add find/search for the codex chat

Open 💬 7 comments Opened Dec 28, 2025 by g3grau

What feature would you like to see?

I can't figure out how to search within the active codex chat other than scrolling/fast reading in VS code. Ctrl-F always searches in the code editor no matter where I focus/click inside the codex canvas. I also didn't find a search context menu item or similar. One can copy and paste the the chat into another editor and search there, but that feels very clumsy.

I frequently need to look up some suggested commands or checks which are hundreds of lines up in the chat, or revisit open tasks from some todo points which are no longer visible. A search option would be the easiest implementation for such situations.

P.S. On a wider scope, the search alone still feels a bit underpowered for the tool. Bookmarks or checkable items (todo list) could be a helpful extension as well - but since VS code doesn't seem to support that for the general editor, that's likely too much. For tasks which start with a long list of complex operations that breaks down into even longer sessions on detail solutions, it is currently required to keep track of open items or suggestions outside of the chat to be able to find it again. Some organization aids would be welcome, maybe organized via a context menu on selected text in the chat and a tasks tab in the codex canvas...probably need more thoughts on this

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7 Comments

rockyicer · 6 months ago
mohammadian-reza · 2 months ago

I just want to make sure, till now, no option is available for searching inside vscode codex sessions, right? On CLI it works, but on vscode it doesn't. Also there a crucial need for rename option.

rockyicer · 2 months ago
rename option

rename option is highly voted. claude vscode addon support rename option long time. waiting codex to catch up

ArianSha · 2 months ago

+1

rockyicer · 2 months ago
I just want to make sure, till now, no option is available for searching inside vscode codex sessions, right? On CLI it works, but on vscode it doesn't. Also there a crucial need for rename option.

hi, I just found out another repo called codex plus plus, it enhance several feather codex do not provide. your crucial need for rename option is inside it. also you can delete selected chat session.
check it out.

PS: would like to see codex absorb those useful feather inside vscode since claude already have those feather.

telenskyt · 3 days ago

This truly is an annoying ommission; why is such a basic and frequently needed feature missing?

telenskyt · 3 days ago

Still reproducible in the current Codex VS Code extension on Windows with WSL. Even when the Codex conversation has focus, Ctrl+F searches the active source file instead of the conversation.

This makes long Codex sessions effectively unsearchable and forces users to scroll manually or copy the entire transcript elsewhere. Search is not an optional convenience in conversations containing hundreds of lines of commands, decisions, and debugging history.

Expected behavior:

  • When the Codex conversation has focus, Ctrl+F opens an in-conversation search.
  • Enter/Shift+Enter or F3/Shift+F3 navigate results.
  • The search displays the current result and total result count.
  • The same action is available through the Command Palette.

This should be treated as a core usability and accessibility feature, not a minor enhancement.