Codex entered a repetitive output loop without making meaningful progress
Open 💬 4 comments Opened Jul 11, 2026 by kgbook
What version of Codex CLI is running?
0.144.1
What subscription do you have?
plus
Which model were you using?
gpt-5.6-terra medium
What platform is your computer?
debian 13
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
Konsole
Codex doctor report
codex doctor --json
{
"schemaVersion": 1,
"generatedAt": "1783776935s since unix epoch",
"overallStatus": "warning",
"codexVersion": "0.144.1",
"checks": {
"app_server.status": {
"id": "app_server.status",
"category": "app-server",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "background server is not running",
"details": {
"control socket": "/home/<USER>/.codex/app-server-control/app-server-control.sock",
"daemon state dir": "/home/<USER>/.codex/app-server-daemon",
"mode": "ephemeral",
"pid file": "/home/<USER>/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server.pid (missing)",
"settings": "/home/<USER>/.codex/app-server-daemon/settings.json (missing)",
"status": "not running",
"update-loop pid file": "/home/<USER>/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server-updater.pid (missing)"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"auth.credentials": {
"id": "auth.credentials",
"category": "auth",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "auth is configured",
"details": {
"auth file": "/home/<USER>/.codex/auth.json",
"auth storage mode": "File",
"stored API key": "false",
"stored ChatGPT tokens": "true",
"stored agent identity": "false",
"stored auth mode": "chatgpt"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"config.load": {
"id": "config.load",
"category": "config",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "config loaded",
"details": {
"CODEX_HOME": "/home/<USER>/.codex",
"config.toml": "/home/<USER>/.codex/config.toml",
"config.toml parse": "ok",
"cwd": "/home/<USER>/workspace/me/av/<PROJECT>",
"enabled feature flags": "shell_tool, unified_exec, shell_snapshot, code_mode_host, terminal_resize_reflow, sqlite, hooks, enable_request_compression, multi_agent, apps, tool_search_always_defer_mcp_tools, tool_suggest, plugins, in_app_browser, browser_use, browser_use_full_cdp_access, browser_use_external, computer_use, remote_plugin, plugin_sharing, image_generation, resize_all_images, skill_mcp_dependency_install, mentions_v2, steer, guardian_approval, goals, collaboration_modes, tool_call_mcp_elicitation, auth_elicitation, personality, fast_mode, tui_app_server, remote_compaction_v2, workspace_dependencies",
"feature flag overrides": "none",
"feature flags enabled": "35",
"log dir": "/home/<USER>/.codex/log",
"mcp servers": "0",
"model": "gpt-5.6-terra",
"model provider": "openai",
"sqlite home": "/home/<USER>/.codex"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"git.environment": {
"id": "git.environment",
"category": "git",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "git version 2.52.0",
"details": {
".git entry": "directory",
"PATH git #1": "/usr/bin/git",
"PATH git #2": "/bin/git",
"PATH git entries": "2",
"git branch": "main",
"git build options": "git version 2.52.0; cpu: x86_64; no commit associated with this build; sizeof-long: 8; sizeof-size_t: 8; shell-path: /bin/sh; rust: disabled; libcurl: 7.81.0; zlib: 1.2.11; SHA-1: SHA1_DC; SHA-256: SHA256_BLK; default-ref-format: files; default-hash: sha1",
"git exec path": "/usr/lib/git-core",
"git version": "git version 2.52.0",
"repo detected": "true",
"repo root": "/home/<USER>/workspace/me/av/<PROJECT>",
"selected git": "/usr/bin/git"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 113
},
"installation": {
"id": "installation",
"category": "install",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "installation looks consistent",
"details": {
"PATH codex #1": "/home/<USER>/.npm-global/bin/codex",
"PATH codex #2": "/usr/bin/codex",
"PATH codex #3": "/bin/codex",
"PATH codex entries": "3",
"current executable": "/home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
"install context": "npm (package /home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
"managed by bun": "false",
"managed by npm": "true",
"managed by pnpm": "false",
"managed package root": "/home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex",
"npm update target": "/home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 490
},
"mcp.config": {
"id": "mcp.config",
"category": "mcp",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "no MCP servers configured",
"details": {},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"network.env": {
"id": "network.env",
