[codex] Use background agent task auth for backend calls by adrian-openai · Pull Request #18094 · openai/codex

adrian-openai · 2026-04-16T06:30:39Z

Summary

Introduces a single background/control-plane agent task for ChatGPT backend requests that do not have a thread-scoped task, with AuthManager owning the default ChatGPT backend authorization decision.

Callers now ask AuthManager for the default ChatGPT backend authorization header. AuthManager decides whether that is bearer or background AgentAssertion based on config/internal state, while low-level bootstrap paths can explicitly request bearer-only auth.

This PR is stacked on PR4 and focuses on the shared background task auth plumbing plus the first tranche of backend/control-plane consumers. The remaining callsite wiring is split into PR4.2 to keep review size down.

Stack

PR1: Add use_agent_identity feature flag #17385 - add features.use_agent_identity
PR2: Register agent identities behind use_agent_identity #17386 - register agent identities when enabled
PR3: Register agent tasks behind use_agent_identity #17387 - register agent tasks when enabled
PR3.1: Persist and prewarm agent tasks per thread #17978 - persist and prewarm registered tasks per thread
PR4: [codex] Use AgentAssertion downstream behind use_agent_identity #17980 - use task-scoped AgentAssertion for downstream calls
PR4.1: this PR - introduce AuthManager-owned background/control-plane AgentAssertion auth
PR4.2: [codex] Use background task auth for additional backend calls #18260 - use background task auth for additional backend/control-plane calls

What Changed

add background task registration and assertion minting inside codex-login
persist agent_identity.background_task_id separately from per-session task state
make BackgroundAgentTaskManager private to codex-login; call sites do not instantiate or pass it around
teach AuthManager the ChatGPT backend base URL and feature-derived background auth mode from resolved config
expose bearer-only helpers for bootstrap/registration/refresh-style paths that must not use AgentAssertion
wire AuthManager default ChatGPT authorization through app listing, connector directory listing, remote plugins, MCP status/listing, analytics, and core-skills remote calls
preserve bearer fallback when the feature is disabled, the backend host is unsupported, or background task registration is not available

Validation

just fmt
cargo check -p codex-core -p codex-login -p codex-analytics -p codex-app-server -p codex-cloud-requirements -p codex-cloud-tasks -p codex-models-manager -p codex-chatgpt -p codex-model-provider -p codex-mcp -p codex-core-skills
cargo test -p codex-login agent_identity
cargo test -p codex-model-provider bearer_auth_provider
cargo test -p codex-core agent_assertion
cargo test -p codex-app-server remote_control
cargo test -p codex-cloud-requirements fetch_cloud_requirements
cargo test -p codex-models-manager manager::tests
cargo test -p codex-chatgpt
cargo test -p codex-cloud-tasks
just fix -p codex-core -p codex-login -p codex-analytics -p codex-app-server -p codex-cloud-requirements -p codex-cloud-tasks -p codex-models-manager -p codex-chatgpt -p codex-model-provider -p codex-mcp -p codex-core-skills
just fix -p codex-app-server
git diff --check

shijie-oai · 2026-04-17T20:45:03Z

+    config: &McpConfig,
+) -> HashMap<String, McpServerConfig> {
+    with_codex_apps_mcp_with_authorization_header(
+        servers, auth, config, /*authorization_header_value*/ None,


it is on purpose to be none atm?

Yes, this is intentional. with_codex_apps_mcp is the legacy/default wrapper. Passing None means “no explicit authorization header override,” and then the helper falls back to the old bearer-token behavior.

The new AgentAssertion-aware path is with_codex_apps_mcp_with_authorization_header(...), where callers pass the background authorization header after applying the feature gate. I also checked workspace call sites: the old with_codex_apps_mcp(...) wrapper is basically just the compatibility/default path plus tests; the product paths that need background auth are using the new _with_authorization_header form.

shijie-oai

Overall it is fine but I wonder do non inference related request need to enforce task_id check? Or we are enforcing it for all requests to chatgpt? Just want to understand better cause we are covering a lot of items here.

shijie-oai · 2026-04-17T21:04:53Z

+const AGENT_IDENTITY_BISCUIT_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(15);
+
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct BackgroundAgentTaskManager {


Funky idea: (probably not great and break existing paradigm) why can we not just get a generic task id back when an agent identity is created for doing work outside of inferencing?

Discussed offline - best solution is to eventually move to a scope-based, inference can only be called with a task, and control plane calls can be made just by the agent identity itself, but until then, background task it is!

shijie-oai · 2026-04-17T21:05:48Z

+    #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+    pub background_task_id: Option<String>,


This looks longer living than a task id for a session?

Yep! This is the background/control-plane task id for calls that do not naturally belong to a live Codex thread: models manager, cloud tasks, connectors, MCP app setup, etc. It is stored in auth.json alongside the persisted agent identity so those background calls can use AgentAssertion auth without needing a session rollout item.

