Inappropriate assumptions around implementation details.

What version of Codex CLI is running?

0.146.0

What subscription do you have?

Pro

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.6-sol

What platform is your computer?

Linux 7.1.4-arch1-1 x86_64 unknown

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

Ghostty

Codex doctor report

codex doctor --json
{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "generatedAt": "1785355397s since unix epoch",
  "overallStatus": "fail",
  "codexVersion": "0.146.0",
  "checks": {
    "app_server.status": {
      "id": "app_server.status",
      "category": "app-server",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "background server is not running",
      "details": {
        "control socket": "/home/bob/.codex/app-server-control/app-server-control.sock",
        "daemon state dir": "/home/bob/.codex/app-server-daemon",
        "mode": "ephemeral",
        "pid file": "/home/bob/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server.pid (missing)",
        "settings": "/home/bob/.codex/app-server-daemon/settings.json (missing)",
        "status": "not running",
        "update-loop pid file": "/home/bob/.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/bob/.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/bob/.codex",
        "config.toml": "/home/bob/.codex/config.toml",
        "config.toml parse": "ok",
        "cwd": "/home/bob/dev/consult-intake",
        "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, in_app_updates, browser_use, browser_use_full_cdp_access, browser_use_external, computer_use, remote_plugin, plugin_sharing, image_generation, resize_all_images, item_ids, skill_mcp_dependency_install, skill_search, 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": "38",
        "log dir": "/home/bob/.codex/log",
        "mcp servers": "1",
        "model": "gpt-5.6-sol",
        "model provider": "headroom",
        "sqlite home": "/home/bob/.codex"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "git.environment": {
      "id": "git.environment",
      "category": "git",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "git version 2.55.0",
      "details": {
        "PATH git #1": "/usr/bin/git",
        "PATH git entries": "1",
        "git build options": "git version 2.55.0; cpu: x86_64; built from commit: e9019fcafe0040228b8631c30f97ae1adb61bcdc; sizeof-long: 8; sizeof-size_t: 8; shell-path: /bin/sh; rust: enabled; feature: fsmonitor--daemon; gettext: enabled; libcurl: 8.21.0; OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.6.3 9 Jun 2026; zlib-ng: 2.3.3; 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 2.55.0",
        "repo detected": "false",
        "selected git": "/usr/bin/git"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 7
    },
    "installation": {
      "id": "installation",
      "category": "install",
      "status": "fail",
      "summary": "npm install -g @openai/codex would update a different install",
      "details": {
        "PATH codex #1": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #2": "/home/bob/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #3": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #4": "/home/bob/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #5": "/home/bob/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex entries": "5",
        "current executable": "/home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
        "install context": "npm (package /home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/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/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex",
        "npm package root": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex",
        "running package root": "/home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex"
      },
      "remediation": "Fix PATH or npm prefix so the running package root (/home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex) matches the npm global package root (/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex).",
      "durationMs": 55
    },
    "mcp.config": {
      "id": "mcp.config",
      "category": "mcp",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "MCP configuration is locally consistent",
      "details": {
        "configured servers": "1",
        "disabled servers": "0",
        "stdio servers": "1"
      },
      "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": 44
    },
    "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": "ws://127.0.0.1:8787/v1/<redacted>",
        "handshake result": "HTTP 101 Switching Protocols",
        "model provider": "headroom",
        "models etag present": "false",
        "provider name": "Headroom init proxy",
        "proxy env vars": "none",
        "reasoning header": "false",
        "server model present": "false",
        "supports websockets": "true",
        "wire API": "responses"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 543
    },
    "runtime.provenance": {
      "id": "runtime.provenance",
      "category": "runtime",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "running npm on linux-x86_64",
      "details": {
        "commit": "unknown",
        "current executable": "/home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
        "install method": "npm (package /home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
        "platform": "linux-x86_64",
        "version": "0.146.0"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "runtime.search": {
      "id": "runtime.search",
      "category": "search",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "search is OK (bundled)",
      "details": {
        "search command": "/home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/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": "OnRequest",
