# Extract and Centralize Sandboxing
- Goal: Improve safety and clarity by centralizing sandbox planning and
execution.
- Approach:
- Add planner (ExecPlan) and backend registry (Direct/Seatbelt/Linux)
with run_with_plan.
- Refactor codex.rs to plan-then-execute; handle failures/escalation via
the plan.
- Delegate apply_patch to the codex binary and run it with an empty env
for determinism.
# External (non-OpenAI) Pull Request Requirements
Before opening this Pull Request, please read the dedicated
"Contributing" markdown file or your PR may be closed:
https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/main/docs/contributing.md
If your PR conforms to our contribution guidelines, replace this text
with a detailed and high quality description of your changes.
We continue the separation between `codex app-server` and `codex
mcp-server`.
In particular, we introduce a new crate, `codex-app-server-protocol`,
and migrate `codex-rs/protocol/src/mcp_protocol.rs` into it, renaming it
`codex-rs/app-server-protocol/src/protocol.rs`.
Because `ConversationId` was defined in `mcp_protocol.rs`, we move it
into its own file, `codex-rs/protocol/src/conversation_id.rs`, and
because it is referenced in a ton of places, we have to touch a lot of
files as part of this PR.
We also decide to get away from proper JSON-RPC 2.0 semantics, so we
also introduce `codex-rs/app-server-protocol/src/jsonrpc_lite.rs`, which
is basically the same `JSONRPCMessage` type defined in `mcp-types`
except with all of the `"jsonrpc": "2.0"` removed.
Getting rid of `"jsonrpc": "2.0"` makes our serialization logic
considerably simpler, as we can lean heavier on serde to serialize
directly into the wire format that we use now.
Manually curating `protocol-ts/src/lib.rs` was error-prone, as expected.
I finally asked Codex to write some Rust macros so we can ensure that:
- For every variant of `ClientRequest` and `ServerRequest`, there is an
associated `params` and `response` type.
- All response types are included automatically in the output of `codex
generate-ts`.
I don't believe there is any upside in making process hardening opt-in
for Codex CLI releases. If you want to tinker with Codex CLI, then build
from source (or run as `root`)?
Fixes:
- Removed overdeclaration of types that were unnecessary because they
were already included by induction.
- Reordered list of response types to match the enum order, making it
easier to identify what was missing.
- Added `ExecArbitraryCommandResponse` because it was missing.
- Leveraged `use codex_protocol::mcp_protocol::*;` to make the file more
readable.
- Removed crate dependency on `mcp-types` now that we have separate the
app server from the MCP server:
https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/4471
My next move is to come up with some scheme that ensures request types
always have a response type and that the response type is automatically
included with the output of `codex generate-ts`.
This ensures changes the generated TypeScript type for `ClientRequest`
so that instead of this:
```typescript
/**
* Request from the client to the server.
*/
export type ClientRequest =
| { method: "initialize"; id: RequestId; params: InitializeParams }
| { method: "newConversation"; id: RequestId; params: NewConversationParams }
// ...
| { method: "getUserAgent"; id: RequestId }
| { method: "userInfo"; id: RequestId }
// ...
```
we have this:
```typescript
/**
* Request from the client to the server.
*/
export type ClientRequest =
| { method: "initialize"; id: RequestId; params: InitializeParams }
| { method: "newConversation"; id: RequestId; params: NewConversationParams }
// ...
| { method: "getUserAgent"; id: RequestId; params: undefined }
| { method: "userInfo"; id: RequestId; params: undefined }
// ...
```
which makes TypeScript happier when it comes to destructuring instances
of `ClientRequest` because it does not complain about `params` not being
guaranteed to exist anymore.
Update prompt to prevent codex to use Python script or fancy commands to
edit files.
## Testing:
3 scenarios have been considered:
1. Rename codex to meca_code. Proceed to the whole refactor file by
file. Don't ask for approval at each step
2. Add a description to every single function you can find in the repo
3. Rewrite codex.rs in a more idiomatic way. Make sure to touch ONLY
this file and that clippy does not complain at the end
Before this update, 22% (estimation as it's sometimes hard to find all
the creative way the model find to edit files) of the file editions
where made using something else than a raw `apply_patch`
After this update, not a single edition without `apply_patch` was found
[EDIT]
I managed to have a few `["bash", "-lc", "apply_path"]` when reaching <
10% context left
Here's the logic:
1. If text is empty and selector is open:
- Enter on a prompt without args should autosubmit the prompt
- Enter on a prompt with numeric args should add `/prompts:name ` to the
text input
- Enter on a prompt with named args should add `/prompts:name ARG1=""
ARG2=""` to the text input
2. If text is not empty but no args are passed:
- For prompts with numeric args -> we allow it to submit (params are
optional)
- For prompts with named args -> we throw an error (all params should
have values)
<img width="454" height="246" alt="Screenshot 2025-09-23 at 2 23 21 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/fd180a1b-7d17-42ec-b231-8da48828b811"
/>
This is a very large PR with some non-backwards-compatible changes.
