Files
codex/codex-rs/mcp-server/src/codex_tool_config.rs
Michael Bolin e7bad650ff feat: support traditional JSON-RPC request/response in MCP server (#2264)
This introduces a new set of request types that our `codex mcp`
supports. Note that these do not conform to MCP tool calls so that
instead of having to send something like this:

```json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "tools/call",
  "id": 42,
  "params": {
    "name": "newConversation",
    "arguments": {
      "model": "gpt-5",
      "approvalPolicy": "on-request"
    }
  }
}
```

we can send something like this:


```json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "newConversation",
  "id": 42,
  "params": {
    "model": "gpt-5",
    "approvalPolicy": "on-request"
  }
}
```

Admittedly, this new format is not a valid MCP tool call, but we are OK
with that right now. (That is, not everything we might want to request
of `codex mcp` is something that is appropriate for an autonomous agent
to do.)

To start, this introduces four request types:

- `newConversation`
- `sendUserMessage`
- `addConversationListener`
- `removeConversationListener`

The new `mcp-server/tests/codex_message_processor_flow.rs` shows how
these can be used.

The types are defined on the `CodexRequest` enum, so we introduce a new
`CodexMessageProcessor` that is responsible for dealing with requests
from this enum. The top-level `MessageProcessor` has been updated so
that when `process_request()` is called, it first checks whether the
request conforms to `CodexRequest` and dispatches it to
`CodexMessageProcessor` if so.

Note that I also decided to use `camelCase` for the on-the-wire format,
as that seems to be the convention for MCP.

For the moment, the new protocol is defined in `wire_format.rs` within
the `mcp-server` crate, but in a subsequent PR, I will probably move it
to its own crate to ensure the protocol has minimal dependencies and
that we can codegen a schema from it.



---
[//]: # (BEGIN SAPLING FOOTER)
Stack created with [Sapling](https://sapling-scm.com). Best reviewed
with [ReviewStack](https://reviewstack.dev/openai/codex/pull/2264).
* #2278
* __->__ #2264
2025-08-13 17:36:29 -07:00