"category": "network",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "network-related environment looks readable",
"details": {
"proxy env vars": "none"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"network.provider_reachability": {
"id": "network.provider_reachability",
"category": "reachability",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "active provider endpoints are reachable over HTTP",
"details": {
"ChatGPT base URL": "https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/ reachable (HTTP 403)",
"reachability mode": "ChatGPT auth"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 543
},
"network.websocket_reachability": {
"id": "network.websocket_reachability",
"category": "websocket",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "Responses WebSocket handshake succeeded",
"details": {
"DNS": "1 IPv4, 0 IPv6, first IPv4",
"auth mode": "chatgpt",
"connect timeout": "15000 ms",
"endpoint": "wss://chatgpt.com/backend-api/<redacted>",
"handshake result": "HTTP 101 Switching Protocols",
"model provider": "openai",
"models etag present": "true",
"provider name": "OpenAI",
"proxy env vars": "none",
"reasoning header": "false",
"server model present": "false",
"supports websockets": "true",
"wire API": "responses"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 1689
},
"runtime.provenance": {
"id": "runtime.provenance",
"category": "runtime",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "running npm on linux-x86_64",
"details": {
"commit": "unknown",
"current executable": "/home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
"install method": "npm (package /home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
"platform": "linux-x86_64",
"version": "0.144.1"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"runtime.search": {
"id": "runtime.search",
"category": "search",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "search is OK (bundled)",
"details": {
"search command": "/home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path/rg",
"search command readiness": "file exists",
"search provider": "bundled"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"sandbox.helpers": {
"id": "sandbox.helpers",
"category": "sandbox",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "sandbox configuration is readable",
"details": {
"approval policy": "Never",
"codex-linux-sandbox helper": "/home/<USER>/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0tg4W1s/codex-linux-sandbox",
"execve wrapper helper": "/home/<USER>/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0tg4W1s/codex-execve-wrapper",
"filesystem sandbox": "unrestricted",
"network sandbox": "enabled"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"state.paths": {
"id": "state.paths",
"category": "state",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "state paths and databases are inspectable",
"details": {
"CODEX_HOME": "/home/<USER>/.codex (dir)",
"active rollout files": "172 files, 202180622 total bytes, 1175468 average bytes",
"archived rollout files": "0 files, 0 total bytes, 0 average bytes",
"goals DB": "/home/<USER>/.codex/goals_1.sqlite (file)",
"goals DB integrity": "ok",
"log DB": "/home/<USER>/.codex/logs_2.sqlite (file)",
"log DB integrity": "ok",
"log dir": "/home/<USER>/.codex/log (dir)",
"memories DB": "/home/<USER>/.codex/memories_1.sqlite (file)",
"memories DB integrity": "ok",
"sqlite home": "/home/<USER>/.codex (dir)",
"state DB": "/home/<USER>/.codex/state_5.sqlite (file)",
"state DB integrity": "ok"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 17993
},
"state.rollout_db_parity": {
"id": "state.rollout_db_parity",
"category": "threads",
"status": "warning",
"summary": "rollout files and state DB thread inventory differ",
"details": {
"default model provider": "openai",
"rollout DB active files": "172",
"rollout DB active rows": "128",
"rollout DB archive mismatches": "0",
"rollout DB archived files": "0",
"rollout DB archived rows": "0",
"rollout DB duplicate DB paths": "0",
"rollout DB duplicate rollout thread ids": "0",
"rollout DB malformed file names": "0",
"rollout DB missing active rows": "44",
"rollout DB missing active sample": [
"/home/<USER>/.codex/sessions/2026/03/29/rollout-2026-03-29T16-20-32-019d38ae-2d1b-7611-b342-5410803d860c.jsonl",
"/home/<USER>/.codex/sessions/2026/04/17/rollout-2026-04-17T10-26-41-019d9943-0ce4-7441-8446-f2702f97bea0.jsonl",
"/home/<USER>/.codex/sessions/2026/04/10/rollout-2026-04-10T15-30-26-019d764c-a1ac-7170-b23e-2cf736b2e305.jsonl",
"/home/<USER>/.codex/sessions/2026/04/10/rollout-2026-04-10T16-12-30-019d7673-22fb-7211-9054-c70dd4f3b1b6.jsonl",
