Support click-to-copy and shift-click quote for structured reply sections

Summary

Codex should let users copy or quote structured parts of assistant replies by clicking them directly.

For example, each numbered item or bullet in a reply should be individually targetable for fast reuse:

1. mine for existing tickets specifically about commands being blocked during inference
2. mine for existing tickets specifically about model/reasoning indicators in the footer/UI
3. move to the next idea in the pile

The main interaction I want is:

• click a reply section or list item to copy it
• Shift+Click to append it into the composer as a quoted block, leaving the caret ready to continue typing two newlines below

Problem

Codex often produces structured responses that are clearly meant to be acted on or reused:

• numbered next steps
• bullet lists
• option lists
• short plans
• quoted shell commands

Right now, reusing one of those units is more awkward than it should be. Users have to manually mouse-select terminal text, fight wrapping, or retype pieces that are already clearly structured.

That is especially wasteful when the reply is already segmented into obvious units with semantic boundaries.

Requested behavior

• each bullet item / numbered item / compact reply section should be individually targetable
• clicking one should copy that unit to the clipboard
• Shift+Click should insert it into the composer as a quote, with the caret ready to continue below
• quoting should preserve useful formatting instead of flattening everything into plain text

Example quote result:

> mine for existing tickets specifically about commands being blocked during inference

Interaction details

• hover affordance should make it obvious which unit would be copied
• copied units should be structurally scoped, not accidental line fragments
• this should work especially well for numbered/bulleted lists because the boundaries are clear

If terminal mouse modifier detection is unreliable on some platforms, a good fallback would be:

• plain click selects/highlights the unit
• explicit inline affordances appear for Copy and Quote
• or a configurable alternate gesture provides the same behavior

Why this matters

This would make Codex replies much more mechanically useful.

It turns structured output into a direct control surface:

• click to reuse
• shift-click to continue from it
• no manual selection dance

That is especially valuable for planning, iterative prompting, and any workflow where the assistant offers multiple branches/options and the user wants to pick one instantly.

Additional ideas

Related affordances that would fit the same model:

• click a code block gutter/icon to copy the raw block
• click a heading or paragraph block to copy that section
• keyboard parity for the same actions after focusing a reply unit
• optional “append as plain text” vs “append as quote” behavior

Success criteria

• structured reply units can be copied with one click
• users can quote a unit into the composer without manual selection
• the interaction is visually discoverable
• the behavior is robust even in terminals with inconsistent modifier-click support