Add an always-expand-all inspection mode in the desktop app thread UI
Problem
In the desktop app, even with Thread detail = Steps with code output, a lot of the useful inspection surface is still collapsed by default.
That makes it hard to supervise the agent live and steer it while it works, because I still have to keep manually expanding:
- edit/code-change events
- diffs/snippets tied to edits
- tool result details
- some step details that matter for auditing what changed
The current setting helps with command visibility, but it does not provide a true fully expanded inspection mode.
There is already a useful diff sidebar for inspecting edits, but it is not the same as a fully expanded working transcript.
The sidebar is good for reviewing resulting changes. What is still missing is a mode where the main thread itself stays expanded, so I can supervise the agent live in one place while it works, including step details, tool output, and edit context, without needing to bounce between collapsed thread items and the sidebar.
What I want
Please add a desktop-app setting such as:
Always expand all thread details- or
Verbose / inspection mode
When enabled, keep the relevant thread items expanded by default, especially:
- code edit steps
- edit diffs/snippets
- tool outputs
- step details
Why this matters
For users who actively supervise the agent, collapsed steps add a lot of friction.
I want to be able to scan the thread with my eyes and immediately see what the agent is doing, what changed, and whether I should steer it, without repeatedly clicking open dozens of collapsed items.
This is especially useful for:
- reviewing edits as they happen
- catching wrong assumptions early
- auditing tool usage
- steering long-running coding sessions
Related issues
This feels related to, but not the same as:
- #4550 — configurable or disable-able command folding / truncation in the CLI/TUI
- #2925 — transcript collapsing controls in the CLI/TUI
My request here is specifically about the desktop app thread UI and having a mode that keeps the whole working transcript meaningfully expanded for live supervision.
5 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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Exactly the blocker for me to using the app.
I realized it was not like this before, and it only started from a certain version around a month or two ago? I feel like the recent versions are cutting off even more auditability and observability, which is the opposite of what developers need.
I understand the importance of a clean UI, so I’m asking for a setting to opt out of the current black-box/TLDR-style UI and UX.
yes please like verbose mode in claude code
+1. This captures the main blocker I hit when trying to use Codex Desktop as my primary coding interface instead of the CLI.
For power-user coding workflows, the current collapsed thread UI makes live supervision much harder than it needs to be. I do not want to let an agent run for a long time and only review the final result; I want to monitor shell commands, tool calls, outputs, edits, and validation as the work happens so I can correct direction early.
A clean default UI is reasonable, but there should be an explicit verbose / inspection mode that opts into a more CLI-like working transcript. In that mode, the thread should keep relevant execution details expanded by default, especially:
The existing per-block caret interaction is too repetitive for long sessions. I often need to expand many blocks manually, sometimes multiple times in one session, just to understand what Codex is doing.
This is closely related to #19260, but broader: #19260 is specifically about command/tool output folding, while this issue is about an overall inspection mode for the Desktop thread UI.
+1. I want this especially because opencode-style default expanded detail makes live supervision much easier.
For Codex Desktop, I want a setting like:
The current UI requires repeated clicks during active work, which makes it harder to audit commands, outputs, and edits while the agent is running.