Allow multiple CLI terminals per project + add a “General Chat” mode (convert chat → project)

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Feb 6, 2026 by hlemonnier Closed Feb 21, 2026

Description

Using Codex App on macOS, it would be really helpful to have:

Multiple CLI terminals per project
Right now, per project, clicking the top-right terminal button only opens a single CLI. That’s limiting for common workflows—e.g. in web development you often need two terminals running at the same time:

one for the frontend dev server

one for the backend API server

Being able to open multiple CLIs (tabs/splits/windows) within the same project would make this much smoother.

A “General Chat” mode not tied to a project
It would also be useful to chat in Codex without having to attach the conversation to a specific project. Sometimes I just have a coding question, or I’m brainstorming an idea before it’s a real project.

As an extension of that: if I start discussing an idea in General Chat, Codex could later prompt something like:

“Do you want to turn this into a project?”
…and then create a new project with the chat context carried over.

Expected behavior

Terminal: Ability to open more than one CLI per project (e.g., multiple tabs or split panes).

Chat: Option to start a conversation outside any project, with a way to convert it into a project later.

thread_Id=019c3532-39ae-7502-97df-f11b71597374

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3 Comments

hlemonnier · 6 months ago

@jif-oai @aibrahim-oai @bolinfest

ZeldOcarina · 6 months ago

@hlemonnier I think this should be split in two separate issues but definitely +1 on the multiple terminals.

hlemonnier · 6 months ago

@ZeldOcarina You're right i divided it into 2 issue :
Allow multiple CLI terminals per project:https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/12396
and
add a “General Chat” mode. https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/12397