A simple `s/mcp_server_requirements/mcp_servers/g` for an unreleased
feature. @bolinfest correctly pointed out, it's already in
`requirements.toml` so the `_requirements` is redundant.
When an invalid config.toml key or value is detected, the CLI currently
just quits. This leaves the VSCE in a dead state.
This PR changes the behavior to not quit and bubble up the config error
to users to make it actionable. It also surfaces errors related to
"rules" parsing.
This allows us to surface these errors to users in the VSCE, like this:
<img width="342" height="129" alt="Screenshot 2026-01-13 at 4 29 22 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a79ffbe7-7604-400c-a304-c5165b6eebc4"
/>
<img width="346" height="244" alt="Screenshot 2026-01-13 at 4 45 06 PM"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/de874f7c-16a2-4a95-8c6d-15f10482e67b"
/>
Enterprises want to restrict the MCP servers their users can use.
Admins can now specify an allowlist of MCPs in `requirements.toml`. The
MCP servers are matched on both Name and Transport (local path or HTTP
URL) -- both must match to allow the MCP server. This prevents
circumventing the allowlist by renaming MCP servers in user config. (It
is still possible to replace the local path e.g. rewrite say
`/usr/local/github-mcp` with a nefarious MCP. We could allow hash
pinning in the future, but that would break updates. I also think this
represents a broader, out-of-scope problem.)
We introduce a new field to Constrained: "normalizer". In general, it is
a fn(T) -> T and applies when `Constrained<T>.set()` is called. In this
particular case, it disables MCP servers which do not match the
allowlist. An alternative solution would remove this and instead throw a
ConstraintError. That would stop Codex launching if any MCP server was
configured which didn't match. I think this is bad.
We currently reuse the enabled flag on MCP servers to disable them, but
don't propagate any information about why they are disabled. I'd like to
add that in a follow up PR, possibly by switching out enabled with an
enum.
In action:
```
# MCP server config has two MCPs. We are going to allowlist one of them.
➜ codex git:(gt/restrict-mcps) ✗ cat ~/.codex/config.toml | grep mcp_servers -A1
[mcp_servers.hello_world]
command = "hello-world-mcp"
--
[mcp_servers.docs]
command = "docs-mcp"
# Restrict the MCPs to the hello_world MCP.
➜ codex git:(gt/restrict-mcps) ✗ defaults read com.openai.codex requirements_toml_base64 | base64 -d
[mcp_server_allowlist.hello_world]
command = "hello-world-mcp"
# List the MCPs, observe hello_world is enabled and docs is disabled.
➜ codex git:(gt/restrict-mcps) ✗ just codex mcp list
cargo run --bin codex -- "$@"
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.25s
Running `target/debug/codex mcp list`
Name Command Args Env Cwd Status Auth
docs docs-mcp - - - disabled Unsupported
hello_world hello-world-mcp - - - enabled Unsupported
# Remove the restrictions.
➜ codex git:(gt/restrict-mcps) ✗ defaults delete com.openai.codex requirements_toml_base64
# Observe both MCPs are enabled.
➜ codex git:(gt/restrict-mcps) ✗ just codex mcp list
cargo run --bin codex -- "$@"
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.25s
Running `target/debug/codex mcp list`
Name Command Args Env Cwd Status Auth
docs docs-mcp - - - enabled Unsupported
hello_world hello-world-mcp - - - enabled Unsupported
# A new requirements that updates the command to one that does not match.
➜ codex git:(gt/restrict-mcps) ✗ cat ~/requirements.toml
[mcp_server_allowlist.hello_world]
command = "hello-world-mcp-v2"
# Use those requirements.
➜ codex git:(gt/restrict-mcps) ✗ defaults write com.openai.codex requirements_toml_base64 "$(base64 -i /Users/gt/requirements.toml)"
