Overcoming Obstinate Dismissals of .md File Instructions

What version of Codex is running?

codex-cli 0.63.0

What subscription do you have?

Pro

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.1-codex-max

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.2.0 arm64 arm

What issue are you seeing?

The in-session feedback highlights the infuriatingly obstinate dismissals of .md file instructions. This could have been a significant issue, but we’ll never know because it refused to even grasp the basic principle behind them, let alone offer to resolve it or perform elementary tasks like merging repos, explaining features, or even pointing me to resources where I could educate myself on the available MCP features. The relief in cognitive load when switching to Claude Code is so starkly different, it feels almost like a divine intervention, which I will deliberately refrain from mentioning. But seriously! :-)

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Assume users are unfamiliar with coding and find choices based on three-letter words with a vowel in the middle (pip pip!) exclusionary. Change the approach.

What is the expected behavior?

The expected behavior was to grasp the basic principle behind .md file instructions, offer to resolve issues, perform tasks like merging repos, explaining features, or pointing to resources for education on MCP features. Instead, the received behavior was obstinate dismissals of the instructions, with no resolution or assistance provided.

Additional information

_No response_