Codex CLI v0.163.0: steer a running turn, searchable /config, and parallel read-only tools#

Published October 15, 2026 by Alex Sorokoletov

Part of the Codex CLI Version Tracker series. | Codex on GitHub | Official Changelog

Codex CLI v0.163.0 follows the v0.162.1 patch with interactive controls for a running session: send a follow-up to steer a turn while Codex is still responding, search and change preferences from /config, and let independent read-only tools run in parallel. A network-proxy hardening pass and a move to the standard shell executor ship alongside.^[1]

What shipped#

Controls for a running session#

A message sent while Codex is responding steers the current turn immediately, and interrupting a turn reaches into active Code Mode cells to stop them along with their nested tool calls. /config opens as a searchable surface across preference categories, applies a supported change during the session, and marks which changes need a restart before they take effect. /daemon restarts a managed background server, warning first about work the restart could interrupt and reconnecting on its own once it is back. After switching threads, /side returns to an existing side conversation, and an answer to a pending prompt goes back to the thread that asked it. Independent read-only tools, including skill, memory, and conversation-history lookups, run in parallel.^[1]

A permission-checked network proxy#

The network proxy checks permission before it performs a DNS lookup, rejects duplicate Host headers, and stops credential aliases from bypassing its inspection hooks. Resuming a saved thread restores that thread's permissions and network approvals, while respecting explicit overrides and the current managed policy.^[1]

The standard shell executor#

Codex runs commands through its standard shell executor and no longer bundles a patched zsh; configurations that used the retired shell flags receive a migration notice. On Windows, Ctrl+V and Shift+Insert paste text as well as images. On WSL, repeated pastes reuse the clipboard reader and a copy attempt times out instead of hanging. Local commands finish promptly when a child keeps an output pipe open, and remote commands preserve late-arriving output so a final poll can still collect it. codex exec no longer reprints the same file diff after an unrelated command. Linux and macOS release packages are smaller after stripping symbols from the packaged binaries, with symbols preserved in the original build outputs.^[1]

A turn you can act on while it runs#

Several changes in v0.163.0 touch the same thing: what you can do while a turn is in flight. A follow-up steers the turn without waiting for it to finish, an interrupt stops Code Mode cells and the tool calls nested inside them, /config applies a setting during the session and flags the ones that need a restart, /daemon restarts a background server and reconnects, and /side moves between a thread and its side conversation while routing answers back to the thread that asked. Each acts on a session that is already running rather than on the next one.

Underneath those controls, the network proxy becomes a permission-checked boundary: it asks before a DNS lookup, rejects duplicate Host headers, closes a credential-alias path around its inspection hooks, and a resumed thread brings back the network approvals it held. Command execution consolidates on the standard shell executor, with the bundled zsh retired behind a migration notice for the old shell flags. The bundled OpenAI Docs guidance now covers migrations to the GPT-6 family, and the Linux sandbox documentation spells out that it uses bubblewrap for filesystem isolation and seccomp for syscall filtering.^[1]

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Sources#

1. Codex CLI release notes, rust-v0.163.0