Proposal: reduce token usage for common verbose exec_command outputs

Context

First, thank you for building and maintaining Codex.

I read the contribution policy in docs/contributing.md and understand that external code contributions are currently invitation-only.

I still wanted to share a concrete, tested implementation idea because this appears to be a common token-efficiency pain point in real usage.

Proposal

Reduce model token footprint for very common verbose shell outputs in exec_command responses:

1. Strip ANSI escape sequences before truncation.
2. Add conservative compaction for high-noise commands:

• git status (non-porcelain): compact staged / unstaged / untracked summary
• ls -l / ls -la: compact file-type + filename listing

1. Apply compaction only when it produces meaningful size savings; otherwise fallback to existing output.

Why this may help

In interactive coding sessions, git status and ls -la are frequently emitted.
Their default output often has high formatting overhead relative to decision-relevant signal, which increases context consumption.

A conservative compaction layer can preserve useful signal while reducing token pressure.

Ready Implementation (for reference)

I prepared a working patch on my fork with unit tests.

• Branch: joey/token-compact-common-command-output
• Commit: 9379013baf3f2c1c5242806cb9a9df027868c7ba
• Fork branch URL: <https://github.com/joeeeeey/codex/tree/joey/token-compact-common-command-output>
• Commit URL: <https://github.com/joeeeeey/codex/commit/9379013baf3f2c1c5242806cb9a9df027868c7ba>

Files changed:

• codex-rs/core/src/tools/context.rs
• codex-rs/core/src/tools/context_tests.rs

What I am asking

If this direction aligns with Codex priorities, could a maintainer advise whether:

• you would prefer this as a feature request only, or
• you would like to invite an external PR for this scope.

I am happy to adjust design details, naming, or test shape based on maintainer feedback.

Thank you for your time.