correctly
reports an error instead of crashing or making my computer hot.
## Summary
- hide appended destinations for local path-style markdown links in the
TUI renderer
- keep web links rendering with their visible destination and style link
labels consistently
- add markdown renderer tests and a snapshot for the new file-link
output
## Testing
- just fmt
- cargo test -p codex-tui
<img width="1120" height="968" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/490e8eda-ae47-4231-89fa-b254a1f83eed"
/>
rm `PRESETS` list harcoded in `model_presets` as we now have bundled
`models.json` with equivalent info.
update logic to rely on bundled models instead, update tests.
## Summary
Adds syntax highlighting to the TUI for fenced code blocks in markdown
responses and file diffs, plus a `/theme` command with live preview and
persistent theme selection. Uses syntect (~250 grammars, 32 bundled
themes, ~1 MB binary cost) — the same engine behind `bat`, `delta`, and
`xi-editor`. Includes guardrails for large inputs, graceful fallback to
plain text, and SSH-aware clipboard integration for the `/copy` command.
<img width="1554" height="1014" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/38737a79-8717-4715-b857-94cf1ba59b85"
/>
<img width="2354" height="1374" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/25d30a00-c487-4af8-9cb6-63b0695a4be7"
/>
## Problem
Code blocks in the TUI (markdown responses and file diffs) render
without syntax highlighting, making it hard to scan code at a glance.
Users also have no way to pick a color theme that matches their terminal
aesthetic.
## Mental model
The highlighting system has three layers:
1. **Syntax engine** (`render::highlight`) -- a thin wrapper around
syntect + two-face. It owns a process-global `SyntaxSet` (~250 grammars)
and a `RwLock<Theme>` that can be swapped at runtime. All public entry
points accept `(code, lang)` and return ratatui `Span`/`Line` vectors or
`None` when the language is unrecognized or the input exceeds safety
guardrails.
2. **Rendering consumers** -- `markdown_render` feeds fenced code blocks
through the engine; `diff_render` highlights Add/Delete content as a
whole file and Update hunks per-hunk (preserving parser state across
hunk lines). Both callers fall back to plain unstyled text when the
engine returns `None`.
3. **Theme lifecycle** -- at startup the config's `tui.theme` is
resolved to a syntect `Theme` via `set_theme_override`. At runtime the
`/theme` picker calls `set_syntax_theme` to swap themes live; on cancel
it restores the snapshot taken at open. On confirm it persists `[tui]
theme = "..."` to config.toml.
## Non-goals
- Inline diff highlighting (word-level change detection within a line).
- Semantic / LSP-backed highlighting.
- Theme authoring tooling; users supply standard `.tmTheme` files.
## Tradeoffs
| Decision | Upside | Downside |
| ------------------------------------------------ |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| syntect over tree-sitter / arborium | ~1 MB binary increase for ~250
grammars + 32 themes; battle-tested crate powering widely-used tools
(`bat`, `delta`, `xi-editor`). tree-sitter would add ~12 MB for 20-30
languages or ~35 MB for full coverage. | Regex-based; less structurally
accurate than tree-sitter for some languages (e.g. language injections
like JS-in-HTML). |
| Global `RwLock<Theme>` | Enables live `/theme` preview without
threading Theme through every call site | Lock contention risk
(mitigated: reads vastly outnumber writes, single UI thread) |
| Skip background / italic / underline from themes | Terminal BG
preserved, avoids ugly rendering on some themes | Themes that rely on
these properties lose fidelity |
| Guardrails: 512 KB / 10k lines | Prevents pathological stalls on huge
diffs or pastes | Very large files render without color |
## Architecture
```
config.toml ─[tui.theme]─> set_theme_override() ─> THEME (RwLock)
│
┌───────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
markdown_render ─── highlight_code_to_lines(code, lang) ─> Vec<Line>
diff_render ─── highlight_code_to_styled_spans(code, lang) ─> Option<Vec<Vec<Span>>>
│
│ (None ⇒ plain text fallback)
│
/theme picker ─── set_syntax_theme(theme) // live preview swap
─── current_syntax_theme() // snapshot for cancel
─── resolve_theme_by_name(name) // lookup by kebab-case
```
Key files:
- `tui/src/render/highlight.rs` -- engine, theme management, guardrails
- `tui/src/diff_render.rs` -- syntax-aware diff line wrapping
- `tui/src/theme_picker.rs` -- `/theme` command builder
- `tui/src/bottom_pane/list_selection_view.rs` -- side content panel,
callbacks
- `core/src/config/types.rs` -- `Tui::theme` field
- `core/src/config/edit.rs` -- `syntax_theme_edit()` helper
## Observability
- `tracing::warn` when a configured theme name cannot be resolved.
