shell_environment_policy.filters exclusion ignored by spawned shell

What version of Codex CLI is running?

0.149.1 (standalone)

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Business

Which model were you using?

_No response_

What platform is your computer?

Linux 6.18.33.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2 x86_64 x86_64

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

Windows Terminal Preview

Codex doctor report

{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "generatedAt": "<redacted timestamp>",
  "overallStatus": "warning",
  "codexVersion": "0.149.1",
  "checks": {
    "app_server.status": {
      "id": "app_server.status",
      "category": "app-server",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "background server is not running",
      "details": {
        "control socket": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/app-server-control/app-server-control.sock",
        "daemon state dir": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/app-server-daemon",
        "mode": "ephemeral",
        "pid file": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/app-server-daemon/app-server.pid (missing)",
        "settings": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/app-server-daemon/settings.json (missing)",
        "status": "not running",
        "update-loop pid file": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/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/<user>/.codex-<profile>/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/<user>/.codex-<profile>",
        "config.toml": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/config.toml",
        "config.toml parse": "ok",
        "cwd": "/home/<user>/projects/<company>/<repo>",
        "enabled feature flags": "shell_tool, view_image, unified_exec, shell_snapshot, code_mode_host, terminal_resize_reflow, sqlite, hooks, enable_request_compression, unbounded_connection_retries, multi_agent, apps, tool_search_always_defer_mcp_tools, tool_suggest, plugins, in_app_browser, in_app_chat, in_app_dictation, 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": "42",
        "log dir": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/log",
        "mcp servers": "2",
        "model": "<default>",
        "model provider": "openai",
        "sqlite home": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "git.environment": {
      "id": "git.environment",
      "category": "git",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "git version 2.40.1",
      "details": {
        ".git entry": "file -> /home/<user>/projects/<company>/<main-repo>/.git/worktrees/<worktree>",
        "PATH git #1": "/usr/bin/git",
        "PATH git #2": "/bin/git",
        "PATH git entries": "2",
        "git branch": "<redacted>",
        "git build options": "git version 2.40.1; cpu: x86_64; no commit associated with this build; sizeof-long: 8; sizeof-size_t: 8; shell-path: /bin/sh",
        "git exec path": "/usr/lib/git-core",
        "git version": "git version 2.40.1",
        "repo detected": "true",
        "repo root": "/home/<user>/projects/<company>/<repo>",
        "selected git": "/usr/bin/git"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 129
    },
    "installation": {
      "id": "installation",
      "category": "install",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "installation looks consistent",
      "details": {
        "PATH codex #1": "/home/<user>/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #2": "/home/<user>/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #3": "/home/<user>/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #4": "/home/<user>/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #5": "/home/<user>/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex entries": "5",
        "current executable": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
        "install context": "standalone (unix, package /home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
        "managed by bun": "false",
        "managed by npm": "false",
        "managed by pnpm": "false",
        "managed package root": "not set"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 62
    },
    "mcp.config": {
      "id": "mcp.config",
      "category": "mcp",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "MCP configuration is locally consistent",
      "details": {
        "configured servers": "2",
        "disabled servers": "0",
        "streamable_http servers": "2"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 242
    },
    "network.env": {
      "id": "network.env",
      "category": "network",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "network-related environment looks readable",
      "details": {
        "managed proxy": "not configured",
        "proxy env vars": "none",
        "respect system proxy": "disabled"
      },
      "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 inference URL": "https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/<redacted> reachable (HTTP 405)",
        "reachability mode": "ChatGPT auth"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 147
    },
    "network.websocket_reachability": {
      "id": "network.websocket_reachability",
      "category": "websocket",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "Responses WebSocket handshake succeeded",
      "details": {
        "DNS": "2 IPv4, 2 IPv6, first IPv4",
        "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",
        "supports websockets": "true",
        "wire API": "responses"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 809
    },
    "runtime.provenance": {
      "id": "runtime.provenance",
      "category": "runtime",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "running standalone on linux-x86_64",
      "details": {
        "commit": "unknown",
        "current executable": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
        "install method": "standalone (unix, package /home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
        "platform": "linux-x86_64",
        "version": "0.149.1"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "runtime.search": {
      "id": "runtime.search",
      "category": "search",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "search is OK (bundled)",
      "details": {
        "search command": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases/0.149.1-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/<user>/.codex-<profile>/tmp/arg0/<temporary>/codex-linux-sandbox",
        "execve wrapper helper": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/tmp/arg0/<temporary>/codex-execve-wrapper",
        "filesystem sandbox": "restricted",
        "network sandbox": "restricted"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "security.endpoint": {
      "id": "security.endpoint",
      "category": "security",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "endpoint protection is not inspected on this platform",
      "details": {
        "endpoint products": "not inspected on this platform"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "state.paths": {
      "id": "state.paths",
      "category": "state",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "state paths and databases are inspectable",
      "details": {
        "CODEX_HOME": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile> (dir)",
        "active rollout files": "71 files, 109911384 total bytes, 1548047 average bytes",
        "archived rollout files": "0 files, 0 total bytes, 0 average bytes",
        "goals DB": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/goals_1.sqlite (file)",
        "goals DB integrity": "ok",
        "log DB": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/logs_2.sqlite (file)",
        "log DB integrity": "ok",
        "log dir": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/log (dir)",
        "memories DB": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/memories_1.sqlite (file)",
        "memories DB integrity": "ok",
        "queue DB": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/queue_1.sqlite (file)",
        "queue DB integrity": "ok",
        "sqlite home": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile> (dir)",
        "standalone release cache": "1 entries in /home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/packages/standalone/releases",
        "state DB": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/state_5.sqlite (file)",
        "state DB integrity": "ok",
        "thread history DB": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/thread_history_1.sqlite (file)",
        "thread history DB integrity": "ok"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 1030
    },
    "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": "openai",
        "rollout DB active files": "71",
        "rollout DB active rows": "71",
        "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": "openai=71",
        "rollout DB rows": "71",
        "rollout DB scan cap reached": "false",
        "rollout DB scan errors": "0",
        "rollout DB sources": "cli=71",
        "rollout DB stale rows": "0"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 157
    },
    "system.disk": {
      "id": "system.disk",
      "category": "disk",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "sufficient free disk space (77.4 GiB)",
      "details": {
        "CODEX_HOME available": "77.4 GiB",
        "failure threshold": "1.0 GiB",
        "warning threshold": "5.0 GiB",
        "worktree available": "77.4 GiB"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "system.environment": {
      "id": "system.environment",
      "category": "system",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "OS language C",
      "details": {
        "EDITOR": "not set",
        "LANG": "C.UTF-8",
        "VISUAL": "not set",
        "os": "Ubuntu 22.4.0 (jammy) [64-bit]",
        "os language": "C",
        "os type": "Ubuntu",
        "os version": "22.4.0"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 32
    },
    "terminal.env": {
      "id": "terminal.env",
      "category": "terminal",
      "status": "warning",
      "summary": "width 73 cols - output may wrap (recommended >=80)",
      "details": {
        "DISPLAY": "present",
        "WAYLAND_DISPLAY": "present",
        "WSL_DISTRO_NAME": "present",
        "WSL_INTEROP": "present",
        "WT_SESSION": "present",
        "color output": "enabled",
        "effective locale": "C.UTF-8",
        "stderr is terminal": "true",
        "stdin is terminal": "true",
        "stdout is terminal": "true",
        "terminal": "Windows Terminal",
        "terminal size": "73x62"
      },
      "issues": [
        {
          "severity": "warning",
          "cause": "width 73 cols - output may wrap (recommended >=80)",
          "measured": "73 x 62",
          "expected": ">= 80 columns",
          "remedy": "resize the window to at least 80 columns",
          "fields": [
            "terminal size"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "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": "git repo root",
        "terminal title project value": "<repo>",
        "terminal title source": "default"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "updates.status": {
      "id": "updates.status",
      "category": "updates",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "update configuration is locally consistent",
      "details": {
        "cached latest version": "0.149.1",
        "check for update on startup": "true",
        "last checked at": "<redacted timestamp>",
        "latest version": "0.149.1",
        "latest version status": "current version is not older",
        "update action": "standalone installer",
        "version cache": "/home/<user>/.codex-<profile>/version.json"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 129
    }
  }
}

