Streaming outputs in codex exec insert empty lines, then dump bulk text (no smooth stream)
Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Oct 7, 2025 by moazbuilds Closed Jan 10, 2026
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor)
responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.
What version of Codex is running?
codex-cli 0.45.0
Which model were you using?
gpt-5
What platform is your computer?
Linux 5.15.153.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 x86_64 x86_64
What steps can reproduce the bug?
In the latest Codex Exec update, the streaming output isn’t smooth anymore.
It first shows a bunch of empty lines, then suddenly prints a large chunk of text all at once, instead of streaming gradually.
This makes user wait a long time before seeing any real output, especially with longer responses.
What is the expected behavior?
Expected: text should appear smoothly and continuously.
What do you see instead?
Actual: it pauses with blank lines, then dumps everything at once.
Additional information
_No response_
3 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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I can confirm
codex execdoes not actually stream. It kind of streams parts of its message (like the metadata first all at once, then the thinking all at once, then the actual output all at once)So basically it does:
prints metadata
(wait 2s)
prints thinking
(wait Xs)
prints output (all at once - I would expect the output to be streamed, not buffered)
Please fix.
Closing old bugs.