Codex CLI Version Tracker: Environment Variables, Models & Features#

Published July 13, 2026 by Alex Sorokoletov

We analyze OpenAI's Codex CLI releases to document the environment variables, model IDs, and feature surface of each build. Because Codex is open source, every finding is grounded in the published source at the release tag and the official changelog.

Tracking the other agents too? See the Claude Code Version Tracker, OpenCode Version Tracker, Gemini CLI Version Tracker, and Amp Version Tracker.

Version History#

v0.162.1 — October 9, 2026#

TUI crash fix · background-server startup fix · patch on 0.162.0

Codex CLI v0.162.1 is a patch release over v0.162.0 that fixes two reliability problems. A multi-line asynchronous question no longer crashes the terminal UI, and the fix keeps line breaks and complete hyperlink destinations intact. Startup no longer fails when a resident background server's feature settings differ from the CLI's defaults; the compatibility check now fires only for feature overrides passed explicitly on the command line, so a server started earlier does not block a later CLI invocation whose defaults have drifted.

v0.162.0 — October 8, 2026#

managed worktrees · /copy · clickable links · Guardian key scrubbing · codex-cloud-client

v0.162.0 lands managed Git worktree tools for trusted local projects (behind the worktrees feature flag), a /copy command with Ctrl+Insert for copying transcript text, and clickable URLs across approval headers, questions, and MCP prompts. Code Mode gets opt-in ranked tool search and streaming JavaScript helpers, custom Responses-compatible providers can configure live web access and remote compaction, and a new Guardian decisions key is protected from environment forwarding. A new crate, codex-cloud-client, is a native gRPC client for resuming and attaching to cloud threads, so a cloud thread can be resumed locally.

v0.161.0 — October 7, 2026#

/mcp login · cli_daybreak opt-in · --cyber-access-program · sandbox + SQLite recovery fixes

v0.161.0 adds in-session MCP sign-in via /mcp login <name>, with enterprise auth that fails closed on config refresh and cleans up account-scoped grants. The Daybreak interface moves behind an opt-in cli_daybreak flag, a per-turn codex exec --cyber-access-program override lands alongside an SDK equivalent, and voice gains microphone input channel selection. GPT-6.1 Sol becomes the default model in the bundled and Amazon Bedrock catalogs (#49318, #49339). The bug-fix set covers broader-but-bounded filesystem escalation, inherited permissions for background tasks, Windows sandbox fixes for elevated terminals and PowerShell, buffered-input submission after paste, and earlier SQLite corruption recovery with database backups.

v0.160.0 — October 1, 2026#

projectless sessions · Guardian review context · command-center pagination · queued-message resume · SQLite store fixes

v0.160.0 follows v0.159.3 with four user-facing additions and a batch of reliability work. Sessions can start outside a project directory with workspace defaults when policy permits, Guardian reviews gain opt-in retrieval of earlier user instructions and agent-handoff context, the agent command center paginates older tasks behind a keyboard-accessible Show more, and Linux X11 terminals get middle-click paste in fullscreen. The fixes stop queued messages from double-sending after a reconnect, preserve server provider and reasoning settings in the TUI, harden the Windows sandbox with PowerShell fallbacks and long-path repairs, and keep the local SQLite session store from stalling while reclaiming its unused space.

v0.159.3 — September 30, 2026#

Windows console fix · background command spawns · account security reminders

v0.159.3 is a maintenance pair on the 0.159 line. v0.159.2 stops Codex from flashing a console window on Windows when it launches background and sandboxed commands. v0.159.3 lets eligible local sessions signed in with ChatGPT show optional reminders to finish account security setup. Both are backports onto the 0.159 line rather than work developed on it.

v0.159.1 — September 29, 2026#

gpt-6.1-sol default · Amazon Bedrock catalogs · 0.159 backport

v0.159.1 is a patch on the 0.159 line: it makes GPT-6.1 Sol the default model in Codex's bundled catalog and adds the same model to Amazon Bedrock's Mantle and Runtime catalogs so AWS-routed teams get it on the same release. The same model is available on the OpenAI API path and the Bedrock path in this release.

v0.159.0 — September 29, 2026#

instant_interrupt · TUI welcome screen · Windows console fixes · Seatbelt TLS · .aws protection

Mid-turn steering is the largest interaction change in v0.159.0: the opt-in instant_interrupt lets new input redirect Codex during a model response or a long code-mode call, alongside fixes that keep queued output and WebSocket continuations intact when the turn is steered. The TUI gets a compact welcome screen, in-turn tips, a keep-for-later action in the warnings viewer, wider native Mermaid coverage, and transcript copies that preserve Markdown tables and whitespace. Windows launches stop flashing stray console windows for MCP servers, code-mode hosts, and piped commands, with an embedded-mode fallback under restrictive launchers. Sandbox work leans toward remote and network-enabled execution: macOS Seatbelt profiles allow TLS trust evaluation, proxy requirements are honored, the exec-server can proxy permitted private IPs upstream, and .aws directories are protected by default under writable roots.

