Keep File Context Fresh After Edits

Open 💬 0 comments Opened May 12, 2026 by josephweaver

What variant of Codex are you using?

vscode extension

What feature would you like to see?

When Codex reads verbatim lines from a local file into the context window, and that file is later edited, the stale file content remains in model context. This can cause Codex to reason from outdated text even though the workspace file has changed.

Requested behavior:

If a file already represented in context is edited, Codex should either:
update the relevant context entry automatically, or
invalidate the stale context and reload the file Just-In-Time before using it again.
At minimum, Codex should detect that the file changed after it was read and warn that its remembered content may be stale.
This would be especially helpful for documentation editing, iterative patching, and review workflows where the same file is read, edited, reread, and patched repeatedly.
Problem example:

Codex reads lines from AI_ASSISTANCE_LEVELS.md.
User edits the same file.
Codex applies a patch based on the earlier context.
The patch may fail or target outdated wording.
Expected improvement:

Codex should treat file contents in context as snapshots with modification metadata, not as permanently reliable truth. Before editing or quoting a previously-read file, it should refresh the relevant region if the file has changed.

Additional information

_No response_

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