Ctrl+g does not work with VS Code
Open 💬 2 comments Opened Aug 17, 2026 by KingMob
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor)
responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.
What version of Codex CLI is running?
codex-cli 0.147.0
What subscription do you have?
Plus
Which model were you using?
gpt-5.6-sol
What platform is your computer?
Darwin 25.4.0 arm64 arm
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
Warp v0.2026.08.05.09.03.stable_01
Codex doctor report
{
"schemaVersion": 1,
"generatedAt": "1786955032s since unix epoch",
"overallStatus": "warning",
"codexVersion": "0.147.0",
"checks": {
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"category": "app-server",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "background server is running",
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"control socket": "/Users/matthew/.codex/app-server-control/app-server-control.sock",
"daemon state dir": "/Users/matthew/.codex/app-server-daemon",
"mode": "persistent",
"pid file": "/Users/matthew/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server.pid (file)",
"settings": "/Users/matthew/.codex/app-server-daemon/settings.json (file)",
"status": "running",
"update-loop pid file": "/Users/matthew/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server-updater.pid (file)"
},
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},
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"category": "auth",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "auth is configured",
"details": {
"auth env vars present": "OPENAI_API_KEY",
"auth file": "/Users/matthew/.codex/auth.json",
"auth storage mode": "File",
"stored API key": "false",
"stored ChatGPT tokens": "true",
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"durationMs": 0
},
"config.load": {
"id": "config.load",
"category": "config",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "config loaded",
"details": {
"CODEX_HOME": "/Users/matthew/.codex",
"config.toml": "/Users/matthew/.codex/config.toml",
"config.toml parse": "ok",
"cwd": "/Users/matthew",
"enabled feature flags": "shell_tool, view_image, 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, 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": "memories=true",
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"git exec path": "/opt/homebrew/opt/git/libexec/git-core",
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"repo detected": "false",
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"installation": {
"id": "installation",
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"status": "ok",
"summary": "installation looks consistent",
"details": {
"PATH codex #1": "/Users/matthew/.local/bin/codex",
"PATH codex #2": "/opt/homebrew/bin/codex",
"PATH codex #3": "/Users/matthew/.local/bin/codex",
"PATH codex entries": "3",
"current executable": "/Users/matthew/.local/bin/codex",
"install context": "standalone (unix, package /Users/matthew/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.147.0-aarch64-apple-darwin, bin /Users/matthew/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.147.0-aarch64-apple-darwin/bin, resources /Users/matthew/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.147.0-aarch64-apple-darwin/codex-resources, path /Users/matthew/.codex/packages/standalone/releases/0.147.0-aarch64-apple-darwin/codex-path)",
"managed by bun": "false",
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"summary": "MCP configuration is locally consistent",
"details": {
"configured servers": "2",
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"stdio servers": "2"
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"network.env": {
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"status": "ok",
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"auth mode": "chatgpt",
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"execve wrapper helper": "/Users/matthew/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0NI17TY/codex-execve-wrapper",
"filesystem sandbox": "restricted",
"network sandbox": "enabled"
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"state.paths": {
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"details": {
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"active rollout files": "663 files, 368944576 total bytes, 556477 average bytes",
"archived rollout files": "16 files, 5368421 total bytes, 335526 average bytes",
"goals DB": "/Users/matthew/.codex/goals_1.sqlite (file)",
"goals DB integrity": "ok",
"log DB": "/Users/matthew/.codex/logs_2.sqlite (file)",
"log DB integrity": "ok",
"log dir": "/Users/matthew/.codex/log (dir)",
"memories DB": "/Users/matthew/.codex/memories_1.sqlite (file)",
"memories DB integrity": "ok",
"queue DB": "/Users/matthew/.codex/queue_1.sqlite (file)",
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}
}What issue are you seeing?
If I set EDITOR to code (the VS Code CLI helper), hitting Ctrl+g does not work.
It will correctly open a temp file in VS Code, but:
- The temp file doesn't have the existing prompt's contents
- If I make any changes and save, the codex prompt is unchanged
What steps can reproduce the bug?
1.Set EDITOR to code
- Run
codex, and add any text - Hit Ctrl+g
- See a _blank_ temp file open in VS Code
- Add any text to the temp file, save it, and close it
- See no changes to the prompt in codex
What is the expected behavior?
I expect the prompt to be copied to the temp file, and for saves to the temp file to update the codex prompt
Additional information
Just to rule out the terminal app, I verified this happens in both Warp and Ghostty 1.3.1.
https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/38964 is a sibling issue, but for Sublime Text.
2 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
Powered by Codex Action
Root-caused on
main@ 1f41cc5d92 — both this and #38964 are one bug: Codex's editor flow assumes$EDITORblocks until editing is done, andcode/subllaunched bare are fork-and-return launchers that exit immediately.The flow.
run_editorwrites the seed to a temp file, spawns$EDITOR <tmpfile>, awaits the process's exit status, then reads the file back:https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/1f41cc5d92722748e45cae9cecc6d883a4e7cbb1/codex-rs/tui/src/external_editor.rs#L172-L229
With
EDITOR=code, the CLI helper hands the path to the running VS Code instance and exits in milliseconds. So Codex reads the file back while it still contains the seed — "no changes to the prompt", ever, by construction.**Why your temp file opens blank (the part that distinguishes this from #38964). The temp file is a
tempfile::TempPath(#L195-L198), which deletes the file whenrun_editorreturns**. With a fork-and-return editor, that return happens more or less instantly — frequently before the GUI process gets around to opening the path. VS Code then opens a path that no longer exists and shows an empty buffer; Sublime happens to win the race often enough to show the seeded content. Same bug, different race outcome.Immediate workaround (works today, because the editor command is parsed as multiple words):
With the wait flag, the helper blocks until the tab is closed, and the read-back/deletion sequencing is correct.
Fix outline for Codex:
code/code-insiders→--wait,subl→-w,zed→--wait,mate→-w,gvim→-f,idea→--wait. This is the same accommodation git ecosystems have converged on forcore.editor.EDITOR=\"code --wait\"" instead of silently accepting the unchanged seed. This catches every launcher not on the special-case list.Test shape: a fake editor script that exits 0 immediately without touching the file → assert the hint/error path; and one that rewrites the file → assert content round-trips.