Codex cannot edit file. Claims its read only when its set to Full Access
Resolved 💬 6 comments Opened Nov 9, 2025 by Thelastpoet Closed Dec 23, 2025
💡 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 0.55.0
What subscription do you have?
API and Plus
Which model were you using?
gpt5
What platform is your computer?
Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0 64-bit
What issue are you seeing?
Whenever I start codex I set to Full Access but everytime it will report back
"Your repo is read‑only here, so below are precise, minimal edits you can apply."
When asked it says "My current session reports sandbox_mode=read-only and rejected my write attempt with “approval policy is Never,”"
Then it proceeds to paste the instructions
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Start Codex and switch approvals to "Full Access" As it to edit a file.
What is the expected behavior?
_No response_
Additional information
_No response_
6 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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Having the same issue.
This bug report is pretty stale and likely no longer relevant. Closing.
but it still happens on 0.77.0. @etraut-openai
<img width="432" height="131" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3b43bd3d-28fe-4d34-8a6f-7b5b3d587c96" />
config.toml:
model = "gpt-5.2-codex"
model_reasoning_effort = "high"
approval_policy = "never"
sandbox_mode = "workspace-write"
sandbox = "workspace-write"
[projects.'E:\GitHub\TTR24']
trust_level = "trusted"
@belplaton, if you're seeing a behavior like this, please file a new bug using the
/feedbackcommand to upload your logs and session data.Seeing what looks like the same problem, on a different setup: Windows, Codex CLI 0.142.4, driven through the Codex Claude Code plugin (
codex-plugin-cc) rather than the interactive CLI directly.I ask Codex to write to disk (create a file, delete a folder — nothing unusual, just a normal edit inside my own project directory), and it consistently comes back refusing with a read-only sandbox error, even though I explicitly requested write access. Every time, not intermittent. The error wording lines up closely with what's already reported here.
Happy to share exact repro steps/logs if useful.