Plan mode unexpectedly switches to Default without an explicit mode change
Open 💬 2 comments Opened Aug 22, 2026 by friediceday
What issue are you seeing?
In the Codex desktop app, Plan mode can unexpectedly switch to Default even when the user has not explicitly changed the mode.
I can reproduce this in at least two ways.
Reproduction 1: Backspace in an empty composer
- Open any thread in Codex.
- Switch to Plan mode.
- Make sure the composer is completely empty.
- Press
Backspaceonce.
Actual behavior
The mode immediately changes from Plan to Default.
Expected behavior
Pressing Backspace in an already-empty composer should be a no-op and should not change the current mode.
Reproduction 2: Cancel an implementation prompt with Esc
- Start in Plan mode.
- Continue the discussion until Codex presents the option to proceed with implementation.
- Do not choose the implementation option.
- Press
Escto cancel/dismiss the prompt because you want to continue discussing or refining the plan.
Actual behavior
The mode changes from Plan to Default.
Expected behavior
Cancelling or dismissing the implementation prompt should keep the thread in Plan mode. The user may want to continue discussing or refining the plan rather than proceed with implementation.
Plan mode should only switch to Default when the user explicitly changes the mode.
Additional observations
- For the Backspace case, this only happens when the composer is already empty.
- If there is text in the composer,
Backspacebehaves normally and deletes text. - The Backspace case is consistently reproducible.
- It is easy to trigger accidentally by deleting the last character of a prompt and pressing
Backspaceone more time.
Environment
- Codex Desktop
- Version:
26.818.32112 - OS: macOS
2 Comments
I found another reproduction path for the same underlying issue, so I updated the title and description.
In addition to pressing
Backspacein an empty composer, Plan also switches to Default when dismissing the implementation prompt withEscinstead of proceeding with implementation.Both cases appear to have the same problem: Plan mode is exited without the user explicitly switching modes.
Confirmed this is still reproducible in Codex Desktop version
26.820.60940on macOS.Both reproduction paths described above still switch Plan to Default unexpectedly.