What issue are you seeing?

The configured shell environment policy does not exclude NO_COLOR from spawned shells.

Configuration:

[shell_environment_policy.filters]
NO_COLOR = "exclude"

Despite this, spawned shell commands still see:

NO_COLOR=1

codex --strict-config doctor --json reports that the configuration loaded successfully. NO_COLOR is not configured in my shell profiles, Windows environment, or Codex shell snapshot.

The issue also reproduces using the legacy supported syntax:

[shell_environment_policy]
exclude = ["NO_COLOR"]

This appears to be specific to the spawned/unified shell execution path, which seems to inject or retain NO_COLOR after the environment policy is applied.

Impact: Nx sets FORCE_COLOR=true for task children, causing Node to warn:

Warning: The 'NO_COLOR' env is ignored due to the 'FORCE_COLOR' env being set.

Current workaround:

env -u NO_COLOR pnpm nx run <project>:typecheck

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Configure Codex with:

[shell_environment_policy.filters]
NO_COLOR = "exclude"

1. Restart Codex.

1. Run:

env | grep '^NO_COLOR='

1. Observe that the command outputs:

NO_COLOR=1

The same behavior also reproduces with:

[shell_environment_policy]
exclude = ["NO_COLOR"]

What is the expected behavior?

NO_COLOR should be excluded from the environment of spawned shell commands.

Running:

env | grep '^NO_COLOR='

should produce no output.

Additional information

might be related to https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/22124