VS Code Extension: sandbox_mode in config.toml is ignored
Resolved 💬 6 comments Opened Feb 3, 2026 by heyarny Closed Feb 3, 2026
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor)
responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.
What version of Codex is running?
0.4.69
What subscription do you have?
ChatGPT
Which model were you using?
GPT-5.2-Codex
What platform is your computer?
Darwin 25.2.0 arm64 arm
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
VSCode
What issue are you seeing?
The latest update removed the option to override approval_policy & sandbox_mode via config.toml.
There is no way I can force my VSCode Extension to use my custom config.toml now.
I am using the Codex Extension inside a devcontainer, which does not have a sandbox. So I have a dedicated config for that to disable it. Now codex is asking me for every single change it wants to make, because the shell sandbox commands fail all the time.
Bring back the custom option!! or at least something equivalent!
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Disable sandbox in config.toml. New extension simply ignores it.
What is the expected behavior?
_No response_
Additional information
_No response_
6 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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I used to have two different config.toml files which are used in different ways.
Now there is just one GUI option which is set kinda globally and makes it very dangerous to use, because I'm switching my IDEs between devcontainer and local development. I don't want to work locally forgetting to enable sandbox.
There should be a way to have either separate config.toml files or VSCode settings that might have different settings based user/workspace/devcontainer.
An idea: you could add another option here in this drop-down -> Sandbox & approval via config.toml.
Here:
<img width="253" height="429" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/040c919a-5c35-449f-9e22-47df6fe3cafb" />
or here:
<img width="205" height="121" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/87852560-5ab5-40f0-a9cd-743dd0741f9c" />
This is a duplicate of #10401.
@etraut-openai appreciate the quick triage.
Could you share a bit more detail on why this is “not planned”? Right now it’s unclear whether the custom config behavior is considered unsupported going forward or if there’s another intended solution path.
We’re using the Codex Extension in a company environment where custom config is part of the standard setup. Being told to “stick to an old version” isn’t something we can operationalize long-term.
If there’s a supported alternative (preset settings or a different configuration mechanism), could you point us to it? A short explanation would make the closure much easier to understand. Thanks.
Please refer to my comments in #10401.