Codex Explorer

Codex Explorer is a local Codex session manager. The cx command indexes ~/.codex/sessions/**/*.jsonl so you can search, preview, and resume old Codex sessions without remembering the exact date.

Codex Explorer is early, work-in-progress software. It is useful today, but the data model and interface are still evolving.

Codex Explorer is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by OpenAI.

Requirements

• Rust and Cargo
• The Codex CLI available as codex on your PATH for cx resume
• A terminal with TUI support

Install

From this checkout:

cargo install --path . --locked

Cargo installs the cx binary into ~/.cargo/bin. Make sure that directory is on your PATH, then verify the installed command:

cx --version

To reinstall from a newer checkout:

cargo install --path . --locked --force

From GitHub:

cargo install --git https://github.com/Tobiadefami/codex-explorer --locked

Commands

cx
cx reindex
cx list
cx search "turnstile worker"
cx show <session-id>
cx resume <session-id>

Run cx without a command to open the terminal session browser. The browser opens immediately with cached sessions and refreshes the index in the background.

TUI keys:

• type to search
• Backspace edits search
• Up/Down moves selection
• a shows all projects
• p returns to the current directory
• PgUp/PgDn scrolls the preview
• Enter resumes the selected session
• Esc quits
• q quits when the search box is empty

Local Data

cx stores its search index in your platform data directory under cx/index.sqlite. On Linux this is typically ~/.local/share/cx/index.sqlite.

The index is local SQLite data. It contains session metadata, source file paths, titles, searchable text, and full user/assistant message text so cx show, search, and previews work without reparsing every JSONL file each time. Treat this index as private local data, because Codex sessions may contain prompts, code, file paths, command output, and other sensitive project context. Use --db <PATH> to write the index somewhere else.

cx reads Codex session files from ~/.codex/sessions by default. Use --sessions-dir <PATH> to index a different directory.

Development

Run tests:

cargo test

Run the full local check before opening a pull request:

cargo fmt --check
cargo test
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo package --allow-dirty --no-verify --offline

Run against fixture data:

cargo run -- --db /tmp/cx.sqlite --sessions-dir tests/fixtures reindex
cargo run -- --db /tmp/cx.sqlite search turnstile

License

MIT