Codex CLI v0.160.0: projectless sessions, Guardian review context, queued-message resume#
Published by Alex Sorokoletov
Part of the Codex CLI Version Tracker series. | Codex on GitHub | Official Changelog
Codex CLI v0.160.0 follows v0.159.3 and adds sessions that start outside a project directory with workspace defaults, Guardian reviews that can pull in earlier user instructions and agent-handoff context, pagination for older tasks in the command center, and middle-click paste on Linux X11 terminals. Reliability fixes cover queued messages after reconnect, the Windows sandbox, and the local session store.[1]
What Shipped#
| Change | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Projectless sessions | A session can start outside a project directory using workspace defaults when policy permits, and saved permissions are restored when the session resumes.[1] |
| Guardian review context | Guardian reviews get two opt-in context sources: retrieval of earlier user instructions in the session, and context carried over from agent handoffs.[1] |
| Command center pagination | Older tasks in the agent command center are reachable through a keyboard-accessible "Show more" action rather than only the most recent entries.[1] |
| Linux X11 paste | In fullscreen mode on supported local Linux X11 terminals, transcript text can be selected and pasted with a middle-click.[1] |
Reliability Fixes#
The release notes group most of the work under bug fixes, and several touch state that users lose today:[1]
- Queued messages. Unsent queued messages resume after a reconnection once uncertain submissions are resolved, so a dropped connection no longer sends them twice.
- Server settings in the TUI. The terminal UI preserves the server provider, reasoning-summary, and verbosity settings, and shows the correct sessions in resume and fork history.
- Windows sandbox. PowerShell fallbacks and long-path permission repairs are fixed, and background helpers no longer open unwanted console windows.
- Subagents. A subagent now keeps an environment that is still starting, and receives its configuration or a preparation failure instead of a silent gap.
- Local session store. SQLite stalls during connection setup and logging are prevented, initialization errors surface instead of appearing as timeouts, and unused log database space is reclaimed in the background.
- Provider catalogs. An explicit provider model catalog no longer pulls in unsupported bundled models or reuses stale entries after a refresh fails.
Plugin loading also caches parsed manifests and reuses HTTP connections for remote plugin requests, cutting repeated work when a session loads plugins.[1]
Guardian review context#
Guardian is the name Codex uses for its review pass, and this release widens what that pass can see. Two opt-in sources widen what the review pass can draw on: earlier user instructions from the same session, and context carried across agent handoffs.
Projectless sessions move Codex past the assumption that a run begins inside a repository. Starting with workspace defaults when policy permits, and restoring saved permissions on resume, lets the agent open in a directory that is not a checked-out project. Alongside that, the TUI now honors app-server provider defaults and preserves server-side reasoning and verbosity settings, which keeps the terminal client and the app-server it talks to in agreement about how a turn is configured.
The rest of the release is durability. The Windows sandbox gets PowerShell fallbacks, long-path ACL repair, and suppressed console windows for background helpers, narrowing the gap with the Unix sandbox path. The local SQLite store that holds sessions stops stalling on setup, surfaces its own initialization errors, and reclaims disk space on its own. These are the fixes a daily driver accumulates.
All trademarks and software referenced belong to their respective owners.
Sources#
- Codex CLI release notes, rust-v0.160.0
Previous Codex CLI analysis: v0.159.3 (September 30, 2026)
All 11 Codex CLI analyses: Codex CLI Version Tracker · Official Codex CLI changelog