- `Config::startup_warnings` surfaces the same message as a TUI banner.
- `tracing::error` when persisting theme selection fails.
## Tests
- Unit tests in `highlight.rs`: language coverage, fallback behavior,
CRLF stripping, style conversion, guardrail enforcement, theme name
mapping exhaustiveness.
- Unit tests in `diff_render.rs`: snapshot gallery at multiple terminal
sizes (80x24, 94x35, 120x40), syntax-highlighted wrapping, large-diff
guardrail, rename-to-different-extension highlighting, parser state
preservation across hunk lines.
- Unit tests in `theme_picker.rs`: preview rendering (wide + narrow),
dim overlay on deletions, subtitle truncation, cancel-restore, fallback
for unavailable configured theme.
- Unit tests in `list_selection_view.rs`: side layout geometry, stacked
fallback, buffer clearing, cancel/selection-changed callbacks.
- Integration test in `lib.rs`: theme warning uses the final
(post-resume) config.
## Cargo Deny: Unmaintained Dependency Exceptions
This PR adds two `cargo deny` advisory exceptions for transitive
dependencies pulled in by `syntect v5.3.0`:
| Advisory | Crate | Status |
|----------|-------|--------|
| RUSTSEC-2024-0320 | `yaml-rust` | Unmaintained (maintainer
unreachable) |
| RUSTSEC-2025-0141 | `bincode` | Unmaintained (development ceased;
v1.3.3 considered complete) |
**Why this is safe in our usage:**
- Neither advisory describes a known security vulnerability. Both are
"unmaintained" notices only.
- `bincode` is used by syntect to deserialize pre-compiled syntax sets.
Again, these are **static vendored artifacts** baked into the binary at
build time. No user-supplied bincode data is ever deserialized. - Attack
surface is zero for both crates; exploitation would require a
supply-chain compromise of our own build artifacts.
- These exceptions can be removed when syntect migrates to `yaml-rust2`
and drops `bincode`, or when alternative crates are available upstream.
## Problem
Long URLs containing `/` and `-` characters are split across multiple
terminal lines by `textwrap`'s default hyphenation rules. This breaks
terminal link detection: emulators can no longer identify the URL as
clickable, and copy-paste yields a truncated fragment. The issue affects
every view that renders user or agent text — exec output, history cells,
markdown, the app-link setup screen, and the VT100 scrollback path.
A secondary bug compounds the first: `desired_height()` calculations
count logical lines rather than viewport rows. When a URL overflows its
line and wraps visually, the height budget is too small, causing content
to clip or leave gaps.
Here is how the complete URL is interpreted by the terminal before
(first line only) and after (complete URL):
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| <img width="777" height="1002" alt="Screenshot 2026-02-17 at 7 59 11
PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/193a89a0-7e56-49c5-8b76-53499a76e7e3"
/> | <img width="777" height="1002" alt="Screenshot 2026-02-17 at 7 58
40 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0b9b4c14-aafb-439f-9ffe-f6bba556f95e"
/> |
## Mental model
The TUI now treats URL-like tokens as atomic units that must never be
split by the wrapping engine. Every call site that previously used
`word_wrap_*` has been migrated to `adaptive_wrap_*`, which inspects
each line for URL-like tokens and switches wrapping strategy
accordingly:
- **Non-URL lines** follow the existing `textwrap` path unchanged (word
boundaries, optional indentation, hyphenation).
- **URL-only lines** (with at most decorative markers like `│`, `-`,
`1.`) are emitted unwrapped so terminal link detection works; ratatui's
`Wrap { trim: false }` handles the final character wrap at render time.
- **Mixed lines** (URL + substantive non-URL prose) flow through
`adaptive_wrap_line` so prose wraps naturally at word boundaries while
URL tokens remain unsplit.
