[Alan-Cha]

Follow-up to #1518. agentop configure codex enable and disable now restart Codex's background app-server when it's running, the same way they already restart OpenCode's service. #1518 only printed a warning.

Why #1518 only warned, and why that was wrong

Codex's app-server daemon makes the model calls for every codex window. It reads ~/.codex/.env only when it starts, so a daemon already running when enable runs keeps bypassing Cortex.

#1518 printed a warning instead of restarting. It said a restart "ends any Codex session running through it" and that "OpenCode reconnects its open sessions and Codex doesn't". I hadn't checked either claim, and both are wrong. Codex's source (0.163.0 and 0.164.0, the version running here) shows that codex app-server daemon restart:

• stops the old daemon taking new turns, and gives running turns its shutdown grace to finish (60s by default, DEFAULT_SHUTDOWN_GRACE_SECONDS);
• saves its threads; the new daemon restores them and continues a local turn the grace cut off, with the message "Resuming interrupted work" (daemon_continuation.rs);
• doesn't stop open codex windows: they reconnect and rejoin their thread on their own (tui/src/app/reconnect.rs, retrying for up to 2 minutes).

So a restart interrupts Codex rather than ending it. Waiting for the user to restart by hand leaves the exact problem #1518 was filed for: Codex looks enabled and isn't.

What changes

When a daemon is running, enable and disable:

1. say so before asking, with its pid and start time (--yes skips the question, not the line);
2. write the file, then run codex app-server daemon restart once;
3. read the new daemon's environment and say whether it uses Cortex, or if not, what proxy it has instead.

Codex's background app-server is running (pid 55524, started Tue Oct 27 09:00:00 2026).
  Applying this restarts it: Codex turns already running get up to a minute to finish,
  and open Codex windows reconnect.

Enabled — run `codex` as usual. agentop configure codex disable undoes this.
Restarting Codex's background app-server (pid 55524)...
Codex's background app-server was restarted (pid 55534) and is using Cortex.

Other cases:

• No daemon running: nothing to restart; the next codex starts one with the new file.
• Restart fails: the file is still changed, the exit code is still 0, and stderr gives the error and the command to run.
• enable with nothing to change, and status: report the running daemon without restarting it. They say whether it uses Cortex and give the restart command if it doesn't.

Two details:

• The restart runs with Cortex's proxy variables removed from agentop's own environment. Otherwise a disable run from a shell with HTTPS_PROXY pointing at Cortex would restart the daemon straight back onto Cortex. OpenCode's restart does the same.
• The daemon's proxy is read the way Codex reads it (HTTPS_PROXY, then https_proxy, then ALL_PROXY; an empty value counts as unset). That differs from OpenCode's (Bun's) order, so it gets its own helper.

docs/agents/codex.md now describes the restart and what it does to running sessions, and no longer says a restart ends them.

Review fixes

From review (huang195, CodeRabbit):

• The auto-updater is restarted too. An auto-updatable Codex runs a second background process, codex app-server daemon pid-update-loop. It also reads .env only at start, and the app-server it starts after an update inherits its environment. daemon restart keeps a running updater, so after disable the next Codex update put the app-server back on Cortex (reproduced in review). enable and disable now stop the updater first, as Codex does (SIGTERM to its process group), so the restart starts a fresh one. Afterwards, an updater whose proxy still disagrees is named, with the command that replaces it.
• Not changed here: running agentop from inside Codex. If Codex itself runs enable/disable, the restart can end up waiting for the turn that is waiting on it. OpenCode's restart has the same exposure and no guard either, so both are handled together in agentop configure codex/opencode can wait on itself when an agent runs it #1530.
• The drain is described as "up to its shutdown grace (a minute by default)", since the grace is configurable up to 5 minutes.
• The restart command's stdout is discarded rather than piped, and exec.ErrWaitDelay (returned only after a successful exit) is not counted as a failed restart. A daemon holding an inherited pipe open can no longer turn a successful restart into a reported failure.