        "codex-linux-sandbox helper": "/home/bob/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0kDRDi5/codex-linux-sandbox",
        "execve wrapper helper": "/home/bob/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0kDRDi5/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": "/home/bob/.codex (dir)",
        "active rollout files": "52 files, 31743033 total bytes, 610442 average bytes",
        "archived rollout files": "0 files, 0 total bytes, 0 average bytes",
        "goals DB": "/home/bob/.codex/goals_1.sqlite (file)",
        "goals DB integrity": "ok",
        "log DB": "/home/bob/.codex/logs_2.sqlite (file)",
        "log DB integrity": "ok",
        "log dir": "/home/bob/.codex/log (dir)",
        "memories DB": "/home/bob/.codex/memories_1.sqlite (file)",
        "memories DB integrity": "ok",
        "sqlite home": "/home/bob/.codex (dir)",
        "state DB": "/home/bob/.codex/state_5.sqlite (file)",
        "state DB integrity": "ok",
        "thread history DB": "/home/bob/.codex/thread_history_1.sqlite (missing)",
        "thread history DB integrity": "skipped (missing)"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 67
    },
    "state.rollout_db_parity": {
      "id": "state.rollout_db_parity",
      "category": "threads",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "rollout files and state DB thread inventory agree",
      "details": {
        "default model provider": "headroom",
        "rollout DB active files": "52",
        "rollout DB active rows": "52",
        "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",
        "rollout DB missing archived rows": "0",
        "rollout DB model providers": "headroom=34, openai=18",
        "rollout DB rows": "52",
        "rollout DB scan cap reached": "false",
        "rollout DB scan errors": "0",
        "rollout DB sources": "cli=33, exec=19",
        "rollout DB stale rows": "0"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 16
    },
    "system.environment": {
      "id": "system.environment",
      "category": "system",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "OS language en-US",
      "details": {
        "EDITOR": "set",
        "LANG": "en_US.UTF-8",
        "VISUAL": "not set",
        "os": "Arch Linux [64-bit]",
        "os language": "en-US",
        "os type": "Arch Linux",
        "os version": "Unknown"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 1
    },
    "terminal.env": {
      "id": "terminal.env",
      "category": "terminal",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "terminal metadata was detected",
      "details": {
        "COLORTERM": "truecolor",
        "DISPLAY": "present",
        "TERMINFO": "/usr/share/terminfo (dir)",
        "TERM_PROGRAM": "ghostty",
        "WAYLAND_DISPLAY": "present",
        "color output": "enabled",
        "effective locale": "en_US.UTF-8",
        "stderr is terminal": "true",
        "stdin is terminal": "true",
        "stdout is terminal": "true",
        "terminal": "Ghostty",
        "terminal size": "94x54",
        "terminal version": "1.3.1-arch2"
      },
      "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": "cwd",
        "terminal title project value": "consult-intake",
        "terminal title source": "default"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "updates.status": {
      "id": "updates.status",
      "category": "updates",
      "status": "fail",
      "summary": "update would target a different npm install",
      "details": {
        "cached latest version": "0.146.0",
        "check for update on startup": "true",
        "last checked at": "2026-07-29T19:29:47.645717657Z",
        "latest version": "0.146.0",
        "latest version status": "current version is not older",
        "npm package root": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex",
        "running package root": "/home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex",
        "update action": "npm install -g @openai/codex",
        "version cache": "/home/bob/.codex/version.json"
      },
      "remediation": "Fix PATH or npm prefix so the running package root (/home/bob/.npm/_npx/c8ab89660c602c20/node_modules/@openai/codex) matches the npm global package root (/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex).",
      "durationMs": 170
    }
  }
}

What issue are you seeing?

I asked the model to create a data collection/contact app for a consulting client website using WorkOS, Svelte or React, and MongoDB so people could give feedback or request work. The model built and tested a SvelteKit app, and I reviewed the generated intake flow and submitted this feedback. The problem is that it invented a much more specific business process than I provided: project/advisory/feedback categories, budget and timeline ranges, received/reviewing/scheduled/closed statuses, per-user request history, and a two-business-day response promise. Those choices were hard-coded across the UI, validation, and MongoDB schema without asking what the client actually needed. The result is functional but cannot be considered launch-ready until that workflow is confirmed and may require coordinated changes across those areas. Next time, Codex should first ask which request types, fields, statuses, and history or response behavior the client wants. If I do not answer, it should implement a minimal provisional feedback/work-request form and clearly state its assumptions before expanding it.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Uploaded thread: 019f8c77-5f23-7720-8443-0833e406e3f9

What is the expected behavior?

I expected Codex to ask the implementation details instead of assuming what consult types, turnaround time, etc.

Additional information

_No response_