Height measurement everywhere now delegates to
`Paragraph::line_count(width)`, which accounts for the visual row cost
of overflowed lines. This single source of truth replaces ad-hoc line
counting in individual cells.
For terminal scrollback (the VT100 path that prints history when the TUI
exits), URL-only lines are emitted unwrapped so the terminal's own link
detector can find them. Mixed URL+prose lines use adaptive wrapping so
surrounding text wraps naturally. Continuation rows are pre-cleared to
avoid stale content artifacts.
## Non-goals
- Full RFC 3986 URL parsing. The detector is a conservative heuristic
that covers `scheme://host`, bare domains (`example.com/path`),
`localhost:port`, and IPv4 hosts. IPv6 (`[::1]:8080`) and exotic schemes
are intentionally excluded from v1.
- Changing wrapping behavior for non-URL content.
- Reflowing or reformatting existing terminal scrollback on resize.
## Tradeoffs
| Decision | Upside | Downside |
|----------|--------|----------|
| Heuristic URL detection vs. full parser | Fast, zero-alloc on the hot
path; conservative enough to reject file paths like `src/main.rs` |
False negatives on obscure URL formats (they get split as before) |
| Adaptive (three-path) wrapping | Non-URL lines are untouched — no
behavior change, no perf cost; mixed lines wrap prose naturally while
preserving URLs | Three wrapping strategies to reason about when
debugging layout |
| Row-based truncation with line-unit ellipsis | Accurate viewport
budget; stable "N lines omitted" count across terminal widths |
`truncate_lines_middle` is more complex (must compute per-line row cost)
|
| Unwrapped URL-only lines in scrollback | Terminal emulators detect
clickable links; copy-paste gets the full URL | TUI and scrollback
formatting diverge for URL-only lines |
| Default `desired_height` via `Paragraph::line_count` | DRY — most
cells inherit correct measurement | Cells with custom layout must
remember to override |
## Architecture
```mermaid
flowchart TD
A["adaptive_wrap_*()"] --> B{"line_contains_url_like?"}
B -- No URL tokens --> C["word_wrap_line<br/>(textwrap default)"]
B -- Has URL tokens --> D{"mixed URL + prose?"}
D -- "URL-only<br/>(+ decorative markers)" --> E["emit unwrapped<br/>(terminal char-wraps)"]
D -- "Mixed<br/>(URL + substantive text)" --> F["adaptive_wrap_line<br/>(AsciiSpace + custom WordSplitter)"]
C --> G["Paragraph::line_count(w)<br/>(single height truth)"]
E --> G
F --> G
```
**Changed files:**
| File | Role |
|------|------|
| `wrapping.rs` | URL detection heuristics, mixed-line detection,
`adaptive_wrap_*` functions, custom `WordSplitter` |
| `exec_cell/render.rs` | Row-aware `truncate_lines_middle`, adaptive
wrapping for command/output display |
| `history_cell.rs` | Migrate all cell types to `adaptive_wrap_*`;
default `desired_height` via `Paragraph::line_count` |
| `insert_history.rs` | Three-path scrollback wrapping (unwrapped
URL-only, adaptive mixed, word-wrapped text); continuation row clearing
|
| `app_link_view.rs` | Adaptive wrapping for setup URL; `desired_height`
via `Paragraph::line_count` |
| `markdown_render.rs` | Adaptive wrapping in `finish_paragraph` |
| `model_migration.rs` | Viewport-aware wrapping for narrow-pane
markdown |
| `pager_overlay.rs` | `Wrap { trim: false }` for transcript and
streaming chunks |
| `queued_user_messages.rs` | Migrate to `adaptive_wrap_lines` |
| `status/card.rs` | Migrate to `adaptive_wrap_lines` |
## Observability
- **Ellipsis message** in truncated exec output reports omitted count in
logical lines (stable across resize) rather than viewport rows
(fluctuates).
- URL detection is deterministic and stateless — no hidden caching or
memoization to go stale.
- Height mismatch bugs surface immediately as visual clipping or gaps;
the `Paragraph::line_count` path is the same code ratatui uses at render
time, so measurement and rendering cannot diverge.