Test plan

• Unit tests with a fake daemon (nothing can restart or read a real Codex process): enable and disable restart once, after the file is written; a declined prompt restarts nothing; a restarted daemon still bypassing Cortex, or still on Cortex after disable, is named; restart failure, a daemon gone after restart, and an unreadable environment; already enabled and status report without restarting; no daemon, a stale pid file and an unreadable pid file restart nothing
• codexEnvironProxy against Codex's variable order, codexCLIEnv, the real runner via /bin/sh (stderr line, no Cortex proxy, CODEX_HOME), findCodex
• The fake Codex now models an updater: disable stops it before the restart and ends with a fresh one; an updater that will not stop is named with the fix; enable replaces it too; no updater, nothing said
• The real updater stop, against a child this test starts as its own process-group leader: SIGTERM ends it, and the call returns only once it has exited
• The real runner: a successful command whose child keeps its output open is a success; a failing one is still a failure
• Each new test fails against the code before the fix (checked by reverting the fix)
• Full cmd/agentop suite, go vet, gofmt, go mod tidy -diff; builds for linux/amd64, linux/arm64, darwin/amd64 (windows does not build on main either)
• End to end against a fake codex and a stand-in daemon process in a scratch home: enable → restarted and "is using Cortex"; disable → restarted and "no longer uses Cortex"
• Read-only status against the real daemon on this machine: "Codex's background app-server (pid 36373) is using Cortex"
• Not done: a real codex app-server daemon restart driven by agentop, with a Codex window open. The reconnect and resume behaviour above comes from Codex's source, not from a live test.

Assisted-By: Claude (Anthropic AI) noreply@anthropic.com

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features
  • Enabling or disabling Codex routing now restarts a running background app-server when settings change. Active turns get time to finish, and open windows can reconnect afterward.
  • Enabling routing without changing settings does not restart the app-server. If no app-server is running, the next Codex launch uses the updated settings.
  • Status reports whether the app-server and updater use Cortex and flags when their settings could not be checked or need attention.
  • Restart failures do not undo a successful settings change. --yes skips confirmation, but not warnings.
• Documentation
  • Updated Codex guidance to cover restart behavior, prompts, session recovery, and cases where running processes may need a restart.

[coderabbitai]

Walkthrough

Codex enable and disable now inspect running processes and restart a running app-server after successful routing changes. The commands stop the updater before restart and report observed proxy settings. Status reports file configuration and daemon routing.

Changes: Codex daemon routing

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Daemon state and proxy detection cmd/agentop/codex_daemon.go, cmd/agentop/codex_daemon_test.go	PID-file checks and process environment inspection identify live daemon and updater processes and their proxy settings. Proxy selection follows Codex’s HTTPS_PROXY and ALL_PROXY precedence.
Restart and post-change verification cmd/agentop/codex_daemon.go, cmd/agentop/codex_daemon_test.go	The restart path locates the Codex CLI, filters managed environment values, and runs with a timeout. It reports updater-stop and restart failures, and checks daemon and updater proxy state after a successful restart.
Enable, disable, and status integration cmd/agentop/cmd_codex.go, cmd/agentop/codex_daemon_test.go, docs/agents/codex.md	Enable and disable inspect daemon state before confirmation and finalize successful file changes. Repeated enable does not restart the daemon. Status reports file configuration separately from daemon routing. Tests and documentation describe these behaviors.

Priority: Normal

Estimated code review effort: 4 (Complex) | ~45 minutes

Change: Bug fix

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant Operator
  participant agentop
  participant Codex_CLI
  participant Codex_app_server
  participant Codex_updater
  Operator->>agentop: confirm routing change
  agentop->>Codex_updater: stop updater
  agentop->>Codex_CLI: run app-server restart
  Codex_CLI->>Codex_app_server: restart daemon
  agentop->>Codex_app_server: inspect process environment
  agentop->>Codex_updater: inspect process environment
  agentop-->>Operator: report routing state

Loading

Possibly related issues

• agentop configure codex/opencode can wait on itself when an agent runs it #1530: The issue describes an agent-triggered enable or disable restarting the daemon that is handling the command; the issue summary says this case remains unhandled.
• Feat: Support running Cortex natively on Windows (no WSL) #1520: This change adds a POSIX-specific syscall.Kill call to updater shutdown, which is in scope for the issue’s request to isolate Unix-only process code.

