Add a /restart command that restarts or reinitializes Codex without requiring the user to exit > and manually relaunch it.
Resolved 💬 4 comments Opened Jul 15, 2026 by SholasSandbox Closed Jul 21, 2026
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (etraut-openai, contributor)
responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.
What version of Codex CLI is running?
codex-cli 0.144.4
What subscription do you have?
Plus
Which model were you using?
gpt-5.6-sol
What platform is your computer?
Darwin 25.5.0 arm64 arm
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
_No response_
Codex doctor report
{
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"generatedAt": "1784131063s since unix epoch",
"overallStatus": "ok",
"codexVersion": "0.144.4",
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"id": "app_server.status",
"category": "app-server",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "background server is not running",
"details": {
"control socket": "/Users/shola/.codex/app-server-control/app-server-control.sock",
"daemon state dir": "/Users/shola/.codex/app-server-daemon",
"mode": "ephemeral",
"pid file": "/Users/shola/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server.pid (missing)",
"settings": "/Users/shola/.codex/app-server-daemon/settings.json (missing)",
"status": "not running",
"update-loop pid file": "/Users/shola/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server-updater.pid (missing)"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
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"id": "auth.credentials",
"category": "auth",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "auth is configured",
"details": {
"auth file": "/Users/shola/.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,
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},
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"category": "config",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "config loaded",
"details": {
"CODEX_HOME": "/Users/shola/.codex",
"config.toml": "/Users/shola/.codex/config.toml",
"config.toml parse": "ok",
"cwd": "/Users/shola/Workspace/cloud-projects/Email-manager",
"enabled feature flags": "shell_tool, unified_exec, shell_snapshot, code_mode_host, terminal_resize_reflow, sqlite, memories, 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, prevent_idle_sleep, remote_compaction_v2, workspace_dependencies",
"feature flag overrides": "memories=true, prevent_idle_sleep=true",
"feature flags enabled": "37",
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"mcp servers": "3",
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"model provider": "openai",
"sqlite home": "/Users/shola/.codex"
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"git.environment": {
"id": "git.environment",
"category": "git",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "git version 2.53.0",
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".git entry": "directory",
"PATH git #1": "/opt/homebrew/bin/git",
"PATH git #2": "/usr/bin/git",
"PATH git entries": "2",
"git branch": "main",
"git build options": "git version 2.53.0; cpu: arm64; no commit associated with this build; sizeof-long: 8; sizeof-size_t: 8; shell-path: /bin/sh; rust: disabled; feature: fsmonitor--daemon; gettext: enabled; libcurl: 8.7.1; zlib: 1.2.12; SHA-1: SHA1_DC; SHA-256: SHA256_BLK; default-ref-format: files; default-hash: sha1",
"git exec path": "/opt/homebrew/opt/git/libexec/git-core",
"git version": "git version 2.53.0",
"repo detected": "true",
"repo root": "/Users/shola/Workspace/cloud-projects/Email-manager",
"selected git": "/opt/homebrew/bin/git"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 150
},
"installation": {
"id": "installation",
"category": "install",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "installation looks consistent",
"details": {
"PATH codex #1": "/Users/shola/.local/bin/codex",
"PATH codex #2": "/opt/homebrew/bin/codex",
"PATH codex #3": "/Users/shola/.local/bin/codex",
"PATH codex entries": "3",
"current executable": "/Users/shola/.local/bin/codex",
"install context": "standalone (unix, package /Users/shola/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.144.4-aarch64-apple-darwin, bin /Users/shola/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.144.4-aarch64-apple-darwin/bin, resources /Users/shola/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.144.4-aarch64-apple-darwin/codex-resources, path /Users/shola/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.144.4-aarch64-apple-darwin/codex-path)",
"managed by bun": "false",
"managed by npm": "false",
"managed by pnpm": "false",
"managed package root": "not set"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 4
},
"mcp.config": {
"id": "mcp.config",
"category": "mcp",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "MCP configuration is locally consistent",
"details": {
"configured servers": "3",
"disabled servers": "1",
"stdio servers": "2",
"streamable_http servers": "1"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 3241
},
"network.env": {
"id": "network.env",
"category": "network",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "network-related environment looks readable",
"details": {
"proxy env vars": "none"
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"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
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"network.provider_reachability": {
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"category": "reachability",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "active provider endpoints are reachable over HTTP",
"details": {
"ChatGPT base URL": "https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/ reachable (HTTP 404)",
"reachability mode": "ChatGPT auth"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 427
},
"network.websocket_reachability": {
"id": "network.websocket_reachability",
"category": "websocket",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "Responses WebSocket handshake succeeded",
"details": {
"DNS": "2 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",
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"server model present": "false",
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"wire API": "responses"
},
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"durationMs": 780
},
"runtime.provenance": {
"id": "runtime.provenance",
"category": "runtime",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "running standalone on macos-aarch64",
"details": {
"commit": "unknown",
"current executable": "/Users/shola/.local/bin/codex",
