Codex Desktop marks a goal blocked while explicit approval is pending in a Full access session

Problem

In Codex Desktop on macOS, a user-owned goal was marked Goal blocked while the agent was waiting for the user's explicit approval for a prepared Gmail archive batch. The session showed Full access, the Gmail and Drive integrations were healthy, and safe read-only work remained. The agent nevertheless treated pending consent as a terminal blocked condition.

Why this is confusing

Full access and explicit consent are different things: the agent should still require the user's consent for a material mailbox mutation when the goal rules say so. But the goal should be represented as awaiting approval, not blocked. In this case the user saw a Goal blocked banner while trying to type the exact approval needed to continue.

Reproduction

1. Create a long-running goal whose rules require explicit user approval before Gmail archive or label mutations.
2. In a Codex Desktop session with Full access, complete read-only discovery and present a bounded operation packet for approval.
3. Continue safe read-only investigation while awaiting the approval.
4. The agent eventually marks the goal blocked solely because approval has not yet arrived.
5. The UI shows Goal blocked even though the connector is working and the only missing input is ordinary user consent.

Expected

• Model goal state distinguishes awaiting user approval from a true blocked/failure state.
• A goal remains active while safe read-only work is available.
• The UI surfaces the outstanding approval packet and gives the user a clear way to approve and resume.
• Status does not imply a connector or access failure when none exists.

Actual

The goal was terminally marked blocked because consent was pending. The user then had to manually provide approval through a normal message while seeing the blocked state.

Acceptance criteria

• Pending consent has a distinct state from blocked.
• Agents are not encouraged to terminal-block a goal merely because an approval is pending.
• Desktop makes it clear what needs approval and supports resuming the goal after approval.
• Full access is correctly distinguished from user authorization for sensitive external actions.

Environment

Codex Desktop on macOS, 2026-07-24. The user has a screenshot of the Goal blocked banner in the Full access session; it is not attached here because it may contain private task context.

Related reports considered

• #28177 concerns Goal blocked after auto-compaction failure and is closed; this report is about the normal pending-consent lifecycle.
• #33318 requests visibility of pending approvals in the task switcher; this report covers the incorrect terminal goal status and resume path.