Possibly related PRs

• rossoctl/cortex#1518: Adds warning-only detection for a running Codex app-server that this change replaces with restart and post-restart verification.

Suggested reviewers: huang195

Merge Risk: Moderate · up to 2a4a8

The restart can interrupt unrelated work, and some configuration changes can leave Codex using stale routing. These risks warrant attention before merging.

Pre-merge checks: 5

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check		Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check		The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: restarting Codex's background app-server when users enable or disable the configuration.
Docstring Coverage		Docstring coverage is 81.08% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff with cyclomatic complexity of at least 2. Documentati…
Linked Issues check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

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• 🪄 Fix comments: Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR

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Review comments at @cmd/agentop/codex_daemon.go:
- Line 177: Update error handling in codexRun so exec.ErrWaitDelay is treated as
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• cmd/agentop/cmd_codex.go
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• docs/agents/codex.md

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[huang195]

Thanks, the restart is the right move, and I checked the Codex-source claims: the proxy variable order, the 60s/5min grace and the +75s lock all match. One thing blocks it, and I reproduced it.

disable reports success, then Codex's auto-updater puts the daemon back on Cortex. Details inline on codexRestartDaemon.

Repro: a scratch CODEX_HOME, Codex 0.164.0 installed as auto-updatable (0.165.0 available), and a stand-in proxy on :47699 in .env. I ran this PR's own agentop configure codex disable --yes against it:

Disabled. Codex no longer routes through Cortex.
Codex's background app-server was restarted (pid 51915) and no longer uses Cortex.

51820 pid-update-loop:  HTTPS_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:47699 https_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:47699
51915 --managed-daemon: (none)

Then the updater's restart path (codex app-server daemon update, which a scheduled update also takes), with .env still empty:

51051 --managed-daemon: HTTPS_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:47699 https_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:47699

Stopping the updater first (kill <daemon-updater.pid>) and then running daemon restart gives a new updater and daemon, both with no proxy. daemon stop + daemon start does not help: the old updater survives that too.

enable is fine in the same setup. The daemon the updater starts re-reads .env, and Codex's load_dotenv overrides what it inherits, so a missing proxy gets added. Only a removed one comes back.

Author: Alan-Cha (MEMBER, maintainer)
Areas reviewed: Go, Docs
Agent/IDE config (.claude/.vscode): none
Commits: 1, signed off: yes
CI status: passing. I also ran the Codex tests, vet and gofmt locally.

[huang195]

must-fix: daemon restart leaves the auto-updater running with the old environment, so disable comes undone at the next update.

An auto-updatable install runs a second long-lived process, codex app-server daemon pid-update-loop. It also reads .env only when it starts. daemon restart replaces the app-server and keeps a running updater (ensure_managed_updater → start_inner returns early when the pid file names a live process). When the updater later restarts the daemon for an update, the new daemon inherits the updater's environment.

After disable the daemon is clean, but the updater still has Cortex's HTTPS_PROXY. At the next update the daemon is back on Cortex, and Codex stops working once Cortex is stopped. I reproduced this; see the review summary.

Suggested fix: before daemon restart, stop the updater named in app-server-daemon/daemon-updater.pid, with the same liveness check as daemon.pid. Restart then starts a fresh one. I checked that this works on 0.164.0 / 0.165.0.

A test would need the fake daemon to model an updater pid too, and to check that it is stopped before restart.

[Alan-Cha]

Thanks for reproducing this. You were right, and Codex's source agrees: start_inner returns early when the updater's pid file names a live process, so daemon restart never replaces a running updater.

Fixed in eed7212, as you suggested. Before the restart, enable and disable stop the updater named in app-server-daemon/daemon-updater.pid, the way Codex stops it (SIGTERM to its process group), and wait for it to exit. The restart then starts a fresh updater, which reads the new .env.