"install method": "standalone (unix, package /Users/shola/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.144.4-aarch64-apple-darwin, bin /Users/shola/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.144.4-aarch64-apple-darwin/bin, resources /Users/shola/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.144.4-aarch64-apple-darwin/codex-resources, path /Users/shola/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.144.4-aarch64-apple-darwin/codex-path)",
"platform": "macos-aarch64",
"version": "0.144.4"
},
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"durationMs": 0
},
"runtime.search": {
"id": "runtime.search",
"category": "search",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "search is OK (bundled)",
"details": {
"search command": "/Users/shola/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.144.4-aarch64-apple-darwin/codex-path/rg",
"search command readiness": "file exists",
"search provider": "bundled"
},
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"durationMs": 0
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"sandbox.helpers": {
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"status": "ok",
"summary": "sandbox configuration is readable",
"details": {
"approval policy": "OnRequest",
"codex-linux-sandbox helper": "none",
"execve wrapper helper": "/Users/shola/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0lRFfBH/codex-execve-wrapper",
"filesystem sandbox": "restricted",
"network sandbox": "restricted"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"state.paths": {
"id": "state.paths",
"category": "state",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "state paths and databases are inspectable",
"details": {
"CODEX_HOME": "/Users/shola/.codex (dir)",
"active rollout files": "45 files, 244210731 total bytes, 5426905 average bytes",
"archived rollout files": "0 files, 0 total bytes, 0 average bytes",
"goals DB": "/Users/shola/.codex/goals_1.sqlite (file)",
"goals DB integrity": "ok",
"log DB": "/Users/shola/.codex/logs_2.sqlite (file)",
"log DB integrity": "ok",
"log dir": "/Users/shola/.codex/log (dir)",
"memories DB": "/Users/shola/.codex/memories_1.sqlite (file)",
"memories DB integrity": "ok",
"sqlite home": "/Users/shola/.codex (dir)",
"standalone release cache": "4 entries in /Users/shola/.codex/packages/standalone/releases",
"state DB": "/Users/shola/.codex/state_5.sqlite (file)",
"state DB integrity": "ok"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 306
},
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"category": "threads",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "rollout files and state DB thread inventory agree",
"details": {
"default model provider": "openai",
"rollout DB active files": "45",
"rollout DB active rows": "45",
"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": "0",
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"rollout DB model providers": "openai=45",
"rollout DB rows": "45",
"rollout DB scan cap reached": "false",
"rollout DB scan errors": "0",
"rollout DB sources": "vscode=31, cli=10, subagent:other=4",
"rollout DB stale rows": "0"
},
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"durationMs": 889
},
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"category": "system",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "OS language en-GB",
"details": {
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"LANG": "en_GB.UTF-8",
"VISUAL": "not set",
"os": "Mac OS 26.5.2 [64-bit]",
"os language": "en-GB",
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"durationMs": 2
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"terminal.env": {
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"category": "terminal",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "terminal metadata was detected",
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"TERM_PROGRAM": "Apple_Terminal",
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"effective locale": "en_GB.UTF-8",
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"terminal.title": {
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"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": "Email-manager",
"terminal title source": "default"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"updates.status": {
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"category": "updates",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "update configuration is locally consistent",
"details": {
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"check for update on startup": "true",
"dismissed version": "0.144.3",
"last checked at": "2026-07-15T14:37:24.607764Z",
"latest version": "0.144.4",
"latest version status": "current version is not older",
"update action": "standalone installer",
"version cache": "/Users/shola/.codex/version.json"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 193
}
}
}What issue are you seeing?
Please add a /restart command that restarts or reinitializes Codex without requiring the user to exit
> and manually relaunch it. It should preserve the current working directory while starting a clean
> session and reloading configuration, plugins, MCP servers, and environment state—similar to restarting
> a workstation. /new creates a fresh task, but it does not replace a true application restart.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Uploaded thread: 019f666d-3fd3-7c62-b3c4-14e49f9479aa
What is the expected behavior?
_No response_
Additional information
_No response_
4 Comments
What do you mean by "restart Codex"? How would this differ from
/new?I think it's unlikely that we'd add such a command, at least as described. I am interested in understanding the problem you're trying to solve, however. There may be other ways we can address it.
Hi,
Proposal: Start a Fresh Task Without Restarting Codex
The problem I’m trying to solve is deliberate context hygiene during long-running repository work.
After completing a milestone, I may want to start a materially different task while retaining the same CLI process, repository, working directory, authentication, and filesystem state. Continuing the existing conversation can carry forward stale priorities, abandoned approaches, and unnecessary historical context, increasing token pressure and sometimes causing reasoning drift.
Compaction preserves continuity, while branching preserves context up to the branch point. Neither provides an explicit clean boundary.
The desired behaviour is to:
I’m not attached to a particular command name. The main goals are predictable task boundaries, better focus, and reduced stale-context influence. Lower token pressure may be a benefit, but not a guaranteed cost saving.
Conceptually, these are different operations:
By “restart Codex,” I mean exiting and relaunching the CLI. That is heavier than /new, which is
the behavior I actually want: fresh conversation context while retaining the same CLI process,
authentication, working directory, and repository state