Add /effort slash command for reasoning effort selection
Open 💬 0 comments Opened Apr 24, 2026 by qiankunli
Summary
I would like Codex to provide a direct /effort slash command for switching the reasoning effort of the current model.
Today /model can change both the model and reasoning effort, but it always starts with model selection first. For users who only want to adjust effort, a dedicated /effort command would be more direct.
Proposed behavior
/effortopens the existing reasoning-level picker for the current model.- It reuses the same four levels already shown by
/model: low, medium, high, and extra high. - It should be unavailable while a task is running, matching
/modelbehavior. - Inline arguments such as
/effort highcan be considered later, but are not required for the minimal version.
Prototype branch
I implemented a minimal prototype here:
- Branch: https://github.com/qiankunli/codex/tree/feature/effort-command
- Compare: https://github.com/openai/codex/compare/main...qiankunli:codex:feature/effort-command?expand=1
The prototype adds the slash command, reuses the existing reasoning picker UI, and includes a snapshot test.
Testing done on the prototype
cargo fmtcargo test -p codex-tui effort_slash_command_opens_current_model_reasoning_popup_snapshotcargo test -p codex-tui
Note
I could not create a pull request from the fork branch to openai/codex:main with my current GitHub permissions, so I am filing this issue with the branch link instead.