## Related issues:
- https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/3939
- https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/2292
- https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/7528 (After correction
https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/3990)
**Area:** `codex-cli` (image handling / clipboard & file uploads)
**Platforms affected:** WSL (Ubuntu on Windows 10/11). No behavior
change on native Linux/macOS/Windows.
## Summary
This PR fixes image pasting and file uploads when running `codex-cli`
inside WSL. Previously, image operations failed silently or with
permission errors because paths weren't properly mapped between Windows
and WSL filesystems.
## Visual Result
<img width="1118" height="798" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/14e10bc4-6b71-4d1f-b2a6-52c0a67dd069"
/>
## Last Rust-Cli
<img width="1175" height="859" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7ef41e29-9118-42c9-903c-7116d21e1751"
/>
## Root cause
The CLI assumed native Linux/Windows environments and didn't handle the
WSL↔Windows boundary:
- Used Linux paths for files that lived on the Windows host
- Missing path normalization between Windows (`C:\...`) and WSL
(`/mnt/c/...`)
- Clipboard access failed under WSL
### Why `Ctrl+V` doesn't work in WSL terminals
Most WSL terminal emulators (Windows Terminal, ConEmu, etc.) intercept
`Ctrl+V` at the terminal level to paste text from the Windows clipboard.
This keypress never reaches the CLI application itself, so our clipboard
image handler never gets triggered. Users need `Ctrl+Alt+V`.
## Changes
### WSL detection & path mapping
- Detects WSL by checking `/proc/sys/kernel/osrelease` and the
`WSL_INTEROP` env var
- Maps Windows drive paths to WSL mount paths (`C:\...` → `/mnt/c/...`)
### Clipboard fallback for WSL
- When clipboard access fails under WSL, falls back to PowerShell to
extract images from the Windows clipboard
- Saves to a temp file and maps the path back to WSL
### UI improvements
- Shows `Ctrl+Alt+V` hint on WSL (many terminals intercept plain
`Ctrl+V`)
- Better error messages for unreadable images
## Performance
- Negligible overhead. The fallback adds a single FS copy to a temp file
only when needed.
- Direct streaming remains the default.
## Files changed
- `protocol/src/lib.rs` – Added platform detection module
- `protocol/src/models.rs` – Added WSL path mapping for local images
- `protocol/src/platform.rs` – New module with WSL detection utilities
- `tui/src/bottom_pane/chat_composer.rs` – Added base64 data URL support
and WSL path mapping
- `tui/src/bottom_pane/footer.rs` – WSL-aware keyboard shortcuts
- `tui/src/clipboard_paste.rs` – PowerShell clipboard fallback
## How to reproduce the original bug (pre-fix)
1. Run `codex-cli` inside WSL2 on Windows.
2. Paste an image from the Windows clipboard or drag an image from
`C:\...` into the terminal.
3. Observe that the image is not attached (silent failure) or an error
is logged; no artifact reaches the tool.
## How to verify the fix
1. Build this branch and run `codex-cli` inside WSL2.
2. Paste from clipboard and drag from both Windows and WSL paths.
3. Confirm that the image appears in the tool and the CLI shows a single
concise info line (no warning unless fallback was used).
I’m happy to adjust paths, naming, or split helpers into a separate
module if you prefer.
## How to try this branch
If you want to try this before it’s merged, you can use my Git branch:
Repository: https://github.com/Waxime64/codex.git
Branch: `wsl-image-2`
1. Start WSL on your Windows machine.
2. Clone the repository and switch to the branch:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/Waxime64/codex.git
cd codex
git checkout wsl-image-2
# then go into the Rust workspace root, e.g.:
cd codex-rs
3. Build the TUI binary:
cargo build -p codex-tui --bin codex-tui --release
4. Install the binary:
sudo install -m 0755 target/release/codex-tui /usr/local/bin/codex
5. From the project directory where you want to use Codex, start it
with:
cd /path/to/your/project
/usr/local/bin/codex
On WSL, use CTRL+ALT+V to paste an image from the Windows clipboard into
the chat.
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