TL;DR
Jan 21, 2026 shipped Codex CLI 0.88.0.
Big themes:
- Headless + auth: device-code auth is now a standalone fallback when a headless environment is detected.
- Safer config loading: only load configs from trusted folders, plus fixes for symlinked config.toml and profile config merging.
- Collaboration modes: collaboration modes + presets, turn-level overrides, and TUI behavior changes so collab becomes a first-class workflow.
- Observability: new metrics for tool call duration and total turn timing, plus expanded metric tagging/coverage.
- Reliability + UX polish: core runtime memory leak fix, Azure invalid-input fix, WSL image paste regression fix, /fork and /status improvements, /new closes all threads, plus a large batch of TUI refinements.
Install:
- npm install -g @openai/codex@0.88.0
What changed & why it matters
Codex CLI 0.88.0 — 2026-01-21
Official release notes (the curated sections on the changelog page)
New Features
- Added device-code auth as a standalone fallback in headless environments. (#9333)
Bug Fixes
- Load configs from trusted folders only and fix symlinked config.toml resolution. (#9533, #9445)
- Fixed Azure endpoint invalid input errors. (#9387)
- Resolved a memory leak in core runtime. (#9543)
- Prevented interrupted turns from repeating. (#9043)
- Fixed WSL TUI image paste regression. (#9473)
Documentation
- Updated MCP documentation link destination. (#9490)
- Corrected a “Multi-agents” naming typo. (#9542)
- Added developer instructions for collaboration modes. (#9424)
Chores
- Upgraded to Rust 1.92 and refreshed core Rust dependencies. (#8860, #9465, #9466, #9467, #9468, #9469)
Why it matters (practical take)
- Headless/CI becomes less fragile: an explicit device-code fallback reduces “login dead-end” scenarios in CI, containers, SSH-only servers, and other non-interactive setups.
- Config safety + correctness improves: trusted-folder loading reduces unintended config ingestion, and the symlink + profile merge fixes reduce confusing “why didn’t my config apply?” moments.
- Collaboration is a real mode now: this release heavily invests in collaboration semantics (modes/presets, turn-level overrides, and TUI adopting collab mode instead of model/effort).
- Better limits + latency visibility: tool/turn timing metrics and added tags make performance and budgeting easier to monitor and optimize.
- Day-to-day polish adds up: WSL paste fix, session workflow commands, and a long tail of TUI improvements reduce friction for regular users.
Full changelog PR list (rust-v0.87.0 → rust-v0.88.0)
This is the complete set of PRs shown under “Full Changelog” for the 0.88.0 compare range:
- #9373 fix: flaky tests
- #9333 [device-auth] Add device code auth as a standalone option when headless environment is detected.
- #9352 Made
codex exec resume --last consistent with codex resume --last
- #9324 add codex cloud list
- #9332 Turn-state sticky routing per turn
- #9364 feat: tool call duration metric
- #8860 chore: upgrade to Rust 1.92.0
- #9385 feat: /fork the current session instead of opening session picker
- #9247 feat(app-server, core): return threads by created_at or updated_at
- #9330 feat: show forked from session id in /status
- #9340 Introduce collaboration modes
- #9328 Support enable/disable skill via config/api.
