## Summary The resume/session browser needs a **safe destructive-delete flow**. Recommended behavior: - `Del` marks the currently selected item for deletion - this enters a confirmation state / modal UX - only `Enter` confirms - `Esc` cancels This should be a two-step action. Non-reversible deletion should not happen on a single keystroke. ## Problem If session deletion exists or is added without a guarded flow, it becomes too easy to make an irreversible mistake. That is especially risky

Resume/session browser needs a safe two-step delete flow

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Mar 14, 2026 by oxysoft Closed Apr 18, 2026

💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (etraut-openai, contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

Summary

The resume/session browser needs a safe destructive-delete flow.

Recommended behavior:

Del marks the currently selected item for deletion
this enters a confirmation state / modal UX
only Enter confirms
Esc cancels

This should be a two-step action. Non-reversible deletion should not happen on a single keystroke.

Problem

If session deletion exists or is added without a guarded flow, it becomes too easy to make an irreversible mistake.

That is especially risky in a dense resume/session browser where users are navigating quickly.

Shift+Del is not a good answer either. It is still too easy to trigger by accident, and destructive actions should not depend on “just use a scarier shortcut” as the safety model.

Requested behavior

In the resume/session browser:

pressing Del on the selected session marks it for deletion
Codex enters a visible confirmation mode / modal state
Enter confirms the deletion
Esc cancels and returns to normal browsing

This should be explicit and visually obvious.

Why this matters

Deletion is not reversible.

That means the UX should optimize for preventing accidental loss, not for shaving one keystroke off a dangerous action.

Two-step confirmation is the wise default here.

Design notes

the item pending deletion should be clearly highlighted
the confirmation state should be obvious in the footer / prompt area
canceling should be instant and predictable
the interaction should work cleanly with keyboard-only navigation

Related issue

broader interactive session management: #6500

Invitation

Would be good to discuss:

whether the confirmation UI should be inline or modal
whether multi-select delete should follow the same pattern later
what the best delete key fallback is on terminals/platforms where Del is awkward

View original on GitHub ↗

3 Comments

oxysoft · 5 months ago

Related broader session-management issue: #6500.

This ticket is the destructive-action seam inside that larger system. If Codex gains real interactive session management, deletion absolutely should not be single-step or depend on a riskier shortcut like Shift+Del.

oxysoft · 5 months ago

Important refinement to this issue:

The “modal” part should not be interpreted as confirming one conversation at a time.

The stronger UX is:

Del enters a deletion mode
while in that mode, the statusline / action hints change to deletion-mode actions
users can move through conversations and mark multiple items for deletion
Enter confirms the whole marked set
Esc cancels the mode and clears the pending marks

That makes the mode dual-purpose:

it is safer than one-shot deletion
it supports batching, which is exactly what a serious session browser should do

So the real shape here is not “single item delete with confirmation.”
It is “enter a destructive selection mode, mark a set, then confirm or cancel.”

That feels much more in line with terminal file managers and other serious keyboard-driven UIs.

etraut-openai contributor · 4 months ago

This feature request hasn't received any upvotes in over a month, so I'm going to close it.