335 lines
12 KiB
Rust

//! Configuration object accepted by the `codex` MCP tool-call.
use codex_core::config_types::SandboxMode;
use codex_core::protocol::AskForApproval;
use mcp_types::Tool;
use mcp_types::ToolInputSchema;
use schemars::JsonSchema;
use schemars::r#gen::SchemaSettings;
use serde::Deserialize;
use serde::Serialize;
use std::collections::HashMap;
use std::path::PathBuf;
use crate::json_to_toml::json_to_toml;
/// Client-supplied configuration for a `codex` tool-call.
#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, JsonSchema, Default)]
#[serde(rename_all = "kebab-case")]
pub struct CodexToolCallParam {
/// The *initial user prompt* to start the Codex conversation.
pub prompt: String,
/// Optional override for the model name (e.g. "o3", "o4-mini").
#[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
pub model: Option<String>,
/// Configuration profile from config.toml to specify default options.
#[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
pub profile: Option<String>,
/// Working directory for the session. If relative, it is resolved against
/// the server process's current working directory.
#[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
pub cwd: Option<String>,
/// Approval policy for shell commands generated by the model:
/// `untrusted`, `on-failure`, `on-request`, `never`.
#[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
pub approval_policy: Option<CodexToolCallApprovalPolicy>,
/// Sandbox mode: `read-only`, `workspace-write`, or `danger-full-access`.
#[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
pub sandbox: Option<CodexToolCallSandboxMode>,
/// Individual config settings that will override what is in
/// CODEX_HOME/config.toml.
#[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
pub config: Option<HashMap<String, serde_json::Value>>,
/// The set of instructions to use instead of the default ones.
#[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
pub base_instructions: Option<String>,
/// Whether to include the plan tool in the conversation.
#[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
pub include_plan_tool: Option<bool>,
}
/// Custom enum mirroring [`AskForApproval`], but has an extra dependency on
/// [`JsonSchema`].
#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, JsonSchema, PartialEq)]
#[serde(rename_all = "kebab-case")]
pub enum CodexToolCallApprovalPolicy {
Untrusted,
OnFailure,
OnRequest,
Never,
}
impl From<CodexToolCallApprovalPolicy> for AskForApproval {
fn from(value: CodexToolCallApprovalPolicy) -> Self {
match value {
CodexToolCallApprovalPolicy::Untrusted => AskForApproval::UnlessTrusted,
CodexToolCallApprovalPolicy::OnFailure => AskForApproval::OnFailure,
CodexToolCallApprovalPolicy::OnRequest => AskForApproval::OnRequest,
CodexToolCallApprovalPolicy::Never => AskForApproval::Never,
}
}
}
/// Custom enum mirroring [`SandboxMode`] from config_types.rs, but with
/// `JsonSchema` support.
#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, JsonSchema, PartialEq)]
#[serde(rename_all = "kebab-case")]
pub enum CodexToolCallSandboxMode {
ReadOnly,
WorkspaceWrite,
DangerFullAccess,
}
impl From<CodexToolCallSandboxMode> for SandboxMode {
fn from(value: CodexToolCallSandboxMode) -> Self {
match value {
CodexToolCallSandboxMode::ReadOnly => SandboxMode::ReadOnly,
CodexToolCallSandboxMode::WorkspaceWrite => SandboxMode::WorkspaceWrite,
CodexToolCallSandboxMode::DangerFullAccess => SandboxMode::DangerFullAccess,
}
}
}
/// Builds a `Tool` definition (JSON schema etc.) for the Codex tool-call.
pub(crate) fn create_tool_for_codex_tool_call_param() -> Tool {
let schema = SchemaSettings::draft2019_09()
.with(|s| {
s.inline_subschemas = true;
s.option_add_null_type = false;
})
.into_generator()
.into_root_schema_for::<CodexToolCallParam>();
#[expect(clippy::expect_used)]
let schema_value =
serde_json::to_value(&schema).expect("Codex tool schema should serialise to JSON");
let tool_input_schema =
serde_json::from_value::<ToolInputSchema>(schema_value).unwrap_or_else(|e| {
panic!("failed to create Tool from schema: {e}");
});
Tool {
name: "codex".to_string(),
title: Some("Codex".to_string()),
input_schema: tool_input_schema,
// TODO(mbolin): This should be defined.
output_schema: None,
description: Some(
"Run a Codex session. Accepts configuration parameters matching the Codex Config struct.".to_string(),
),
annotations: None,
}
}
impl CodexToolCallParam {
/// Returns the initial user prompt to start the Codex conversation and the
/// effective Config object generated from the supplied parameters.
pub fn into_config(
self,
codex_linux_sandbox_exe: Option<PathBuf>,
) -> std::io::Result<(String, codex_core::config::Config)> {
let Self {
prompt,
model,
profile,
cwd,
approval_policy,
sandbox,
config: cli_overrides,
base_instructions,
include_plan_tool,
} = self;
// Build the `ConfigOverrides` recognized by codex-core.
let overrides = codex_core::config::ConfigOverrides {
model,
config_profile: profile,