"/home/<USER>/.codex/sessions/2026/04/14/rollout-2026-04-14T11-09-12-019d89f6-e4a0-7fd0-bae5-ce4259609eb4.jsonl"
],
"rollout DB missing archived rows": "0",
"rollout DB model providers": "openai=128",
"rollout DB rows": "128",
"rollout DB scan cap reached": "false",
"rollout DB scan errors": "0",
"rollout DB sources": "cli=122, subagent:thread_spawn=5, exec=1",
"rollout DB stale rows": "0"
},
"issues": [
{
"severity": "warning",
"cause": "rollout files are missing from the state DB",
"measured": "44 active, 0 archived",
"expected": "every rollout file has a matching threads row",
"remedy": null,
"fields": []
}
],
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 13759
},
"system.environment": {
"id": "system.environment",
"category": "system",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "OS language zh-CN",
"details": {
"EDITOR": "not set",
"LANG": "zh_CN.UTF-8",
"LC_CTYPE": "zh_CN.UTF-8",
"LESS": "set",
"PAGER": "set",
"VISUAL": "not set",
"os": "Debian 13.0.0 (trixie) [64-bit]",
"os language": "zh-CN",
"os type": "Debian",
"os version": "13.0.0"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 7
},
"terminal.env": {
"id": "terminal.env",
"category": "terminal",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "terminal metadata was detected",
"details": {
"COLORFGBG": "15;0",
"COLORTERM": "truecolor",
"DISPLAY": "present",
"color output": "enabled",
"effective locale": "zh_CN.UTF-8",
"stderr is terminal": "true",
"stdin is terminal": "true",
"stdout is terminal": "true",
"terminal": "Konsole",
"terminal size": "316x85",
"terminal version": "250402"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"terminal.title": {
"id": "terminal.title",
"category": "title",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "terminal title default",
"details": {
"terminal title activity": "true",
"terminal title items": "activity, project-name",
"terminal title project source": "git repo root",
"terminal title project value": "<PROJECT>",
"terminal title source": "default"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"updates.status": {
"id": "updates.status",
"category": "updates",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "update configuration is locally consistent",
"details": {
"cached latest version": "0.144.1",
"check for update on startup": "true",
"last checked at": "2026-07-11T02:36:58.694450442Z",
"latest version": "0.144.1",
"latest version status": "current version is not older",
"npm update target": "/home/<USER>/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex",
"update action": "npm install -g @openai/codex",
"version cache": "/home/<USER>/.codex/version.json"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 1021
}
}
}What issue are you seeing?
Codex entered a repetitive output loop while executing a code refactoring task initiated with the /goal command. It repeatedly generated the same message, “继续按上述边界整改。”, without making meaningful progress on the refactoring task.
Despite producing no useful result, the session continued consuming my 5-hour usage allowance until the limit was fully exhausted.
This appears to be a model or agent execution failure rather than normal usage. Please review the attached screenshot
Plan: ChatGPT Plus
Date of incident: July 11, 2026
Codex version: 0.144.1
Model: GPT-5.6 Terra, Medium reasoning effort
Command/workflow: /goal — code refactoring task
Environment: Debian Linux, Codex CLI
The relevant session ID and diagnostic details have already been provided in the attached codex doctor --json output. Please review those logs together with the screenshot when investigating the incident.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Launch Codex CLI 0.144.1 on Debian Linux.
- Open a C/C++ project and select GPT-5.6 Terra with Medium reasoning effort.
- Run the
/goalcommand and assign Codex a code-refactoring task with defined scope and constraints. - Allow Codex to inspect the repository, modify the code, and perform its initial refactoring pass.
- Ask Codex to fix the module boundaries and relocate shared types, PacingClock, and codec config to the appropriate modules.
- Codex may then enter a repetitive output loop, repeatedly generating the same sentence without performing additional file edits, tool calls, tests, or other meaningful work.
- The loop continues consuming the 5-hour usage allowance until the usage limit is exhausted.
What is the expected behavior?
No fucking repetitive output!
Additional information
<img width="1574" height="1137" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7f09f086-816c-4d60-af22-e0acc117ec79" />
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