Codex app-server persists high-frequency TRACE logs to logs_2.sqlite despite analytics/plugins disabled

What happened?

Codex Desktop app-server continuously persists high-frequency TRACE logs into ~/.codex/logs_2.sqlite.

This persists after:

• setting user launch environment to lower verbosity:
• RUST_LOG=warn
• RUST_TRACE=0
• CODEX_LOG=warn
• adding this to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[analytics]
enabled = false

• fully quitting and restarting Codex
• temporarily disabling all plugins in ~/.codex/config.toml, then fully quitting and restarting Codex

This suggests the issue is likely in Codex app-server SQLite log persistence or log-level filtering, not an individual plugin.

Environment

• Platform: macOS arm64
• Codex Desktop app
• Codex CLI version from codex doctor: 0.142.0
• SQLite log DB: ~/.codex/logs_2.sqlite
• SQLite journal mode: wal

Measurement method

I repeatedly measured a 60-second read-only window:

date
stat -f 'wal_size=%z wal_mtime=%Sm' ~/.codex/logs_2.sqlite-wal
sqlite3 -header -column 'file:~/.codex/logs_2.sqlite?mode=ro' \
  'SELECT MAX(id) AS max_id, COUNT(*) AS total_rows, datetime(MAX(ts), "unixepoch", "localtime") AS latest_log FROM logs;'

sleep 60

date
stat -f 'wal_size=%z wal_mtime=%Sm' ~/.codex/logs_2.sqlite-wal
sqlite3 -header -column 'file:~/.codex/logs_2.sqlite?mode=ro' '
  SELECT MAX(id) AS max_id, COUNT(*) AS total_rows, datetime(MAX(ts), "unixepoch", "localtime") AS latest_log FROM logs;
  SELECT level, COUNT(*) AS n, SUM(estimated_bytes) AS est_bytes
    FROM logs
   WHERE ts >= (SELECT MAX(ts)-60 FROM logs)
   GROUP BY level
   ORDER BY n DESC;
  SELECT datetime((ts/10)*10, "unixepoch", "localtime") AS ten_sec,
         COUNT(*) AS total,
         SUM(level="TRACE") AS trace
    FROM logs
   WHERE ts >= (SELECT MAX(ts)-60 FROM logs)
   GROUP BY (ts/10)
   ORDER BY (ts/10) DESC;
'

Results after [analytics] enabled = false

After fully quitting and restarting Codex:

BASELINE
local_now=2026-06-23 15:45:02 +0800
wal_size=13361192 wal_mtime=Jun 23 15:45:02 2026
max_id=2246189 total_rows=39233 latest_log=2026-06-23 15:45:02

AFTER_60S
local_now=2026-06-23 15:46:02 +0800
wal_size=13361192 wal_mtime=Jun 23 15:46:01 2026
max_id=2248212 total_rows=39233 latest_log=2026-06-23 15:46:00

TRACE 1168 estimated_bytes=1185916
INFO 5
DEBUG 3
WARN 2

10-second bucket peak:
2026-06-23 15:45:30 total=769 trace=762

Results after disabling all plugins

After temporarily disabling all plugins and fully restarting Codex:

BASELINE
local_now=2026-06-23 15:55:57 +0800
wal_size=13361192 wal_mtime=Jun 23 15:55:57 2026
max_id=2284701 total_rows=40252 latest_log=2026-06-23 15:55:57

AFTER_60S
local_now=2026-06-23 15:56:57 +0800
wal_size=13361192 wal_mtime=Jun 23 15:56:47 2026
max_id=2286987 total_rows=40252 latest_log=2026-06-23 15:56:46

TRACE 1438 estimated_bytes=1525478
DEBUG 8
INFO 5
WARN 2

10-second bucket peak:
2026-06-23 15:56:30 total=908 trace=903

TRACE targets after disabling all plugins

target                                    n    est_bytes
----------------------------------------  ---  ---------
log                                       972  105210
codex_api::sse::responses                 434  454233
codex_app_server::outgoing_message        38   6489
codex_mcp::connection_manager             32   26107
codex_api::endpoint::responses_websocket  3    1644287
codex_core::session::turn                 2    1822
codex_core::client                        2    1868

The active writer is the Codex app-server process itself, not an individual plugin process.

Related codex doctor findings

codex doctor --summary --no-color --ascii reported:

Codex Doctor v0.142.0 · macos-aarch64

[!!] websocket    Responses WebSocket failed; HTTPS fallback may still work
[XX] reachability one or more required provider endpoints are unreachable over HTTP
[--] app-server   not running (ephemeral mode)

The WebSocket warning may be relevant because persistent TRACE targets include:

• codex_api::sse::responses
• codex_api::endpoint::responses_websocket

Expected behavior

Codex Desktop should not continuously persist hundreds to thousands of TRACE rows per minute into ~/.codex/logs_2.sqlite, especially when analytics is disabled and all plugins are disabled.

Actual behavior

TRACE remains roughly 99% of recent log rows. Repeated 60-second windows show 1100-1400+ TRACE rows, and 10-second buckets can peak around 700-900+ TRACE rows.

Request

Please investigate whether Codex app-server is ignoring log-level filtering for SQLite persistence, especially for:

• log
• codex_api::sse::responses
• codex_api::endpoint::responses_websocket
• codex_app_server::outgoing_message