## Summary This is the AgentAssertion downstream slice for feature-gated agent identity support, replacing the oversized AgentAssertion slice from PR #17807. It isolates task-scoped downstream AgentAssertion wiring on top of the merged PR3.1 work without re-carrying the earlier agent registration, task registration, or task-state history. This PR includes the task-scoped bug-fix call sites from the review: generic file upload auth, MCP OpenAI file upload auth, and ARC monitor auth. Broader user/control-plane calls move to PR4.1 and PR4.2. ## Stack - PR1: #17385 - add `features.use_agent_identity` - PR2: #17386 - register agent identities when enabled - PR3: #17387 - register agent tasks when enabled - PR3.1: #17978 - persist and prewarm registered tasks per thread - PR4: this PR - use task-scoped `AgentAssertion` downstream when enabled - PR4.1: #18094 - introduce AuthManager-owned background/control-plane `AgentAssertion` auth - PR4.2: #18260 - use background task auth for additional backend/control-plane calls ## What Changed - add AgentAssertion envelope generation in `codex-core` - route downstream HTTP and websocket auth through AgentAssertion when an agent task is present - extend the model-provider auth provider so non-bearer authorization schemes can be passed through cleanly - make generic file uploads attach the full authorization header value - make MCP OpenAI file uploads use the cached thread agent task assertion when present - make ARC monitor calls use the cached thread agent task assertion when present ## Why The original PR had drifted ancestry and showed a much larger diff than the semantic change actually required. Restacking it onto PR3.1 keeps the reviewable surface down to the downstream assertion slice. ## Validation - `just fmt` - `cargo check -p codex-core -p codex-login -p codex-analytics -p codex-app-server -p codex-cloud-requirements -p codex-cloud-tasks -p codex-models-manager -p codex-chatgpt -p codex-model-provider -p codex-mcp -p codex-core-skills` - `cargo test -p codex-model-provider bearer_auth_provider` - `cargo test -p codex-core agent_assertion` - `cargo test -p codex-app-server remote_control` - `cargo test -p codex-cloud-requirements fetch_cloud_requirements` - `cargo test -p codex-models-manager manager::tests` - `cargo test -p codex-chatgpt` - `cargo test -p codex-cloud-tasks` - `cargo test -p codex-login agent_identity` - `just fix -p codex-core -p codex-login -p codex-analytics -p codex-app-server -p codex-cloud-requirements -p codex-cloud-tasks -p codex-models-manager -p codex-chatgpt -p codex-model-provider -p codex-mcp -p codex-core-skills` - `just fix -p codex-app-server` - `git diff --check`

This was referenced Apr 16, 2026

[codex] Use AgentAssertion downstream behind use_agent_identity #17980

Merged

Persist and prewarm agent tasks per thread #17978

Merged

adrian-openai marked this pull request as ready for review April 16, 2026 17:36

adrian-openai mentioned this pull request Apr 17, 2026

[codex] Use background task auth for additional backend calls #18260

Merged

shijie-oai reviewed Apr 17, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread codex-rs/core/src/agent_identity.rs

shijie-oai reviewed Apr 17, 2026

View reviewed changes

adrian-openai requested review from efrazer-oai and nicksteele-oai April 17, 2026 22:46

shijie-oai approved these changes Apr 19, 2026

View reviewed changes

adrian-openai force-pushed the dev/adrian/codex/agent-identity-use-assertion-split branch from c72faed to 68a45b4 Compare April 20, 2026 00:37

adrian-openai force-pushed the dev/adrian/codex/agent-identity-background-task branch 2 times, most recently from 40b89e8 to 42f625d Compare April 20, 2026 01:01

adrian-openai force-pushed the dev/adrian/codex/agent-identity-use-assertion-split branch from 68a45b4 to c6d377f Compare April 20, 2026 01:10

adrian-openai force-pushed the dev/adrian/codex/agent-identity-background-task branch 2 times, most recently from a722d39 to 72acf86 Compare April 20, 2026 03:30

adrian-openai force-pushed the dev/adrian/codex/agent-identity-use-assertion-split branch from 2d2fd76 to 044222d Compare April 20, 2026 05:17

adrian-openai force-pushed the dev/adrian/codex/agent-identity-background-task branch from 72acf86 to 797959a Compare April 20, 2026 05:18

Base automatically changed from dev/adrian/codex/agent-identity-use-assertion-split to main April 20, 2026 06:16

adrian-openai added 4 commits April 19, 2026 23:18

Use background task auth for backend calls

21257fe

Preserve FedRAMP routing for background requests

1cba60b

Use AuthManager auth for startup MCP servers

e0f72d1

Update assertion test record for background task field

44c3502

adrian-openai force-pushed the dev/adrian/codex/agent-identity-background-task branch from 797959a to 44c3502 Compare April 20, 2026 06:19

adrian-openai merged commit 904c751 into main Apr 20, 2026
25 checks passed

adrian-openai deleted the dev/adrian/codex/agent-identity-background-task branch April 20, 2026 13:50

github-actions Bot locked and limited conversation to collaborators Apr 20, 2026

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

[codex] Use background agent task auth for backend calls#18094

[codex] Use background agent task auth for backend calls#18094
adrian-openai merged 4 commits intomainfrom
dev/adrian/codex/agent-identity-background-task

adrian-openai commented Apr 16, 2026 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

shijie-oai Apr 17, 2026

Uh oh!

adrian-openai Apr 17, 2026

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

shijie-oai left a comment

Uh oh!

shijie-oai Apr 17, 2026

Uh oh!

adrian-openai Apr 17, 2026

Uh oh!

shijie-oai Apr 17, 2026

Uh oh!

adrian-openai Apr 17, 2026

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

2 participants

		#[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
		pub background_task_id: Option<String>,

Conversation

adrian-openai commented Apr 16, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Summary

Stack

What Changed

Validation

Uh oh!

shijie-oai Apr 17, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

adrian-openai Apr 17, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

shijie-oai left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

shijie-oai Apr 17, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

adrian-openai Apr 17, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

shijie-oai Apr 17, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

adrian-openai Apr 17, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

2 participants

adrian-openai commented Apr 16, 2026 •

edited

Loading