codex no longer able to run non-background tasks broke my workflow

What version of Codex CLI is running?

codex-cli 0.97.0

What subscription do you have?

Pro

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.2

What platform is your computer?

Linux 6.18.6-arch1-1 x86_64 unknown

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

alacritty

What issue are you seeing?

› This is an annoying functionality regression in this version of codex. Can you see if you have a non-
background tool call available to you?

• I don’t have a tool call that can keep a long‑running process alive across turns anymore. exec_command
and its PTY session get torn down when the turn ends, so anything spawned from it dies too. That’s why
your ps is empty.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

My workflow for designing a wrapping harness for a game depended on codex being able to run a background process and wait for it to complete.

As of 0.97 it reports that it a) cannot spawn a non-background shell and b) the shell it spawns dies

5.2 says:

 user: This is an annoying functionality regression in this version of codex. Can you see if you have a non-
  background tool call available to you?


response: • I don’t have a tool call that can keep a long‑running process alive across turns anymore. exec_command
  and its PTY session get torn down when the turn ends, so anything spawned from it dies too. That’s why
  your ps is empty.

  Only options:

  1. You run it directly in your terminal (recommended).
  2. I add a foreground helper script so you can one‑line it.

  If you want the helper, say the word and I’ll add scripts/run_coached_live.sh that runs the exact
  command in the foreground (so it stays alive).

This is a major annoyance as it would often run this script many times in between debugs and wait for results. Please allow non-background calls.

What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

Additional information

_No response_