MCP server works well with Claude Code CLI but fails with Codex when using the same configuration

Resolved 💬 4 comments Opened Sep 8, 2025 by fullofcaffeine Closed Oct 3, 2025

What version of Codex is running?

codex-cli 0.30.0

Which model were you using?

gpt-5

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 24.4.0 arm64 arm

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Hi!

I'm trying to setup https://github.com/cjo4m06/mcp-shrimp-task-manager as a MCP using the same configuration that already works well for the Claude Code CLI. Here's the one for Claude (from ~/.claude.json):

  "mcpServers": {
    "shrimp-task-manager-global": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/Users/foobar/workspace/code/mcp-shrimp-task-manager/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DATA_DIR": "/Users/foobar/workspace/shrimp-mcp-data",
        "TEMPLATES_USE": "en",
        "ENABLE_GUI": "true"
      }
    },

This works well for the CC CLI. However, I tried setting up the same server as MCP for Codex but it can't setup the connection for some reason. Here's my full ~/.codex/config.toml just in case:

[projects."/Users/foobar/workspace/code/test"]
trust_level = "trusted"

[projects."/Users/foobar/worksapce/code/mcp-shrimp-task-manager"]
trust_level = "trusted"
approval_policy = "never"
sandbox_mode = "danger-full-access"

[tui.theme]
name = "dark-shinobi-dusk"

[mcp_servers_disabled]

[mcp_servers]

[mcp_servers."shrimp-task-manager-global"]
	name = "shrimp-task-manager-global"
	# Prefer absolute node path
	command = "/Users/foobar/.nvm/versions/node/v20.19.3/bin/node"
	args = ["/Users/foobar/workspace/code/mcp-shrimp-task-manager/dist/index.js"]
	transport = "stdio"

[mcp_servers."shrimp-task-manager-global".env]
	DATA_DIR = "/Users/foobar/workspace/shrimp-mcp-data"
	TEMPLATES_USE = "en"
	ENABLE_GUI = "false"

What is the expected behavior?

I expect that the shrimp MCP server to connect/work well just like it does with the Claude Code CLI.

What do you see instead?

I get a 🖐  Failed to create MCP connection manager: request timed out error message without further debugging info a a while after I start codex :(

Additional information

_No response_

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