# Observe both MCPs are disabled.
➜ codex git:(gt/restrict-mcps) ✗ just codex mcp list
cargo run --bin codex -- "$@"
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.75s
Running `target/debug/codex mcp list`
Name Command Args Env Cwd Status Auth
docs docs-mcp - - - disabled Unsupported
hello_world hello-world-mcp - - - disabled Unsupported
```
**Before:**
```
Error loading configuration: value `Never` is not in the allowed set [OnRequest]
```
**After:**
```
Error loading configuration: invalid value for `approval_policy`: `Never` is not in the
allowed set [OnRequest] (set by MDM com.openai.codex:requirements_toml_base64)
```
Done by introducing a new struct `ConfigRequirementsWithSources` onto
which we `merge_unset_fields` now. Also introduces a pair of requirement
value and its `RequirementSource` (inspired by `ConfigLayerSource`):
```rust
pub struct Sourced<T> {
pub value: T,
pub source: RequirementSource,
}
```
Load managed requirements from MDM key `requirements_toml_base64`.
Tested on my Mac (using `defaults` to set the preference, though this
would be set by MDM in production):
```
➜ codex git:(gt/mdm-requirements) defaults read com.openai.codex requirements_toml_base64 | base64 -d
allowed_approval_policies = ["on-request"]
➜ codex git:(gt/mdm-requirements) just c --yolo
cargo run --bin codex -- "$@"
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.26s
Running `target/debug/codex --yolo`
Error loading configuration: value `Never` is not in the allowed set [OnRequest]
error: Recipe `codex` failed on line 11 with exit code 1
➜ codex git:(gt/mdm-requirements) defaults delete com.openai.codex requirements_toml_base64
➜ codex git:(gt/mdm-requirements) just c --yolo
cargo run --bin codex -- "$@"
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.24s
Running `target/debug/codex --yolo`
╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ >_ OpenAI Codex (v0.0.0) │
│ │
│ model: codex-auto-balanced medium /model to change │
│ directory: ~/code/codex/codex-rs │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
Tip: Start a fresh idea with /new; the previous session stays in history.
```
This adds logic to load `/etc/codex/config.toml` and associate it with
`ConfigLayerSource::System` on UNIX. I refactored the code so it shares
logic with the creation of the `ConfigLayerSource::User` layer.
https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/8354 added support for in-repo
`.config/` files, so this PR updates the logic for loading `*.rules`
files to load `*.rules` files from all relevant layers. The main change
to the business logic is `load_exec_policy()` in
`codex-rs/core/src/exec_policy.rs`.
Note this adds a `config_folder()` method to `ConfigLayerSource` that
returns `Option<AbsolutePathBuf>` so that it is straightforward to
iterate over the sources and get the associated config folder, if any.
This is necessary so that `$CODEX_HOME/skills` and `$CODEX_HOME/rules`
still get loaded even if `$CODEX_HOME/config.toml` does not exist. See
#8453.
For now, it is possible to omit this layer when creating a dummy
`ConfigLayerStack` in a test. We can revisit that later, if it turns out
to be the right thing to do.
- allow configuring `project_root_markers` in `config.toml`
(user/system/MDM) to control project discovery beyond `.git`
- honor the markers after merging pre-project layers; default to
`[".git"]` when unset and skip ancestor walk when set to an empty array
- document the option and add coverage for alternate markers in config
loader tests
- We now support `.codex/config.toml` in repo (from `cwd` up to the
first `.git` found, if any) as layers in `ConfigLayerStack`. A new
`ConfigLayerSource::Project` variant was added to support this.
- In doing this work, I realized that we were resolving relative paths
in `config.toml` after merging everything into one `toml::Value`, which
is wrong: paths should be relativized with respect to the folder
containing the `config.toml` that was deserialized. This PR introduces a
deserialize/re-serialize strategy to account for this in
`resolve_config_paths()`. (This is why `Serialize` is added to so many
types as part of this PR.)
- Added tests to verify this new behavior.
---
[//]: # (BEGIN SAPLING FOOTER)
Stack created with [Sapling](https://sapling-scm.com). Best reviewed
with [ReviewStack](https://reviewstack.dev/openai/codex/pull/8354).
