Rollout JSONL grew to 98 GB from inline Base64 PNG payloads

What version of Codex CLI is running?

codex-cli 0.148.0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Pro Lite

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.6-sol (reasoning medium)

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.5.0 arm64 arm

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

Orca 1.4.186 embedded terminal, zsh, no terminal multiplexer

Codex doctor report

{
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  "generatedAt": "1787405798s since unix epoch",
  "overallStatus": "warning",
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        "daemon state dir": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex/app-server-daemon",
        "mode": "ephemeral",
        "pid file": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server.pid (missing)",
        "settings": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex/app-server-daemon/settings.json (missing)",
        "status": "not running",
        "update-loop pid file": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server-updater.pid (missing)"
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      "remediation": null,
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      "category": "auth",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "auth is configured",
      "details": {
        "auth file": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex/auth.json",
        "auth storage mode": "File",
        "stored API key": "false",
        "stored ChatGPT tokens": "true",
        "stored agent identity": "false",
        "stored auth mode": "chatgpt"
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        "PATH git #1": "/opt/homebrew/bin/git",
        "PATH git #2": "/usr/bin/git",
        "PATH git entries": "2",
        "git branch": "<redacted>",
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        "git exec path": "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/git/2.38.1/libexec/git-core",
        "git version": "git version 2.38.1",
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      "details": {
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        "auth mode": "chatgpt",
        "connect timeout": "15000 ms",
        "endpoint": "wss://chatgpt.com/backend-api/<redacted>",
        "handshake result": "HTTP 101 Switching Protocols",
        "model provider": "openai",
        "provider name": "OpenAI",
        "proxy env vars": "none",
        "reasoning header": "false",
        "server model present": "false",
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      "remediation": null,
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    "runtime.provenance": {
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      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "running npm on macos-aarch64",
      "details": {
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        "current executable": "/Users/<redacted>/.nvm/versions/node/v20.0.0/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-darwin-arm64/vendor/aarch64-apple-darwin/bin/codex",
        "install method": "npm (package /Users/<redacted>/.nvm/versions/node/v20.0.0/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-darwin-arm64/vendor/aarch64-apple-darwin, bin /Users/<redacted>/.nvm/versions/node/v20.0.0/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-darwin-arm64/vendor/aarch64-apple-darwin/bin, resources /Users/<redacted>/.nvm/versions/node/v20.0.0/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-darwin-arm64/vendor/aarch64-apple-darwin/codex-resources, path /Users/<redacted>/.nvm/versions/node/v20.0.0/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-darwin-arm64/vendor/aarch64-apple-darwin/codex-path)",
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      "summary": "sandbox configuration is readable",
      "details": {
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        "codex-linux-sandbox helper": "none",
        "execve wrapper helper": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0djet4M/codex-execve-wrapper",
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      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "state paths and databases are inspectable",
      "details": {
        "CODEX_HOME": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex (dir)",
        "active rollout files": "21 files, 548428704 total bytes, 26115652 average bytes",
        "archived rollout files": "1 files, 100604 total bytes, 100604 average bytes",
        "goals DB": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex/goals_1.sqlite (file)",
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        "log DB": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex/logs_2.sqlite (file)",
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        "log dir": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex/log (missing)",
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        "queue DB": "/Users/<redacted>/.codex/queue_1.sqlite (file)",
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      "status": "warning",
      "summary": "rollout files and state DB thread inventory differ",
      "details": {
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        "rollout DB active files": "21",
        "rollout DB active rows": "22",
        "rollout DB archive mismatches": "0",
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        "rollout DB archived rows": "1",
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}

What issue are you seeing?

Codex version

0.148.0

### Environment

• macOS 26.5 arm64
• Codex CLI
• Image-heavy design/PDF workflow
• Session persisted from August 18 through August 22

### Problem

A single rollout JSONL under ~/.codex/sessions/ grew to exactly 98,277,570,375 bytes (~91.5 GiB). occupied approximately 92 GB. The disk reached 97–98% capacity, leaving only 12–13 GiB free.

Inspection showed complete PNG payloads stored inline in session records:

```json
{"type":"response_item","payload":{"type":"message","role":"user","content":[{"type":"input_image","image_url":"data:image/
png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo...<redacted>"}]}}
png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo...<redacted>"}]}}

Early individual image-bearing records were approximately 5.15 MB, 7.76 MB, and 6.76 MB. Image payloads continued accumulating throughout the rollout.

### Impact

• Approximately 92 GB consumed by one session log
• Disk nearly exhausted
• Risk of application or system failure/data loss
• File had to be permanently deleted
• Deleting it increased available disk space from approximately 13 GB

to 105 GB

### Expected behavior

• Image payloads should be referenced or deduplicated instead of repeatedly

embedded in rollout history.

• Session logs should have rotation or maximum-size limits.
• Codex should warn or stop before a session log exhausts the disk.
• Old or redundant image payloads should be compacted or pruned safely.

### Additional information

The file was deleted after confirming that no process had it open, because
the machine was critically low on disk space. OpenAI Support has also noted
the incident in a support conversation.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

I have not attempted to reproduce the full 98 GB growth because doing so could exhaust the disk again.

Observed workflow:

1. Start Codex CLI 0.148.0 in a project.
2. Keep the same session active/resumable across multiple days.
3. Attach PNG moodboard/reference images.
4. Perform an image-heavy design and PDF workflow involving rendered pages and image-returning tool calls.
5. Inspect the session rollout under ~/.codex/sessions/.

The rollout contained complete PNG payloads inline in both user-image and tool-output records:

```json
{"type":"response_item","payload":{"type":"message","role":"user","content":[{"type":"input_image","image_url":"data:image/
png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo...<redacted>"}]}}

{"type":"response_item","payload":{"type":"custom_tool_call_output","output":[{"type":"input_image","image_url":"data:image/
png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo...<redacted>"}]}}

Early individual image-bearing records were approximately 5.15 MB, 7.76 MB, and 6.76 MB. These payloads continued accumulating as the session was used.

The resulting rollout reached exactly 98,277,570,375 bytes (~91.5 GiB).

What is the expected behavior?

  Image payloads should be referenced, deduplicated, compressed, or pruned instead of allowing a session rollout to grow without bounds.

  Codex should enforce a reasonable maximum size or rotation policy for rollout files and warn the user before local session data can exhaust the
  disk.

  Resuming an image-heavy session should not repeatedly persist unnecessary copies of full Base64 image payloads.

### Additional information

The project itself occupied only 584 MB, while this single rollout consumed approximately 92 GB.

The disk reached 97–98% capacity, leaving only 12–13 GiB free. After confirming that no process had the rollout open, I permanently deleted it. Available disk space increased from approximately 13 GB to 105 GB.

`codex doctor --json` now reports a stale state-database row pointing to the deleted rollout:

- `state.rollout_db_parity`: warning
- Cause: state DB rows point at missing or unusable rollout files
- Measured: 1 stale row

The original rollout could not be retained or attached because the machine was critically low on disk space. OpenAI Support has also recorded the incident in a support conversation.