Verified live on Codex 0.164.0 → 0.165.0, auto-updatable, scratch CODEX_HOME, with a stand-in proxy on :47699:

main's disable, then daemon restart, then codex app-server daemon update:

after disable: daemon  (none)
               updater HTTPS_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:47699
after update:  daemon  HTTPS_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:47699   ← back on the proxy

This PR's disable, then the same update:

Codex's background app-server was restarted (pid 52332) and no longer uses Cortex.
after disable: daemon (none)   updater (none, new pid)
after update:  daemon (none)   updater (none)
proxy requests after disable: 0

The fake Codex in the tests now models an updater too. The tests check that it is stopped before the restart, and that disable ends with a fresh one.

[huang195]

suggestion: related to the must-fix. This check reads only the app-server's environment, so it said "no longer uses Cortex" while the updater still had Cortex's proxy. Reading the updater's environment as well, and naming it when it disagrees, would have caught the bug above. It also covers an updater that refuses to stop.

[Alan-Cha]

Done in the same commit. After the restart, agentop reads the updater's environment as well. If its proxy still disagrees with the change, for example because it refused to stop, agentop names it and gives the command that replaces it:

Codex's auto-updater (pid 5600) still uses Cortex's proxy, and the app-server it starts after an update
  inherits that. Stop it, then restart the app-server so a new updater starts:
    kill 5600 && codex app-server daemon restart

An updater that agrees, or none at all, prints nothing. There's a test for an updater that won't stop.

[huang195]

suggestion (not reproduced, from Codex's source): running enable/disable from inside a Codex turn. If the agent runs agentop configure codex enable as a tool call, daemon restart waits for the old daemon to drain the very turn that is waiting for agentop. That blocks for the full grace (60s by default, up to 5 min). When the grace runs out, the forced stop may also kill the tool process and the restart with it, leaving no daemon running. Codex sets CODEX_THREAD_ID in a tool's environment, so agentop can detect this case: say so and skip the restart, or print the command to run from a terminal.

[Alan-Cha]

Agreed this is worth handling. It isn't specific to Codex, though: OpenCode's restart has the same exposure if OpenCode runs agentop configure opencode enable, and agentop guards neither today. Rather than fix Codex alone here, I filed #1530 to handle both the same way. Its first step is to reproduce it, since neither of us has seen it happen yet. So nothing changed for this one in this PR.

[huang195]

nit: "up to a minute" is right only for the default grace. shutdownGraceSeconds can be up to 5 min, and codexRestartTimeout already allows for that. Something like "up to its shutdown grace (a minute by default)" would cover both.

[Alan-Cha]

Fixed: "Codex turns already running get up to its shutdown grace (a minute by default) to finish". The doc now says the grace is configurable up to 5 minutes, and that enable/disable can take that long when a turn is running.

[huang195]

suggestion: once the updater is handled, say here that enable/disable restart the auto-updater too, when it is running. Otherwise a reader comparing ps before and after will see two processes change, not one.

[Alan-Cha]

Done. The section now has a paragraph "The auto-updater is restarted too". It says what the updater is, why the restart has to replace it, and that comparing ps before and after will show both processes change. The Known issues entry mentions both processes.

[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

Nitpick comments: 1

cmd/agentop/codex_daemon.go: 1

228-233: Trivial · Functional Correctness · Quick win

The comment is wrong: io.Discard does not send stdout to /dev/null.

os/exec connects a child's stdout to a file descriptor directly only when the writer is nil or an *os.File. For any other writer, including io.Discard, it creates a pipe and a copy goroutine. A background process that holds the inherited stdout open therefore still holds Wait until WaitDelay (one second) expires.

The ErrWaitDelay handling keeps the result correct. The comment still gives a false reason, and the restart can wait one second longer than needed.

To get the behavior the comment describes, leave cmd.Stdout as nil. Then remove the io.Discard assignment and, if io has no other use in the file, its import.

Proposed fix

-	cmd.Stdout = io.Discard
 	cmd.Stderr = &stderr

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Review comment at @cmd/agentop/codex_daemon.go around lines 228 - 233:
Remove the cmd.Stdout assignment to io.Discard so os/exec uses its default
stdout behavior without creating a copy pipe; remove the io import if it is no
longer used. Keep the existing explanation aligned with this behavior.

