core-agent-ide/codex-rs
Channing Conger e4eedd6170
Code mode on v8 (#15276)
Moves Code Mode to a new crate with no dependencies on codex. This
create encodes the code mode semantics that we want for lifetime,
mounting, tool calling.

The model-facing surface is mostly unchanged. `exec` still runs raw
JavaScript, `wait` still resumes or terminates a `cell_id`, nested tools
are still available through `tools.*`, and helpers like `text`, `image`,
`store`, `load`, `notify`, `yield_control`, and `exit` still exist.

The major change is underneath that surface:

- Old code mode was an external Node runtime.
- New code mode is an in-process V8 runtime embedded directly in Rust.
- Old code mode managed cells inside a long-lived Node runner process.
- New code mode manages cells in Rust, with one V8 runtime thread per
active `exec`.
- Old code mode used JSON protocol messages over child stdin/stdout plus
Node worker-thread messages.
- New code mode uses Rust channels and direct V8 callbacks/events.

This PR also fixes the two migration regressions that fell out of that
substrate change:

- `wait { terminate: true }` now waits for the V8 runtime to actually
stop before reporting termination.
- synchronous top-level `exit()` now succeeds again instead of surfacing
as a script error.

---

- `core/src/tools/code_mode/*` is now mostly an adapter layer for the
public `exec` / `wait` tools.
- `code-mode/src/service.rs` owns cell sessions and async control flow
in Rust.
- `code-mode/src/runtime/*.rs` owns the embedded V8 isolate and
JavaScript execution.
- each `exec` spawns a dedicated runtime thread plus a Rust
session-control task.
- helper globals are installed directly into the V8 context instead of
being injected through a source prelude.
- helper modules like `tools.js` and `@openai/code_mode` are synthesized
through V8 module resolution callbacks in Rust.

---

Also added a benchmark for showing the speed of init and use of a code
mode env:
```
$ cargo bench -p codex-code-mode --bench exec_overhead -- --samples 30 --warm-iterations 25 --tool-counts 0,32,128
Finished [`bench` profile [optimized]](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/profiles.html#default-profiles) target(s) in 0.18s
     Running benches/exec_overhead.rs (target/release/deps/exec_overhead-008c440d800545ae)
exec_overhead: samples=30, warm_iterations=25, tool_counts=[0, 32, 128]
scenario       tools samples    warmups      iters      mean/exec       p95/exec       rssΔ p50       rssΔ max
cold_exec          0      30          0          1         1.13ms         1.20ms        8.05MiB        8.06MiB
warm_exec          0      30          1         25       473.43us       512.49us      912.00KiB        1.33MiB
cold_exec         32      30          0          1         1.03ms         1.15ms        8.08MiB        8.11MiB
warm_exec         32      30          1         25       509.73us       545.76us      960.00KiB        1.30MiB
cold_exec        128      30          0          1         1.14ms         1.19ms        8.30MiB        8.34MiB
warm_exec        128      30          1         25       575.08us       591.03us      736.00KiB      864.00KiB
memory uses a fresh-process max RSS delta for each scenario
```