cwd: cwd.map(PathBuf::from),
approval_policy: approval_policy.map(Into::into),
sandbox_mode: sandbox.map(Into::into),
model_provider: None,
codex_linux_sandbox_exe,
base_instructions,
include_plan_tool,
disable_response_storage: None,
show_raw_agent_reasoning: None,
};
let cli_overrides = cli_overrides
.unwrap_or_default()
.into_iter()
.map(|(k, v)| (k, json_to_toml(v)))
.collect();
let cfg = codex_core::config::Config::load_with_cli_overrides(cli_overrides, overrides)?;
Ok((prompt, cfg))
}
}
#[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, JsonSchema)]
#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
pub struct CodexToolCallReplyParam {
/// The *session id* for this conversation.
pub session_id: String,
/// The *next user prompt* to continue the Codex conversation.
pub prompt: String,
}
/// Builds a `Tool` definition for the `codex-reply` tool-call.
pub(crate) fn create_tool_for_codex_tool_call_reply_param() -> Tool {
let schema = SchemaSettings::draft2019_09()
.with(|s| {
s.inline_subschemas = true;
s.option_add_null_type = false;
})
.into_generator()
.into_root_schema_for::<CodexToolCallReplyParam>();
#[expect(clippy::expect_used)]
let schema_value =
serde_json::to_value(&schema).expect("Codex reply tool schema should serialise to JSON");
let tool_input_schema =
serde_json::from_value::<ToolInputSchema>(schema_value).unwrap_or_else(|e| {
panic!("failed to create Tool from schema: {e}");
});
Tool {
name: "codex-reply".to_string(),
title: Some("Codex Reply".to_string()),
input_schema: tool_input_schema,
output_schema: None,
description: Some(
"Continue a Codex session by providing the session id and prompt.".to_string(),
),
annotations: None,
}
}
#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
use super::*;
use pretty_assertions::assert_eq;
/// We include a test to verify the exact JSON schema as "executable
/// documentation" for the schema. When can track changes to this test as a
/// way to audit changes to the generated schema.
///
/// Seeing the fully expanded schema makes it easier to casually verify that
/// the generated JSON for enum types such as "approval-policy" is compact.
/// Ideally, modelcontextprotocol/inspector would provide a simpler UI for
/// enum fields versus open string fields to take advantage of this.
///
/// As of 2025-05-04, there is an open PR for this:
/// https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/pull/196
#[test]
fn verify_codex_tool_json_schema() {
let tool = create_tool_for_codex_tool_call_param();
#[expect(clippy::expect_used)]
let tool_json = serde_json::to_value(&tool).expect("tool serializes");
let expected_tool_json = serde_json::json!({
"name": "codex",
"title": "Codex",
"description": "Run a Codex session. Accepts configuration parameters matching the Codex Config struct.",
"inputSchema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"approval-policy": {
"description": "Approval policy for shell commands generated by the model: `untrusted`, `on-failure`, `on-request`, `never`.",
"enum": [
"untrusted",
"on-failure",
"on-request",
"never"
],
"type": "string"
},
"sandbox": {
"description": "Sandbox mode: `read-only`, `workspace-write`, or `danger-full-access`.",
"enum": [
"read-only",
"workspace-write",
"danger-full-access"
],
"type": "string"
},
"config": {
"description": "Individual config settings that will override what is in CODEX_HOME/config.toml.",
"additionalProperties": true,
"type": "object"
},
"cwd": {
"description": "Working directory for the session. If relative, it is resolved against the server process's current working directory.",
"type": "string"
},
"include-plan-tool": {
"description": "Whether to include the plan tool in the conversation.",
"type": "boolean"
},
"model": {
"description": "Optional override for the model name (e.g. \"o3\", \"o4-mini\").",
"type": "string"
},
"profile": {
"description": "Configuration profile from config.toml to specify default options.",
"type": "string"
},
"prompt": {
"description": "The *initial user prompt* to start the Codex conversation.",
"type": "string"
},
"base-instructions": {
"description": "The set of instructions to use instead of the default ones.",
"type": "string"
},
},
"required": [
"prompt"
]
}
});
assert_eq!(expected_tool_json, tool_json);
}
#[test]
fn verify_codex_tool_reply_json_schema() {
let tool = create_tool_for_codex_tool_call_reply_param();
#[expect(clippy::expect_used)]
let tool_json = serde_json::to_value(&tool).expect("tool serializes");
let expected_tool_json = serde_json::json!({
"description": "Continue a Codex session by providing the session id and prompt.",
"inputSchema": {
"properties": {
"prompt": {
"description": "The *next user prompt* to continue the Codex conversation.",
"type": "string"
},
"sessionId": {
"description": "The *session id* for this conversation.",
"type": "string"
},
},
"required": [
"prompt",
"sessionId",
],
"type": "object",
},
"name": "codex-reply",
"title": "Codex Reply",
});
assert_eq!(expected_tool_json, tool_json);
}
}