[Windows Desktop] Background ambient/home suggestions consume user quota without explicit action
Summary
Codex Windows Desktop is consuming my ChatGPT/Codex 5-hour quota without explicit user action. Local logs show background turns triggered by ambient/home suggestions and their safety filtering shortly after opening Codex, before I submit a real coding request.
This is causing substantial quota loss. In one session, my 5-hour quota dropped from 100% to 97% within a few minutes after opening Codex. Across the morning, a significant portion of quota was consumed either by these background requests or by attempts to diagnose/mitigate the quota drain.
Product / Environment
- Product: Codex Desktop on Windows
- OS: Windows x64
- Codex package path observed locally:
OpenAI.Codex_26.611.8604.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0 - Auth mode in logs: ChatGPT plan
- Date observed: 2026-06-22
Evidence from local logs
Local logs_2.sqlite shows background model turns after opening Codex:
op.dispatch.user_input
model=gpt-5.4
cwd=<local project path>
The generated assistant output contained suggestions JSON:
{"suggestions":[...]}
A second background turn then ran the ambient suggestions safety/compliance filter:
You are an expert at upholding safety and compliance standards for Codex ambient suggestions.
model=gpt-5.4-mini
cwd=<Codex app install path>
Earlier logs also showed prompts like:
Generate 0 to 3 hyperpersonalized suggestions...
Codex ambient suggestions...
The background request is not just telemetry or websocket keepalive: it creates model responses and produces suggestion candidates.
Local mitigation attempts
I tried disabling memories and related local settings:
[features]
memories = false
js_repl = false
[memories]
generate_memories = false
use_memories = false
[desktop]
keepRemoteControlAwakeWhilePluggedIn = false
I also tried blocking writes to the local ambient-suggestions cache and setting cached generatedAtMs values into the future. This does not stop quota usage because the model request happens before the cache write.
I also tried adding best-effort config keys such as:
[features]
auto_review = false
home_suggestions = false
personalized_suggestions = false
ambient_suggestions = false
tool_suggestions = false
tool_suggest = false
There does not appear to be a documented, reliable user-facing setting to disable these background model calls.
Expected behavior
- Opening Codex should not consume user quota unless the user explicitly submits a request or opts into background suggestions.
- Ambient/home suggestions should either not count against quota or should have a clear setting to disable them.
- The desktop app should expose a switch such as "Disable background model calls / suggestions".
Actual behavior
- Codex Desktop automatically triggers ambient/home suggestion generation after launch.
- These requests use models such as
gpt-5.4andgpt-5.4-mini. - The user's 5-hour quota decreases even when the user is not actively asking Codex to perform a task.
Impact
This creates a trust and billing/quota issue: paid users can lose quota simply by opening Codex, and additional quota is consumed trying to diagnose why the quota is being drained.
Please provide a supported way to disable all background model calls and ensure ambient/home suggestions are excluded from user quota unless explicitly requested.
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