Codex fails to load a valid `SKILL.md` when front matter `description` exceeds 1024 characters.
Resolved 💬 2 comments Opened Mar 8, 2026 by rainbow-stone Closed Mar 8, 2026
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor)
responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.
What version of Codex CLI is running?
0.111.0
What subscription do you have?
Plus
Which model were you using?
gpt-5.3-codex
What platform is your computer?
Windows
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
Powershell
What issue are you seeing?
invalid description: exceeds maximum length of 1024 characters
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Create/update a skill with valid YAML front matter:
``yaml``
---
name: test-skill
description: "<a string longer than 1024 characters>"
---
- Start/reload Codex skill loading.
- Observe load result.
What is the expected behavior?
_No response_
Additional information
_No response_
2 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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Yes, this is expected behavior. The public skills spec limits the description to 1024 characters.
Skills were created to limit the context window consumption, and keeping descriptions short is key to that mechanism.