## Tests
26 new unit tests across 7 files, covering:
- **URL integrity**: assert a URL-like token appears on exactly one
rendered line (not split across two).
- **Height accuracy**: compare `desired_height()` against
`Paragraph::line_count()` for URL-containing content.
- **Row-aware truncation**: verify ellipsis counts logical lines and
output fits within the row budget.
- **Scrollback rendering**: VT100 backend tests confirm prefix and URL
land on the same row; continuation rows are cleared; mixed URL+prose
lines wrap prose while preserving URL tokens.
- **Mixed URL+prose detection**: `line_has_mixed_url_and_non_url_tokens`
correctly distinguishes lines with substantive non-URL text from lines
with only decorative markers alongside a URL.
- **Heuristic correctness**: positive matches (`https://...`,
`example.com/path`, `localhost:3000/api`, `192.168.1.1:8080/health`) and
negative matches (`src/main.rs`, `foo/bar`, `hello-world`).
## Risks and open items
1. **URL-like tokens in code output** (e.g. `example.com/api` inside a
JSON blob) will trigger URL-preserving wrap on that line. This is
acceptable — the worst case is a slightly wider line, not broken output.
2. **Very long non-URL tokens on a URL line** can only break at
character boundaries (the custom splitter emits all char indices for
non-URL words). On extremely narrow terminals this could overflow, but
narrow terminals already degrade gracefully.
3. **No IPv6 support** — `[::1]:8080/path` will be treated as a non-URL
and may get split. Can be added later without API changes.
Fixes#5457
## Summary
This PR makes app-server-provided image URLs first-class attachments in
TUI, so they survive resume/backtrack/history recall and are resubmitted
correctly.
<img width="715" height="491" alt="Screenshot 2026-02-12 at 8 27 08 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/226cbd35-8f0c-4e51-a13e-459ef5dd1927"
/>
Can delete the attached image upon backtracking:
<img width="716" height="301" alt="Screenshot 2026-02-12 at 8 27 31 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4558d230-f1bd-4eed-a093-8e1ab9c6db27"
/>
In both history and composer, remote images are rendered as normal
`[Image #N]` placeholders, with numbering unified with local images.
## What changed
- Plumb remote image URLs through TUI message state:
- `UserHistoryCell`
- `BacktrackSelection`
- `ChatComposerHistory::HistoryEntry`
- `ChatWidget::UserMessage`
- Show remote images as placeholder rows inside the composer box (above
textarea), and in history cells.
- Support keyboard selection/deletion for remote image rows in composer
(`Up`/`Down`, `Delete`/`Backspace`).
- Preserve remote-image-only turns in local composer history (Up/Down
recall), including restore after backtrack.
- Ensure submit/queue/backtrack resubmit include remote images in model
input (`UserInput::Image`), and keep request shape stable for
remote-image-only turns.
- Keep image numbering contiguous across remote + local images:
- remote images occupy `[Image #1]..[Image #M]`
- local images start at `[Image #M+1]`
- deletion renumbers consistently.
- In protocol conversion, increment shared image index for remote images
too, so mixed remote/local image tags stay in a single sequence.
- Simplify restore logic to trust in-memory attachment order (no
placeholder-number parsing path).
- Backtrack/replay rollback handling now queues trims through
`AppEvent::ApplyThreadRollback` and syncs transcript overlay/deferred
lines after trims, so overlay/transcript state stays consistent.
- Trim trailing blank rendered lines from user history rendering to
avoid oversized blank padding.
## Docs + tests
- Updated: `docs/tui-chat-composer.md` (remote image flow,
selection/deletion, numbering offsets)
- Added/updated tests across `tui/src/chatwidget/tests.rs`,
`tui/src/app.rs`, `tui/src/app_backtrack.rs`, `tui/src/history_cell.rs`,
and `tui/src/bottom_pane/chat_composer.rs`
- Added snapshot coverage for remote image composer states, including
deleting the first of two remote images.
