core-agent-ide/codex-rs
Josh McKinney df46ea48a2
Terminal Detection Metadata for Per-Terminal Scroll Scaling (#8252)
# Terminal Detection Metadata for Per-Terminal Scroll Scaling

## Summary
Expand terminal detection into structured metadata (`TerminalInfo`) with
multiplexer awareness, plus a testable environment shim and
characterization tests.

## Context / Motivation
- TUI2 owns its viewport and scrolling model (see
`codex-rs/tui2/docs/tui_viewport_and_history.md`), so scroll behavior
must be consistent across terminals and independent of terminal
scrollback quirks.
- Prior investigations show mouse wheel scroll deltas vary noticeably by
terminal. To tune scroll scaling (line increments per wheel tick) we
need reliable terminal identification, including when running inside
tmux/zellij.
- tmux is especially tricky because it can mask the underlying terminal;
we now consult `tmux display-message` client termtype/name to attribute
sessions to the actual terminal rather than tmux itself.
- This remains backwards compatible with the existing OpenTelemetry
user-agent token because `user_agent()` is still derived from the same
environment signals (now via `TerminalInfo`).

## Changes
- Introduce `TerminalInfo`, `TerminalName`, and `Multiplexer` with
`TERM_PROGRAM`/`TERM`/multiplexer detection and user-agent formatting in
`codex-rs/core/src/terminal.rs`.
- Add an injectable `Environment` trait + `FakeEnvironment` for testing,
and comprehensive characterization tests covering known terminals, tmux
client termtype/name, and zellij.
- Document module usage and detection order; update `terminal_info()` to
be the primary interface for callers.

## Testing
- `cargo test -p codex-core terminal::tests`
- manually checked ghostty, iTerm2, Terminal.app, vscode, tmux, zellij,
Warp, alacritty, kitty.
```
2025-12-18T07:07:49.191421Z  INFO Detected terminal info terminal=TerminalInfo { name: Iterm2, term_program: Some("iTerm.app"), version: Some("3.6.6"), term: None, multiplexer: None }
2025-12-18T07:07:57.991776Z  INFO Detected terminal info terminal=TerminalInfo { name: AppleTerminal, term_program: Some("Apple_Terminal"), version: Some("455.1"), term: None, multiplexer: None }
2025-12-18T07:08:07.732095Z  INFO Detected terminal info terminal=TerminalInfo { name: WarpTerminal, term_program: Some("WarpTerminal"), version: Some("v0.2025.12.10.08.12.stable_03"), term: None, multiplexer: None }
2025-12-18T07:08:24.860316Z  INFO Detected terminal info terminal=TerminalInfo { name: Kitty, term_program: None, version: None, term: None, multiplexer: None }
2025-12-18T07:08:38.302761Z  INFO Detected terminal info terminal=TerminalInfo { name: Alacritty, term_program: None, version: None, term: None, multiplexer: None }
2025-12-18T07:08:50.887748Z  INFO Detected terminal info terminal=TerminalInfo { name: VsCode, term_program: Some("vscode"), version: Some("1.107.1"), term: None, multiplexer: None }
2025-12-18T07:10:01.309802Z  INFO Detected terminal info terminal=TerminalInfo { name: WezTerm, term_program: Some("WezTerm"), version: Some("20240203-110809-5046fc22"), term: None, multiplexer: None }
2025-12-18T08:05:17.009271Z  INFO Detected terminal info terminal=TerminalInfo { name: Ghostty, term_program: Some("ghostty"), version: Some("1.2.3"), term: None, multiplexer: None }
2025-12-18T08:05:23.819973Z  INFO Detected terminal info terminal=TerminalInfo { name: Ghostty, term_program: Some("ghostty"), version: Some("1.2.3"), term: Some("xterm-ghostty"), multiplexer: Some(Tmux { version: Some("3.6a") }) }
2025-12-18T08:05:35.572853Z  INFO Detected terminal info terminal=TerminalInfo { name: Ghostty, term_program: Some("ghostty"), version: Some("1.2.3"), term: None, multiplexer: Some(Zellij) }
```

