027. The Codex rollout file shows an aborted turn

View as Markdown Open in Claude Open in ChatGPT

Date: 2026-10-30
Agents: Codex CLI
Measured on: real machine

Measured

2026-10-30, Codex CLI 0.164.0, on Linux (Debian 13, x64), with --sandbox read-only --ask-for-approval on-request, in a private tmux server with a throwaway HOME. The scenario scenarios/codex/approval.sh recorded the record types of the rollout file at each step, with and without --no-daemon. It read no content. Measured on: real machine.

What was measured

A prompt that asked for a new file opened the dialog "Would you like to run the following command?" with "1. Yes, proceed (y)", "2. Yes, and don't ask again ...", and "3. No, and tell Codex what to do differently (esc)".
Esc on the dialog added these records, in this order: response_item custom_tool_call_output, event_msg token_count, response_item message, event_msg turn_aborted. The screen showed "Conversation interrupted".
A turn that ended normally had an event_msg task_complete record.
Both modes (daemon and --no-daemon) gave the same records.

Mechanism

A reader of the rollout file sees the end of a turn in both cases: task_complete after a normal end, turn_aborted after Esc. This does not depend on the Stop hook, which tg-bridge measured does not fire after Esc or a denial.

Incident

tg-bridge did not learn that a Codex turn ended after Esc on an approval dialog, because no Stop hook fired.

Screens

None.

Not measured

"3. No" with a typed answer, and Ctrl+C during a turn.
An Esc during a running command, with no dialog.
macOS and Windows.

Later measurement, 2026-10-30 (0.164.0)

The scenarios scenarios/codex/deny.sh and scenarios/codex/interrupt.sh measured the first two items of the list above. Facts 36, 37 and 38 give the details.

The digit 3 ("No, and tell Codex what to do differently") acts at once and gives the same four records as Esc, with turn_aborted last. Codex asks for no text. The turn ends.
Esc while an approved command runs gives the same four records.
Ctrl+C during a turn does not stop it. It opens the dialog "Task is still running". 1. Cancel task and 3. Exit give turn_aborted. Esc on that dialog lets the turn go on to task_complete.
Codex 0.164.0 has an Interrupt hook. It fires in each case that writes turn_aborted. Stop does not fire in these cases.