v0.158.0 — September 28, 2026#

copy-on-select TUI · --oauth-client-secret · exec-server bearer tokens · codex-websocket-auth

v0.158.0 hardens the resident-runtime plumbing introduced in the 0.157 line. Direct exec-server WebSocket connections, including those through app-server, can now carry bearer tokens, and WebSocket auth was pulled into a dedicated codex-websocket-auth component. Command spawning (pipes, PTYs, shell snapshots, hooks) routes through a shared child-process launcher with a reap-only drop policy and fork-safe Linux descriptor cleanup. User-facing, the fullscreen terminal gains copy-on-select, right-click paste, and Markdown-preserving copy; MCP servers requiring pre-registered OAuth client secrets are reachable; image generation can request transparent backgrounds; and elevated commands prompt for approval by default. Sandbox fixes span Windows 10 paths, Linux nested writable roots, and macOS path aliases.

v0.157.1 — September 26, 2026#

voice · fullscreen transcripts · GPT-6 Astra/Sol/Luna · OPENAI_FILE_BLOB_UPLOAD_TIMEOUT

This catch-up from v0.153.4 spans v0.154 through v0.157. Voice conversations ship with a Linux and Windows audio runtime, fullscreen transcripts became the default in v0.157.0 with Shift-click selection, worktree-isolated sessions and a background server (/daemon, --no-daemon) are supported, and /import reached remote and background-server sessions. GPT-6 Astra, Sol, and Luna are in the model picker, with Sol and Luna adding Amazon Bedrock support in v0.157.0. OPENAI_FILE_BLOB_UPLOAD_TIMEOUT raised the file-upload default from 60 seconds to 5 minutes.

v0.153.4 — September 9, 2026#

gpt-6-astra default · Vim undo/redo · plugin marketplaces

v0.153.4 makes GPT-6-Astra the bundled default, the last step of a four-release rollout that moved it from API-only to Bedrock catalogs to the model picker. The feature release in the range, v0.153.0, added Vim undo and redo in the composer, remote-marketplace install and removal in the plugin CLI, an optional automatic recap (tui.auto_recap), and a disabled-by-default context_management.experimental_mode that activates token-budget context, history notes, and a new_context tool for eligible ChatGPT-plan sessions on the Codex backend.

v0.152.0 — September 1, 2026#

Vim / ? search · actionable rate-limit banners · per-tool MCP output_token_limit · Guardian review hardening

v0.152.0 (with 0.151.0) adds Vim / and ? search in the composer with match highlighting and n/N navigation, turns rate-limit banners into actions for checking usage, managing credits, resetting limits, and managing plans, and shows credential-refresh progress in the terminal and codex exec including Amazon Bedrock reauthentication. MCP tools gain a per-tool output_token_limit with resume-consistent truncation, server names accept :, @, /, and . for package-style naming, and extensions can inspect or replace a tool result before it reaches the model. The planning tool is now disabled by default. Beneath those, the range hardens the Guardian automatic approval-review path (context rollover, token budgets, distinct turn identities, shared transcript primitives) and sandbox correctness across macOS Seatbelt, the Windows sandbox, and remote executors.

v0.150.1 — August 29, 2026#

codex agents dashboard · MCP 2026-07-28 · Bedrock provider · workload identity

v0.150.1 caps a four-release run (0.147 through 0.150 plus a backport) that turns Codex into a controller for many concurrent agent tasks: an interactive codex agents dashboard, codex queue for messaging local or remote sessions, and @-mentions to read, create, and message tasks from the terminal. Alongside it: portable Agent Plugins with catalog search, opt-in MCP 2026-07-28 protocol, a built-in Amazon Bedrock provider with GPT-5.6 routing, scriptable and Interrupt hooks, and session export, fork, and archive. A new workload-identity and federation surface forms underneath.

v0.146.0 — August 3, 2026#

Thread fork/pin/name · Agent Plugin marketplaces · Code Mode over WebSocket

Codex CLI v0.146.0 is the first release tracked since the 0.144.3 baseline. It makes conversations first-class threads you can name with /new or /clear, pin, and fork with full paginated history, building on the experimental thread history, resume, and memories added in 0.145.0. Agent Plugins gain manifests, workspace publishing, and marketplaces for Amazon Bedrock and Claude Code, while 0.145.0's /import pulls settings, MCP servers, plugins, and memories out of Cursor and Claude Code. The app-server now connects to remote Code Mode hosts over WebSocket, standalone web search opens to custom providers, and reliability work honors proxies across every network path.

v0.144.3 — July 14, 2026#

178 env vars · 40 model IDs · baseline snapshot

The first tracked Codex CLI version, read from OpenAI's Rust source at tag rust-v0.144.3. 178 env vars and 40 model-ID strings cluster around sandboxing, a credential-brokering network proxy, cloud execution, and an app marketplace. The reference every later post diffs against.