* #8359
* __->__ #8354
`load_config_layers_state()` should load config from a
`.codex/config.toml` in any folder between the `cwd` for a thread and
the project root. Though in order to do that,
`load_config_layers_state()` needs to know what the `cwd` is, so this PR
does the work to thread the `cwd` through for existing callsites.
A notable exception is the `/config` endpoint in app server for which a
`cwd` is not guaranteed to be associated with the query, so the `cwd`
param is `Option<AbsolutePathBuf>` to account for this case.
The logic to make use of the `cwd` will be done in a follow-up PR.
This adds support for `allowed_sandbox_modes` in `requirements.toml` and
provides legacy support for constraining sandbox modes in
`managed_config.toml`. This is converted to `Constrained<SandboxPolicy>`
in `ConfigRequirements` and applied to `Config` such that constraints
are enforced throughout the harness.
Note that, because `managed_config.toml` is deprecated, we do not add
support for the new `external-sandbox` variant recently introduced in
https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/8290. As noted, that variant is not
supported in `config.toml` today, but can be configured programmatically
via app server.
This implements the new config design where config _requirements_ are
loaded separately (and with a special schema) as compared to config
_settings_. In particular, on UNIX, with this PR, you could define
`/etc/codex/requirements.toml` with:
```toml
allowed_approval_policies = ["never", "on-request"]
```
to enforce that `Config.approval_policy` must be one of those two values
when Codex runs.
We plan to expand the set of things that can be restricted by
`/etc/codex/requirements.toml` in short order.
Note that requirements can come from several sources:
- new MDM key on macOS (not implemented yet)
- `/etc/codex/requirements.toml`
- re-interpretation of legacy MDM key on macOS
(`com.openai.codex/config_toml_base64`)
- re-interpretation of legacy `/etc/codex/managed_config.toml`
So our resolution strategy is to load TOML data from those sources, in
order. Later TOMLs are "merged" into previous TOMLs, but any field that
is already set cannot be overwritten. See
`ConfigRequirementsToml::merge_unset_fields()`.
This is a significant change to how layers of configuration are applied.
In particular, the `ConfigLayerStack` now has two important fields:
- `layers: Vec<ConfigLayerEntry>`
- `requirements: ConfigRequirements`
We merge `TomlValue`s across the layers, but they are subject to
`ConfigRequirements` before creating a `Config`.
How I would review this PR:
- start with `codex-rs/app-server-protocol/src/protocol/v2.rs` and note
the new variants added to the `ConfigLayerSource` enum:
`LegacyManagedConfigTomlFromFile` and `LegacyManagedConfigTomlFromMdm`
- note that `ConfigLayerSource` now has a `precedence()` method and
implements `PartialOrd`
- `codex-rs/core/src/config_loader/layer_io.rs` is responsible for
loading "admin" preferences from `/etc/codex/managed_config.toml` and
MDM. Because `/etc/codex/managed_config.toml` is now deprecated in favor
of `/etc/codex/requirements.toml` and `/etc/codex/config.toml`, we now
include some extra information on the `LoadedConfigLayers` returned in
`layer_io.rs`.
- `codex-rs/core/src/config_loader/mod.rs` has major changes to
`load_config_layers_state()`, which is what produces `ConfigLayerStack`.
The docstring has the new specification and describes the various layers
that will be loaded and the precedence order.
- It uses the information from `LoaderOverrides` "twice," both in the
spirit of legacy support:
- We use one instances to derive an instance of `ConfigRequirements`.
Currently, the only field in `managed_config.toml` that contributes to
`ConfigRequirements` is `approval_policy`. This PR introduces
`Constrained::allow_only()` to support this.
- We use a clone of `LoaderOverrides` to derive
`ConfigLayerSource::LegacyManagedConfigTomlFromFile` and
`ConfigLayerSource::LegacyManagedConfigTomlFromMdm` layers, as
appropriate. As before, this ends up being a "best effort" at enterprise
controls, but is enforcement is not guaranteed like it is for
`ConfigRequirements`.
- Now we only create a "user" layer if `$CODEX_HOME/config.toml` exists.
