Codex CLI capability request: persistent governed repo mode for long-running local workflows

What variant of Codex are you using?

CLI

What feature would you like to see?

A first-class governed repository mode for Codex CLI, or an official hook/event surface that allows persistent repo-local governance
enforcement across the full interactive session.

This is a Codex CLI feature request for long-running governed local-repo workflows, not a general model-quality complaint.

In this repo, we already have:

• session-start / session-stop lifecycle
• persisted PRE/POA/SOP governance artifacts
• MCP-first routing
• preflight/compliance validation
• repo-root launch wrapper
• fail-closed startup hardening

That work improves startup anchoring, but Codex CLI still has no documented or official way to stay persistently bound to repo-local governance
across the full session.

What is needed:

• persistent session anchoring to repo-local governance/state
• official pre-prompt / pre-tool / pre-response / post-response hooks or equivalent events
• repo-local compliance validation with retry/block behavior
• fail-closed handling when required governance surfaces are missing, stale, or contradictory

Why this matters:

• long sessions can drift from repo protocol
• compression/recovery increases continuity loss
• users have to repeatedly re-anchor the CLI manually
• this causes token waste and more inference than protocol-grounded execution

Expected behavior:
After startup establishes repo governance state, Codex CLI should be able to remain anchored to that state unless it is explicitly refreshed,
changed, or invalidated.

Actual behavior:
Startup can be hardened locally with wrappers and readiness gates, but ongoing adherence still depends too much on repeated manual re-anchoring
because there is no first-class governed mode or documented persistent enforcement surface.

Additional information

Environment:

• Codex CLI version: codex-cli 0.121.0
• Auth mode: ChatGPT sign-in
• OS / shell: Windows 11 / PowerShell

Concrete example:
After long multi-step sessions or after compression/recovery, the repo has to manually re-point Codex to active governance artifacts such as
config/active_session_governance.json; otherwise responses can drift toward generic synthesis instead of staying anchored to the active PRE/
POA/SOP session frame.

This repo already includes custom startup and governance hardening to reduce drift, but the missing capability is native persistent CLI
adherence, not better prompting.

I also prepared a short writeup with code snippets and can attach it if helpful.

Before submitting, do one quick search in that repo for:

• governed mode
• hooks
• session persistence
• CLI feature request