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Inline comments:
Review comments at @cmd/agentop/codex_daemon.go:
- Line 119: Update the error message in the updater-stop path to begin with a
lowercase word, satisfying ST1005; preserve the existing PID and timeout
details.

---

Nitpick comments:
Review comments at @cmd/agentop/codex_daemon.go:
- Around line 228-233: Remove the cmd.Stdout assignment to io.Discard so os/exec
uses its default stdout behavior without creating a copy pipe; remove the io
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• cmd/agentop/cmd_codex.go

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⚠️ Outside diff range comments (1)

Minor · Handle a daemon that appears after confirmation. · cmd_codex.go:566-578

cmd/agentop/cmd_codex.go:566-578
🎯 Functional Correctness | 🟡 Minor | ⚡ Quick win

Handle a daemon that appears after confirmation.

noteCodexDaemonRestart runs before confirmation. A daemon can start after that check but before applyCodexEnable or applyCodexDisable writes the new .env. It then reads the old routing, while finishCodexChange returns because was == nil.

Recheck after the write when the initial snapshot was nil. If a daemon exists, print a late-restart notice and call codexConfirm before restarting it. Do not restart it unconditionally, because it may have started after the write and already read the new settings. With --yes, restart it without the second prompt.

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Review comment at @cmd/agentop/cmd_codex.go around lines 566 - 578:
Update the Codex enable/disable flow around noteCodexDaemonRestart to recheck
for a daemon after the .env write when the initial snapshot was nil; if one now
exists, show a late-restart notice and use codexConfirm before restarting it,
skipping the second prompt with --yes. Do not restart unconditionally, since the
daemon may have started after the write and already read the new settings.

---

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Outside diff comments:
Review comments at @cmd/agentop/cmd_codex.go:
- Around line 566-578: Update the Codex enable/disable flow around
noteCodexDaemonRestart to recheck for a daemon after the .env write when the
initial snapshot was nil; if one now exists, show a late-restart notice and use
codexConfirm before restarting it, skipping the second prompt with --yes. Do not
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[Alan-Cha]

@huang195 ready for another look. Changes since your review:

• Updater (your must-fix): stopped before the restart, so a fresh one reads the new .env, and checked after. Reproduced and verified live on 0.164.0 → 0.165.0; details in the thread.
• Grace wording and docs: done.
• Running from inside Codex: moved to agentop configure codex/opencode can wait on itself when an agent runs it #1530, together with OpenCode's same case.
• CodeRabbit's ErrWaitDelay: fixed by discarding stdout. A failed command is still reported.

[huang195]

Thanks. The updater fix works: disable now ends with a new updater with no proxy, and the post-restart check names one that kept the old one. I ran the Codex tests, vet and gofmt on 2a4a826. I also removed the updater stop (3 new tests fail) and the post-restart updater check (1 fails). Moving the run-from-inside-Codex case to #1530 makes sense. One suggestion inline: check the updater pid's identity before signalling its group.

Author: Alan-Cha (MEMBER — maintainer)
Areas reviewed: Go, Docs
Agent/IDE config (.claude/.vscode): none
Commits: 3, all signed off: yes
CI status: passing

[huang195]

suggestion: check that the pid is really the updater before signalling its group. codexStopUpdater trusts the pid file as long as the pid is alive. If the updater died and left its file behind, and the pid has since been reused by a process that leads its own group (a shell, a terminal session), kill(-pid, SIGTERM) ends that whole group, and agentop then waits up to 10s and reports an error.

Codex guards against this: process_matches_record (app-server-daemon/src/backend/pid.rs) compares the record's processStartTime with ps -p <pid> -o lstart= and refuses to signal on a mismatch. It's unlikely here, since it only runs while the daemon is up. But the result is killing something unrelated, and the check is short. Compare lstart the way Codex does, or check that the process's argv contains pid-update-loop. If neither matches, skip the stop and leave it to the post-restart check, which already names an updater with the wrong proxy.