## Notes / Follow-ups
- Next step is to wire `TerminalInfo` into TUI2’s scroll scaling
configuration and add a per-terminal tuning table.
- The log output in TUI2 helps validate real-world detection before
applying behavior changes.
2025-12-18 12:50:00 -08:00
..
.cargo chore(ci): add cargo audit workflow and policy (#7108) 2025-11-24 12:20:55 -08:00
.config fix flaky test: approval_matrix_covers_all_modes (#7028) 2025-11-20 14:37:42 -08:00
.github/workflows chore(ci): add cargo audit workflow and policy (#7108) 2025-11-24 12:20:55 -08:00
ansi-escape chore: add cargo-deny configuration (#7119) 2025-11-24 12:22:18 -08:00
app-server feat: migrate to new constraint-based loading strategy (#8251) 2025-12-18 10:06:05 -08:00
app-server-protocol feat: migrate to new constraint-based loading strategy (#8251) 2025-12-18 10:06:05 -08:00
app-server-test-client Removed experimental "command risk assessment" feature (#7799) 2025-12-10 09:48:11 -08:00
apply-patch chore(apply-patch) unicode scenario (#8141) 2025-12-16 22:40:22 -08:00
arg0 chore: add cargo-deny configuration (#7119) 2025-11-24 12:22:18 -08:00
async-utils chore: add cargo-deny configuration (#7119) 2025-11-24 12:22:18 -08:00
backend-client fix: taking plan type from usage endpoint instead of thru auth token (#7610) 2025-12-04 23:34:13 -08:00
chatgpt chore: cleanup Config instantiation codepaths (#8226) 2025-12-17 18:01:17 -08:00
cli chore: cleanup Config instantiation codepaths (#8226) 2025-12-17 18:01:17 -08:00
cloud-tasks cloud: default to current branch in cloud exec (#7460) 2025-12-18 17:44:38 +00:00
cloud-tasks-client cloud: status, diff, apply (#7614) 2025-12-05 21:39:23 +00:00
codex-api feat: experimental menu (#8071) 2025-12-17 17:08:03 +00:00
codex-backend-openapi-models chore: add cargo-deny configuration (#7119) 2025-11-24 12:22:18 -08:00
codex-client nit: trace span for regular task (#8053) 2025-12-16 16:53:15 +00:00
common feat: Constrain values for approval_policy (#7778) 2025-12-17 16:19:27 +00:00
core Terminal Detection Metadata for Per-Terminal Scroll Scaling (#8252) 2025-12-18 12:50:00 -08:00
docs Support SYSTEM skills. (#8220) 2025-12-17 18:48:28 -08:00
exec chore: cleanup Config instantiation codepaths (#8226) 2025-12-17 18:01:17 -08:00
exec-server Fixes mcp elicitation test that fails for me when run locally (#8020) 2025-12-15 16:23:04 -08:00
execpolicy fix: policy/*.codexpolicy -> rules/*.rules (#7888) 2025-12-11 14:46:00 -08:00
execpolicy-legacy chore: add cargo-deny configuration (#7119) 2025-11-24 12:22:18 -08:00
feedback chore(deps): bump sentry from 0.34.0 to 0.46.0 in /codex-rs (#8043) 2025-12-14 22:31:55 -08:00
file-search chore: add cargo-deny configuration (#7119) 2025-11-24 12:22:18 -08:00
keyring-store chore: add cargo-deny configuration (#7119) 2025-11-24 12:22:18 -08:00
linux-sandbox fix: introduce AbsolutePathBuf as part of sandbox config (#7856) 2025-12-12 15:25:22 -08:00
lmstudio make model optional in config (#7769) 2025-12-10 11:19:00 -08:00
login Make the device auth instructions more clear. (#7745) 2025-12-08 11:04:49 -08:00
mcp-server chore: cleanup Config instantiation codepaths (#8226) 2025-12-17 18:01:17 -08:00
mcp-types fix: prevent MCP startup failure on missing 'type' field (#7417) 2025-12-01 13:58:20 -05:00
ollama make model optional in config (#7769) 2025-12-10 11:19:00 -08:00
otel nit: trace span for regular task (#8053) 2025-12-16 16:53:15 +00:00
process-hardening fix: pre-main hardening logic must tolerate non-UTF-8 env vars (#7749) 2025-12-08 16:00:24 -08:00
protocol splash screen (#8270) 2025-12-18 10:59:53 -08:00
responses-api-proxy chore: add cargo-deny configuration (#7119) 2025-11-24 12:22:18 -08:00
rmcp-client feat: support mcp in-session login (#7751) 2025-12-09 17:43:53 -08:00
scripts remove release script (#7885) 2025-12-11 13:40:48 -08:00
stdio-to-uds chore: add cargo-deny configuration (#7119) 2025-11-24 12:22:18 -08:00
tui tui: improve rendering of search cell (#8273) 2025-12-18 11:05:26 -08:00
tui2 Terminal Detection Metadata for Per-Terminal Scroll Scaling (#8252) 2025-12-18 12:50:00 -08:00
utils feat: add config to disable warnings around ghost snapshot (#8178) 2025-12-17 18:50:22 +00:00
windows-sandbox-rs grant read ACL to exe directory first so we can call the command runner (#8275) 2025-12-18 19:52:32 +00:00
.gitignore [MCP] Prefix MCP tools names with mcp__ (#5309) 2025-10-19 20:41:55 -04:00
Cargo.lock Support SYSTEM skills. (#8220) 2025-12-17 18:48:28 -08:00
Cargo.toml Support SYSTEM skills. (#8220) 2025-12-17 18:48:28 -08:00
clippy.toml fix: switch rate limit reset handling to timestamps (#5304) 2025-10-17 17:39:37 -07:00
code Send text parameter for non-gpt-5 models (#4195) 2025-09-24 22:00:06 +00:00
config.md Fix link to MCP Servers config section (#5301) 2025-10-17 14:58:27 -07:00
default.nix fix: drop stale filedescriptor output hash for nix (#7865) 2025-12-11 10:43:50 -08:00
deny.toml chore: add cargo-deny configuration (#7119) 2025-11-24 12:22:18 -08:00
README.md Fix toasts on Windows under WSL 2 (#7137) 2025-12-11 15:09:00 -08:00
rust-toolchain.toml chore: upgrade to Rust 1.90 (#4124) 2025-09-24 08:32:00 -07:00
rustfmt.toml Update cargo to 2024 edition (#842) 2025-05-07 08:37:48 -07:00