---------

Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>
2026-03-20 23:36:58 -07:00
..
.cargo Fix release build take (#12865) 2026-02-25 20:59:07 -08:00
.config Stabilize protocol schema fixture generation (#13886) 2026-03-09 13:51:50 -07:00
.github/workflows chore(ci): add cargo audit workflow and policy (#7108) 2025-11-24 12:20:55 -08:00
ansi-escape feat: add support for building with Bazel (#8875) 2026-01-09 11:09:43 -08:00
app-server Pass platform param to featured plugins (#15348) 2026-03-21 01:42:40 +00:00
app-server-client Split features into codex-features crate (#15253) 2026-03-19 20:12:07 -07:00
app-server-protocol Add realtime transcript notification in v2 (#15344) 2026-03-20 15:30:48 -07:00
app-server-test-client Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
apply-patch Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
arg0 feat: pass helper executable paths via Arg0DispatchPaths (#12719) 2026-02-24 17:44:38 -08:00
artifacts feat: adapt artifacts to new packaging and 2.5.6 (#14947) 2026-03-18 09:17:44 +00:00
async-utils feat: add support for building with Bazel (#8875) 2026-01-09 11:09:43 -08:00
backend-client Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
chatgpt Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
cli Use released DotSlash package for argument-comment lint (#15199) 2026-03-20 03:19:22 +00:00
cloud-requirements Use workspace requirements for guardian prompt override (#14727) 2026-03-17 22:05:41 -07:00
cloud-tasks Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
cloud-tasks-client Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
code-mode Code mode on v8 (#15276) 2026-03-20 23:36:58 -07:00
codex-api feat(core, tracing): create turn spans over websockets (#14632) 2026-03-19 03:41:06 +00:00
codex-backend-openapi-models feat: support multiple rate limits (#11260) 2026-02-10 20:09:31 -08:00
codex-client feat(app-server, core): add more spans (#14479) 2026-03-13 13:16:33 -07:00
codex-experimental-api-macros Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
config fix: harden plugin feature gating (#15104) 2026-03-19 00:03:37 +00:00
connectors [apps] Add tool_suggest tool. (#14287) 2026-03-11 22:06:59 -07:00
core Code mode on v8 (#15276) 2026-03-20 23:36:58 -07:00
debug-client Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
docs chore(app-server): delete v1 RPC methods and notifications (#13375) 2026-03-03 13:18:25 -08:00
exec Move auth code into login crate (#15150) 2026-03-19 18:58:17 -07:00
exec-server Split exec process into local and remote implementations (#15233) 2026-03-20 03:13:08 +00:00
execpolicy Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
execpolicy-legacy Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
features chore(core) Remove Feature::PowershellUtf8 (#15128) 2026-03-20 22:03:31 +00:00
feedback Add timestamps to feedback log lines (#13688) 2026-03-06 07:34:59 -07:00
file-search Simple directory mentions (#14970) 2026-03-19 05:24:09 +00:00
hooks Disable hooks on windows for now (#15252) 2026-03-19 21:31:56 -07:00
keyring-store feat: add support for building with Bazel (#8875) 2026-01-09 11:09:43 -08:00
linux-sandbox core: add a full-buffer exec capture policy (#15254) 2026-03-20 02:38:12 +00:00
lmstudio Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
login Move auth code into login crate (#15150) 2026-03-19 18:58:17 -07:00
mcp-server Split features into codex-features crate (#15253) 2026-03-19 20:12:07 -07:00
network-proxy Apply argument comment lint across codex-rs (#14652) 2026-03-16 16:48:15 -07:00
ollama chore: nuke chat/completions API (#10157) 2026-02-03 11:31:57 +00:00
otel Move auth code into login crate (#15150) 2026-03-19 18:58:17 -07:00
package-manager chore: ultra-clean artifacts (#13577) 2026-03-05 13:03:01 +00:00
process-hardening feat: add support for building with Bazel (#8875) 2026-01-09 11:09:43 -08:00
protocol Pass platform param to featured plugins (#15348) 2026-03-21 01:42:40 +00:00
responses-api-proxy Update pnpm versions to fix cve-2026-24842 (#12009) 2026-02-19 14:27:55 -08:00
rmcp-client Plumb MCP turn metadata through _meta (#15190) 2026-03-19 22:05:13 +00:00
scripts Upgrade to rust 1.93 (#10080) 2026-01-28 17:46:18 +00:00
secrets Move sanitizer into codex-secrets (#12306) 2026-02-20 22:47:54 +00:00
shell-command Collapse parsed command summaries when any stage is unknown (#13043) 2026-03-03 19:45:34 +00:00
shell-escalation fix: preserve zsh-fork escalation fds across unified-exec spawn paths (#13644) 2026-03-13 20:25:31 +00:00
skills skill-creator: default new skills to ~/.codex/skills (#14837) 2026-03-16 18:36:11 -07:00
state feat: change multi-agent to use path-like system instead of uuids (#15313) 2026-03-20 18:23:48 +00:00
stdio-to-uds Fix stdio-to-uds peer-close flake (#13882) 2026-03-12 09:52:50 -07:00
terminal-detection Move terminal module to terminal-detection crate (#15216) 2026-03-19 14:08:04 -07:00
test-macros feat: add large stack test macro (#12768) 2026-02-25 13:19:21 +00:00
tui Gate tui /plugins menu behind flag (#15285) 2026-03-20 15:49:04 -07:00
tui_app_server Gate tui /plugins menu behind flag (#15285) 2026-03-20 15:49:04 -07:00
utils Use released DotSlash package for argument-comment lint (#15199) 2026-03-20 03:19:22 +00:00
v8-poc Add v8-poc consumer of our new built v8 (#15203) 2026-03-20 12:08:25 -07:00
vendor build(linux-sandbox): always compile vendored bubblewrap on Linux; remove CODEX_BWRAP_ENABLE_FFI (#11498) 2026-02-11 21:30:41 -08:00
windows-sandbox-rs Use released DotSlash package for argument-comment lint (#15199) 2026-03-20 03:19:22 +00:00
.gitignore [MCP] Prefix MCP tools names with mcp__ (#5309) 2025-10-19 20:41:55 -04:00
BUILD.bazel Add feature-gated freeform js_repl core runtime (#10674) 2026-02-11 12:05:02 -08:00
Cargo.lock Code mode on v8 (#15276) 2026-03-20 23:36:58 -07:00
Cargo.toml Code mode on v8 (#15276) 2026-03-20 23:36:58 -07:00
clippy.toml fix: switch rate limit reset handling to timestamps (#5304) 2025-10-17 17:39:37 -07:00
config.md Fix link to MCP Servers config section (#5301) 2025-10-17 14:58:27 -07:00
default.nix fix(nix): include libcap dependency on linux builds (#12415) 2026-02-20 19:32:15 -08:00
deny.toml Add realtime transcript notification in v2 (#15344) 2026-03-20 15:30:48 -07:00
node-version.txt Reduce js_repl Node version requirement to 22.22.0 (#12857) 2026-02-26 04:09:30 +00:00
README.md feat: memories in workspace write (#13467) 2026-03-04 13:00:26 +00:00
rust-toolchain.toml Revert "chore(deps): bump rust-toolchain from 1.93.0 to 1.93.1 in /co…dex-rs (#11886)" (#12035) 2026-02-17 12:29:03 -08:00
rustfmt.toml

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. Use codex exec --ephemeral ... to run without persisting session rollout files to disk.

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". In workspace-write, Codex also includes ~/.codex/memories in its writable roots so memory maintenance does not require an extra approval.

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.

If you want to contribute or inspect behavior in detail, start by reading the module-level README.md files under each crate and run the project workspace from the top-level codex-rs directory so shared config, features, and build scripts stay aligned.