Slash commands fail when input is long and pasted (Codex CLI replaces input with “[Pasted Content XXX chars]” and Speckit workflows stop executing)

What version of Codex is running?

codex-cli 0.61.0

What subscription do you have?

Pro

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.1-codex-max high

What platform is your computer?

Linux 5.15.167.4-microsoft-standard-WSL2 x86_64 x86_64

What issue are you seeing?

When running slash commands such as:

/prompts:speckit.specify
<pasted long content>

or:

/prompts:speckit.clarify "<pasted long content>"

Codex CLI collapses the pasted input in the UI to something like:

/prompts:speckit.specify [Pasted Content 2419 chars]

This appears to be a UI convenience, but in practice it changes the actual behavior of slash commands:

• Speckit does NOT run.
• Speckit’s system prompt does not appear.
• .specify/scripts/bash/check-prerequisites.sh is never executed.
• No feature directory is created.
• No spec.md, plan.md, or tasks.md files are written.
• The slash command behaves like a plain user message.

When the same slash command is typed manually (with short text), Speckit works correctly:

• System prompt appears,
• Scripts run,
• Feature directory created,
• spec.md written.

This indicates that Codex CLI’s “pasted content collapsing” is interfering with the actual payload forwarded to slash-command handlers.

---

Example Behavior

Broken Case (long pasted content)

Command:
(prompts:speckit.specify with ~2000–3000 chars of pasted input)

CLI shows:
/prompts:speckit.specify [Pasted Content XXXX chars]

Observed:

• No Speckit system prompt
• No prerequisite script execution
• No feature directory created
• No files written
• Plain LLM text response only

Working Case (short/manual input)

Command:

/prompts:speckit.specify "auth system with login + register"

Observed:

• Speckit system prompt appears
• check-prerequisites.sh runs
• A directory such as specs/001-auth-login-register/ is created
• spec.md is correctly written

The only difference is: long pasted content → CLI collapses input → slash command fails.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Initialize a Speckit-enabled repo (specify init).
2. Create a feature branch:

git checkout -b 001-auth-foundations

1. In Codex CLI, run:

```
/prompts:speckit.specify
<PASTE ~1500–3000 chars of text>

4. CLI displays:

/prompts:speckit.specify [Pasted Content N chars]

5. Observe:
   - Speckit system prompt does not appear
   - No prerequisites script runs
   - No files written
   - No feature directory created
6. Repeat with a short manual input:

/prompts:speckit.specify "short text"

7. This time, everything works correctly.

The behavior is fully reproducible.


### What is the expected behavior?

Even if the CLI UI chooses to visually collapse pasted input into:

[Pasted Content N chars]

the underlying behavior should remain unchanged:

- The full pasted content should be sent to the slash-command router.
- Speckit workflows should still execute normally.
- Prerequisite scripts should run.
- Feature directories/spec.md/plan.md/tasks.md should be generated exactly as with manually typed input.

The visual collapsing should NOT interfere with the actual prompt data or slash-command execution.


### Additional information

- The issue affects multiple Speckit slash commands: specify, clarify, plan, tasks.
- The failure happens ONLY when Codex CLI shows “[Pasted Content ...]”.
- Long pasted prompts are normal for Spec-Kit workflows (feature specs, plans).
- Workaround is to manually type a short description for the slash command, then send details in follow-up messages.
- I can provide sample repo, session logs, or long-prompt examples if needed.