Codex CLI (Rust Implementation)

We provide Codex CLI as a standalone, native executable to ensure a zero-dependency install.

Installing Codex

Today, the easiest way to install Codex is via npm:

npm i -g @openai/codex
codex

You can also install via Homebrew (brew install --cask codex) or download a platform-specific release directly from our GitHub Releases.

Documentation quickstart

What's new in the Rust CLI

The Rust implementation is now the maintained Codex CLI and serves as the default experience. It includes a number of features that the legacy TypeScript CLI never supported.

Config

Codex supports a rich set of configuration options. Note that the Rust CLI uses config.toml instead of config.json. See docs/config.md for details.

Model Context Protocol Support

MCP client

Codex CLI functions as an MCP client that allows the Codex CLI and IDE extension to connect to MCP servers on startup. See the configuration documentation for details.

MCP server (experimental)

Codex can be launched as an MCP server by running codex mcp-server. This allows other MCP clients to use Codex as a tool for another agent.

Use the @modelcontextprotocol/inspector to try it out:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector codex mcp-server

Use codex mcp to add/list/get/remove MCP server launchers defined in config.toml, and codex mcp-server to run the MCP server directly.

Notifications

You can enable notifications by configuring a script that is run whenever the agent finishes a turn. The notify documentation includes a detailed example that explains how to get desktop notifications via terminal-notifier on macOS. When Codex detects that it is running under WSL 2 inside Windows Terminal (WT_SESSION is set), the TUI automatically falls back to native Windows toast notifications so approval prompts and completed turns surface even though Windows Terminal does not implement OSC 9.

codex exec to run Codex programmatically/non-interactively

To run Codex non-interactively, run codex exec PROMPT (you can also pass the prompt via stdin) and Codex will work on your task until it decides that it is done and exits. Output is printed to the terminal directly. You can set the RUST_LOG environment variable to see more about what's going on.

Experimenting with the Codex Sandbox

To test to see what happens when a command is run under the sandbox provided by Codex, we provide the following subcommands in Codex CLI:

# macOS
codex sandbox macos [--full-auto] [--log-denials] [COMMAND]...

# Linux
codex sandbox linux [--full-auto] [COMMAND]...

# Windows
codex sandbox windows [--full-auto] [COMMAND]...

# Legacy aliases
codex debug seatbelt [--full-auto] [--log-denials] [COMMAND]...
codex debug landlock [--full-auto] [COMMAND]...

Selecting a sandbox policy via --sandbox

The Rust CLI exposes a dedicated --sandbox (-s) flag that lets you pick the sandbox policy without having to reach for the generic -c/--config option:

# Run Codex with the default, read-only sandbox
codex --sandbox read-only

# Allow the agent to write within the current workspace while still blocking network access
codex --sandbox workspace-write

# Danger! Disable sandboxing entirely (only do this if you are already running in a container or other isolated env)
codex --sandbox danger-full-access

The same setting can be persisted in ~/.codex/config.toml via the top-level sandbox_mode = "MODE" key, e.g. sandbox_mode = "workspace-write".

Code Organization

This folder is the root of a Cargo workspace. It contains quite a bit of experimental code, but here are the key crates:

  • core/ contains the business logic for Codex. Ultimately, we hope this to be a library crate that is generally useful for building other Rust/native applications that use Codex.
  • exec/ "headless" CLI for use in automation.
  • tui/ CLI that launches a fullscreen TUI built with Ratatui.
  • cli/ CLI multitool that provides the aforementioned CLIs via subcommands.