Switching to API profile after hitting codex limit not possible (codex resume --profile api fails)

What version of Codex is running?

0.39.0

Which model were you using?

gpt-5 or gpt-5-codex

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 Pro / WSL2 / Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

What steps can reproduce the bug?

When I hit my gpt-5-codex usage limit in codex-cli 0.39.0, continuing work is unnecessarily painful. I expected to be able to switch to a different profile (e.g. one configured for API key auth) using the resume command, but that does not work.

Command tried:

codex resume --profile api

This fails. I had already defined profiles in my config:

profile = "team"

[profiles.team]
preferred_auth_method = "chatgpt"

[profiles.api]
preferred_auth_method = "apikey"

My intention is simple:

• I reached the gpt-5-codex limit.
• I have API credits available (expiring after one year).
• I want to continue my work seamlessly by switching to the api profile.
• No other expiring “credit pot” with business credits when using API credits.

However, this flow is not supported. Instead, the CLI seems to push you towards topping up ChatGPT credits, which I won’t do since I already have API balance.

Expected behavior:

• Allow resuming a session with a different profile (e.g. API-based) when the current one is exhausted.
• If necessary, fallback to gpt-5 instead of gpt-5-codex (since gpt-5-codex is not available via API).

Actual behavior:

• codex resume --profile api does not switch profiles.
• No way to continue smoothly without manually starting a new session and losing context.

Environment:

• codex-cli 0.39.0
• Profiles as shown above
• GPT-5-codex limit reached

Why this matters:
For users with API credits but no interest in topping up ChatGPT balance, the current UX creates friction and blocks progress unnecessarily 🚧.

What is the expected behavior?

Enable the use of a different billing profile with resume. Fallback model to gpt-5 as long as gpt-5-codex is not available at API.

What do you see instead?

_No response_

Additional information

Better general solution - automatic API fallback:

https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/2992
https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/3551
https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/2478

Related bug in this use case:

https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/3942