Historically, `codex mcp` (or `codex mcp serve`) started a JSON-RPC-ish
server that had two overlapping responsibilities:
- Running an MCP server, providing some basic tool calls.
- Running the app server used to power experiences such as the VS Code
extension.
This PR aims to separate these into distinct concepts:
- `codex mcp-server` for the MCP server
- `codex app-server` for the "application server"
Note `codex mcp` still exists because it already has its own subcommands
for MCP management (`list`, `add`, etc.)
The MCP logic continues to live in `codex-rs/mcp-server` whereas the
refactored app server logic is in the new `codex-rs/app-server` folder.
Note that most of the existing integration tests in
`codex-rs/mcp-server/tests/suite` were actually for the app server, so
all the tests have been moved with the exception of
`codex-rs/mcp-server/tests/suite/mod.rs`.
Because this is already a large diff, I tried not to change more than I
had to, so `codex-rs/app-server/tests/common/mcp_process.rs` still uses
the name `McpProcess` for now, but I will do some mechanical renamings
to things like `AppServer` in subsequent PRs.
While `mcp-server` and `app-server` share some overlapping functionality
(like reading streams of JSONL and dispatching based on message types)
and some differences (completely different message types), I ended up
doing a bit of copypasta between the two crates, as both have somewhat
similar `message_processor.rs` and `outgoing_message.rs` files for now,
though I expect them to diverge more in the near future.
One material change is that of the initialize handshake for `codex
app-server`, as we no longer use the MCP types for that handshake.
Instead, we update `codex-rs/protocol/src/mcp_protocol.rs` to add an
`Initialize` variant to `ClientRequest`, which takes the `ClientInfo`
object we need to update the `USER_AGENT_SUFFIX` in
`codex-rs/app-server/src/message_processor.rs`.
One other material change is in
`codex-rs/app-server/src/codex_message_processor.rs` where I eliminated
a use of the `send_event_as_notification()` method I am generally trying
to deprecate (because it blindly maps an `EventMsg` into a
`JSONNotification`) in favor of `send_server_notification()`, which
takes a `ServerNotification`, as that is intended to be a custom enum of
all notification types supported by the app server. So to make this
update, I had to introduce a new variant of `ServerNotification`,
`SessionConfigured`, which is a non-backwards compatible change with the
old `codex mcp`, and clients will have to be updated after the next
release that contains this PR. Note that
`codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/list_resume.rs` also had to be update
to reflect this change.
I introduced `codex-rs/utils/json-to-toml/src/lib.rs` as a small utility
crate to avoid some of the copying between `mcp-server` and
`app-server`.
# External (non-OpenAI) Pull Request Requirements
Before opening this Pull Request, please read the dedicated
"Contributing" markdown file or your PR may be closed:
https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/main/docs/contributing.md
If your PR conforms to our contribution guidelines, replace this text
with a detailed and high quality description of your changes.
# test
```
codex-rs % export CODEX_DEVICE_AUTH_BASE_URL=http://localhost:3007
codex-rs % cargo run --bin codex login --experimental_use-device-code
Compiling codex-login v0.0.0 (/Users/rakesh/code/codex/codex-rs/login)
Compiling codex-mcp-server v0.0.0 (/Users/rakesh/code/codex/codex-rs/mcp-server)
Compiling codex-tui v0.0.0 (/Users/rakesh/code/codex/codex-rs/tui)
Compiling codex-cli v0.0.0 (/Users/rakesh/code/codex/codex-rs/cli)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 2.90s
Running `target/debug/codex login --experimental_use-device-code`
To authenticate, enter this code when prompted: 6Q27-KBVRF with interval 5
^C
```
The error in the last line is since the poll endpoint is not yet
implemented
Fixing the "? for shortcuts"
- Only show the hint when composer is empty
- Don't reset footer on new task updates
- Reorder the elements
- Align the "?" and "/" with overlay on and off
Based on #4364