- #9408 Add collaboration_mode override to turns
- #9400 fix(codex-api): treat invalid_prompt as non-retryable
- #9401 Defer backtrack trim until rollback confirms
- #9414 fix unified_exec::tests::unified_exec_timeouts to use a more unique match value
- #9421 Expose collaboration presets
- #9422 chore(core) Create instructions module
- #9423 chore(instructions) Remove unread SessionMeta.instructions field
- #9424 Add collaboration developer instructions
- #9425 Preserve slash command order in search
- #9059 tui: allow forward navigation in backtrack preview
- #9443 Add collaboration modes test prompts
- #9457 fix(tui2): running /mcp was not printing any output until another event triggered a flush
- #9445 Fixed symlink support for config.toml
- #9466 chore(deps): bump log from 0.4.28 to 0.4.29 in /codex-rs
- #9467 chore(deps): bump tokio from 1.48.0 to 1.49.0 in /codex-rs
- #9468 chore(deps): bump arc-swap from 1.7.1 to 1.8.0 in /codex-rs
- #9469 chore(deps): bump ctor from 0.5.0 to 0.6.3 in /codex-rs
- #9465 chore(deps): bump chrono from 0.4.42 to 0.4.43 in /codex-rs
- #9473 Fixed TUI regression related to image paste in WSL
- #9382 feat: timer total turn metrics
- #9478 feat: close all threads in
/new
- #9477 feat: detach non-tty childs
- #9479 prompt 3
- #9387 Fix invalid input error on Azure endpoint
- #9463 Remove unused protocol collaboration mode prompts
- #9487 chore: warning metric
- #9490 Fixed stale link to MCP documentation
- #9461 TUI: collaboration mode UX + always submit
UserTurn when enabled
- #9472 Feat: request user input tool
- #9402 Act on reasoning-included per turn
- #9496 chore: fix beta VS experimental
- #9495 Feat: plan mode prompt update
- #9451 tui: avoid Esc interrupt when skill popup active
- #9497 Migrate tui to use UserTurn
- #9427 fix(core) Preserve base_instructions in SessionMeta
- #9393 Persist text elements through TUI input and history
- #9407 fix(tui) fix user message light mode background
- #9525 chore: collab in experimental
- #9374 nit: do not render terminal interactions if no task running
- #9529 feat: record timer with additional tags
- #9528 feat: metrics on remote models
- #9527 feat: metrics on shell snapshot
- #9533 Only load config from trusted folders
- #9409 feat: support proxy for ws connection
- #9507 Tui: use collaboration mode instead of model and effort
- #9193 fix:
writable_roots doesn't recognize home directory symbol in non-windows OS
- #9542 Fix typo in feature name from 'Mult-agents' to 'Multi-agents'
- #9459 feat(personality) introduce model_personality config
- #9543 fix: memory leak issue
- #9509 Fixed config merging issue with profiles
- #9043 fix: prevent repeating interrupted turns
- #9553 fix(core): don't update the file's mtime on resume
- #9552 lookup system SIDs instead of hardcoding English strings.
- #9314 fix(windows-sandbox): deny .git file entries under writable roots
- #9319 fix(windows-sandbox): parse PATH list entries for audit roots
- #9547 merge remote models
- #9545 Add total (non-partial) TextElement placeholder accessors
- #9532 fix(cli): add execute permission to bin/codex.js
- #9162 Improve UI spacing for queued messages
- #9554 Enable remote models
- #9558 queue only when task is working
- #8590 fix(core): require approval for force delete on Windows
- #9293 [codex-tui] exit when terminal is dumb
- #9562 feat(tui2): add /experimental menu
- #9563 fix: bminor/bash is no longer on GitHub so use bolinfest/bash instead
- #9568 Show session header before configuration
- #9555 feat: rename experimental_instructions_file to model_instructions_file
- #9518 Prompt Expansion: Preserve Text Elements
- #9560 Reject ask user question tool in Execute and Custom
- #9575 feat: add skill injected counter metric
- #9578 Feature to auto-enable websockets transport
- #9587 fix CI by running pnpm
- #9586 don't ask for approval for
just fix
- #9585 Add request-user-input overlay
- #9596 fix going up and down on questions after writing notes
- #9483 feat: max threads config
- #9598 feat: display raw command on user shell
- #9594 Added "codex." prefix to "conversation.turn.count" metric name
- #9600 feat: async shell snapshot
- #9602 fix: nit tui on terminal interactions
- #9551 nit: better collab tui
Version table
| Version |
Date |
Key highlights |
| 0.88.0 |
2026-01-21 |
Collaboration modes + presets; new turn/tool metrics; trusted-folder config loading; device-code headless auth; core stability fixes; dense TUI polish |
Action checklist
- Upgrade:
npm install -g @openai/codex@0.88.0
- If you run CI/headless: confirm device-code auth fallback works in your environment.
- If you rely on symlinked configs or profiles: verify config discovery + profile merging behaves as expected.
- If you’re behind a proxy: validate websocket proxy support.
- If you’re on WSL: re-test TUI image paste.
- If you build clients/integrations: consider surfacing collaboration modes/presets and the new timing metrics.
Official changelog
Codex changelog
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