(Previously, a user layer was always created for `ConfigLayerStack`.)
- Similarly, we only add a "session flags" layer if there are CLI
overrides.
- `config_loader/state.rs` contains the updated implementation for
`ConfigLayerStack`. Note the public API is largely the same as before,
but the implementation is quite different. We leverage the fact that
`ConfigLayerSource` is now `PartialOrd` to ensure layers are in the
correct order.
- A `Config` constructed via `ConfigBuilder.build()` will use
`load_config_layers_state()` to create the `ConfigLayerStack` and use
the associated `ConfigRequirements` when constructing the `Config`
object.
- That said, a `Config` constructed via
`Config::load_from_base_config_with_overrides()` does _not_ yet use
`ConfigBuilder`, so it creates a `ConfigRequirements::default()` instead
of loading a proper `ConfigRequirements`. I will fix this in a
subsequent PR.
Then the following files are mostly test changes:
```
codex-rs/app-server/tests/suite/v2/config_rpc.rs
codex-rs/core/src/config/service.rs
codex-rs/core/src/config_loader/tests.rs
```
Again, because we do not always include "user" and "session flags"
layers when the contents are empty, `ConfigLayerStack` sometimes has
fewer layers than before (and the precedence order changed slightly),
which is the main reason integration tests changed.
This attempts to tighten up the types related to "config layers."
Currently, `ConfigLayerEntry` is defined as follows:
bef36f4ae7/codex-rs/core/src/config_loader/state.rs (L19-L25)
but the `source` field is a bit of a lie, as:
- for `ConfigLayerName::Mdm`, it is
`"com.openai.codex/config_toml_base64"`
- for `ConfigLayerName::SessionFlags`, it is `"--config"`
- for `ConfigLayerName::User`, it is `"config.toml"` (just the file
name, not the path to the `config.toml` on disk that was read)
- for `ConfigLayerName::System`, it seems like it is usually
`/etc/codex/managed_config.toml` in practice, though on Windows, it is
`%CODEX_HOME%/managed_config.toml`:
bef36f4ae7/codex-rs/core/src/config_loader/layer_io.rs (L84-L101)
All that is to say, in three out of the four `ConfigLayerName`, `source`
is a `PathBuf` that is not an absolute path (or even a true path).
This PR tries to uplevel things by eliminating `source` from
`ConfigLayerEntry` and turning `ConfigLayerName` into a disjoint union
named `ConfigLayerSource` that has the appropriate metadata for each
variant, favoring the use of `AbsolutePathBuf` where appropriate:
```rust
pub enum ConfigLayerSource {
/// Managed preferences layer delivered by MDM (macOS only).
#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
#[ts(rename_all = "camelCase")]
Mdm { domain: String, key: String },
/// Managed config layer from a file (usually `managed_config.toml`).
#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
#[ts(rename_all = "camelCase")]
System { file: AbsolutePathBuf },
/// Session-layer overrides supplied via `-c`/`--config`.
SessionFlags,
/// User config layer from a file (usually `config.toml`).
#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
#[ts(rename_all = "camelCase")]
User { file: AbsolutePathBuf },
}
```
## Summary
- Factor `load_config_as_toml` into `core::config_loader` so config
loading is reusable across callers.
- Layer `~/.codex/config.toml`, optional `~/.codex/managed_config.toml`,
and macOS managed preferences (base64) with recursive table merging and
scoped threads per source.
## Config Flow
```
Managed prefs (macOS profile: com.openai.codex/config_toml_base64)
▲
│
~/.codex/managed_config.toml │ (optional file-based override)
▲
│
~/.codex/config.toml (user-defined settings)
```
- The loader searches under the resolved `CODEX_HOME` directory
(defaults to `~/.codex`).
- Managed configs let administrators ship fleet-wide overrides via
device profiles which is useful for enforcing certain settings like
sandbox or approval defaults.
- For nested hash tables: overlays merge recursively. Child tables are
merged key-by-key, while scalar or array values replace the prior layer
entirely. This lets admins add or tweak individual fields without
clobbering unrelated user settings.