## Validation
- `just fmt`
- `cargo test -p codex-tui`
## Codex author
`codex fork 019c2636-1571-74a1-8471-15a3b1c3f49d`
## Summary
- Add sorting support to the resume session picker with Tab key toggle
- Sessions can now be sorted by either creation time or last updated
time
- Display the current sort mode in the picker header
- Default to sorting by creation time (most recent first)
## Changes
- Add `sort_key` field to `PickerState` to track current sort order
- Pass sort key to `RolloutRecorder::list_threads()` for proper backend
sorting
- Add Tab key handler to toggle between `CreatedAt` and `UpdatedAt`
sorting
- Show current sort mode ("Created at" / "Updated at") in header
- Add "Tab to toggle sort" keyboard hint
- Intelligently hide secondary date column when terminal is narrow
- Reload session list when sort order changes
## Test plan
- [x] Unit tests for sort key toggle functionality
- [x] Snapshot tests updated for new header format
- [x] Test that Tab key triggers reload with new sort key
- [x] Test column visibility adapts to narrow terminals
- shows names of threads in the ResumePicker used by `/resume` and
`codex resume` if set, default to preview (previous behaviour) if none
- adds a `find_thread_names_by_ids` that maps names to IDs in
`codex-rs/core/src/rollout/session_index.rs`. It reads sequentially in
normal (instead of reverse order in `codex resume <name>`) the index
mapping file. This function is called from a list of session (default
page is 25, pages loaded depends of height of terminal), for which most
of them will always have at least one session unnamed and require the
whole file to be read therefore. Could be better and sqlite integration
will make this better
- those reads won't be needed when leveraging sqlite
Opened questions:
- We could rename the TUI "Conversation" column to "Name" or "Thread"
that would feel more accurate. Could be a fast-follow if we implement
auto-naming as it'll always be a name instead?
# Summary
- Fix resume/fork config rebuild so cwd changes inside the TUI produce a
fully rebuilt Config (trust/approval/sandbox) instead of mutating only
the cwd.
- Preserve `--add-dir` behavior across resume/fork by normalizing
relative roots to absolute paths once (based on the original cwd).
- Prefer latest `TurnContext.cwd` for resume/fork prompts but fall back
to `SessionMeta.cwd` if the latest cwd no longer exists.
- Align resume/fork selection handling and ensure UI config matches the
resumed thread config.
- Fix Windows test TOML path escaping in trust-level test.
# Details
- Rebuild Config via `ConfigBuilder` when resuming into a different cwd;
carry forward runtime approval/sandbox overrides.
- Add `normalize_harness_overrides_for_cwd` to resolve relative
`additional_writable_roots` against the initial cwd before reuse.
- Guard `read_session_cwd` with filesystem existence check for the
latest `TurnContext.cwd`.
- Update naming/flow around cwd comparison and prompt selection.
<img width="603" height="150" alt="Screenshot 2026-01-23 at 5 42 13 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d1897386-bb28-4e8a-98cf-187fdebbecb0"
/>
And proof the model understands the new cwd:
<img width="828" height="353" alt="Screenshot 2026-01-22 at 5 36 45 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/12aed8ca-dec3-4b64-8dae-c6b8cff78387"
/>
### Problem
Ctrl+T transcript overlay can omit in-flight coalesced tool calls because it
renders only committed transcript cells while the main viewport can render the
current in-flight ChatWidget.active_cell immediately.
### Mental model
The UI has both committed transcript cells (finalized HistoryCell entries) and
an in-flight active cell that can mutate in place while streaming, often
representing a coalesced exec/tool group. The transcript overlay renders
committed cells plus a render-only live tail derived from the current active
cell. The live tail is cached and only recomputed when its cache key changes,
which is derived from terminal width (wrapping), active-cell revision
(in-place mutations), stream continuation (spacing), and animation tick
(time-based visuals).
### Non-goals
This does not change coalescing rules, flush boundaries, or when active cells
become committed. It does not change tool-call semantics or transcript
persistence; it is a rendering-only improvement for the overlay.
### Tradeoffs
This adds cache invalidation complexity: correctness depends on bumping an
active-cell revision (and/or providing an animation tick) when the active cell
mutates in place. The mechanism is implemented in both codex-tui and codex-tui2,
which keeps behavior consistent but risks drift if future changes are not
applied in lockstep.
### Architecture
App special-cases transcript overlay draws to sync a live tail from ChatWidget
into TranscriptOverlay. TranscriptOverlay remains the owner of committed
transcript cells; the live tail is an optional appended renderable.
HistoryCell::transcript_animation_tick() allows time-dependent transcript output
(spinner/shimmer) to invalidate the cached tail without requiring data mutation.
### Observability
Manual verification is to open Ctrl+T while an exploring/coalesced active cell
is still in-flight and confirm the overlay includes the same in-flight tool-call
group the main viewport shows. The overlay is kept in sync by App passing an
active-cell key and transcript lines into TranscriptOverlay::sync_live_tail; the
key must change when the active cell mutates or animates.
### Tests
Snapshot tests validate that the transcript overlay renders a live tail appended
after committed cells and that identical keys short-circuit recomputation. Unit
tests validate that active-cell revision bumps occur on specific in-place
mutations (e.g. unified exec wait cell command display becoming known late) so
cached tails are invalidated.
## Documentation patches (module, type, function)
### Module-level docs (invariants + mechanisms)
- codex-rs/tui/src/app_backtrack.rs:1
- codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget.rs:1
- codex-rs/tui/src/pager_overlay.rs:1
- codex-rs/tui/src/history_cell.rs:1
- codex-rs/tui2/src/app_backtrack.rs:1
- codex-rs/tui2/src/chatwidget.rs:1
- codex-rs/tui2/src/pager_overlay.rs:1
- codex-rs/tui2/src/history_cell.rs:1
### Type-level docs (cache key + invariants)
- codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget.rs (ChatWidget.active_cell_revision, ActiveCellTranscriptKey)
- codex-rs/tui/src/pager_overlay.rs (TranscriptOverlay live tail storage model)
- codex-rs/tui/src/history_cell.rs (HistoryCell::transcript_animation_tick, UnifiedExecWaitCell::update_command_display)
- Mirrored in codex-rs/tui2/src/chatwidget.rs, codex-rs/tui2/src/pager_overlay.rs, codex-rs/tui2/src/history_cell.rs
### Function-level docs (why/when/guarantees/pitfalls)
- codex-rs/tui/src/app_backtrack.rs (overlay_forward_event)
- codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget.rs (active_cell_transcript_key, active_cell_transcript_lines)
- codex-rs/tui/src/pager_overlay.rs (sync_live_tail, take_live_tail_renderable)
- codex-rs/tui/src/history_cell.rs (transcript_animation_tick, UnifiedExecWaitCell::update_command_display)
- Mirrored in codex-rs/tui2 equivalents where present
### Validation performed
- cd codex-rs && just fmt
- cd codex-rs && cargo test -p codex-tui
- cd codex-rs && cargo test -p codex-tui2
## Design inconsistencies / risks
- Cache invalidation is a distributed responsibility: any future in-place active
cell transcript mutation that forgets to bump active_cell_revision (or expose
an animation tick) can leave the transcript overlay live tail out of sync with
the main viewport.
- TranscriptOverlay tail handling assumes a structural invariant that the live
tail, when present, is exactly one trailing renderable after the committed cell
renderables; if renderable construction changes in a way that violates that
assumption, tail insertion/removal logic becomes incorrect.
- codex-tui and codex-tui2 duplicate the live-tail mechanism; the documentation
is aligned, but the implementation can still drift unless changes continue to
be applied in lockstep.
With `config.toml`:
```
model = "gpt-5.1-codex"
```
(where `gpt-5.1-codex` has `show_in_picker: false` in
[`model_presets.rs`](https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/main/codex-rs/core/src/models_manager/model_presets.rs);
this happens if the user hasn't used codex in a while so they didn't see
the popup before their model was changed to `show_in_picker: false`)
The upgrade picker used to not show (because `gpt-5.1-codex` was
filtered out of the model list in code). Now, the filtering is done
downstream in tui and app-server, so the model upgrade popup shows:
<img width="1503" height="227" alt="Screenshot 2026-01-06 at 5 04 37 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/26144cc2-0b3f-4674-ac17-e476781ec548"
/>
See snapshots for view of edge cases
This is still named `UnifiedExecSessions` for consistency across the
code but should be renamed to `BackgroundTerminals` in a follow-up
Example:
<img width="945" height="687" alt="Screenshot 2025-12-18 at 20 12 53"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/92f39ff2-243c-4006-b402-e3fa9e93c952"
/>
