What version of Codex CLI is running?
codex-cli 0.144.3
What subscription do you have?
Paid ChatGPT-authenticated Codex subscription. Exact tier is redacted for privacy because the catalog/runtime regression is not account-specific.
Which model were you using?
gpt-5.6-sol
What platform is your computer?
Linux x86_64. Exact host and kernel details are redacted because they are unrelated to server-delivered model metadata.
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
Codex desktop/CLI environment. Local application and project identifiers are redacted.
Codex doctor report
Not included to avoid publishing machine, account, path, repository, and runtime metadata. The relevant sanitized version, model-catalog fields, and runtime values are included below.
What issue are you seeing?
Summary
Codex has silently reduced the usable context window for gpt-5.6-sol again.
The previous server-delivered Codex model catalog exposed:
{
"context_window": 372000,
"max_context_window": 372000,
"effective_context_window_percent": 95
}
That produced a 353,400-token effective runtime window:
The current freshly fetched catalog now exposes:
{
"context_window": 272000,
"max_context_window": 272000,
"effective_context_window_percent": 95
}
Codex therefore now reports only 258,400 effective tokens:
This is a further 95,000-token / 26.9% reduction from the already restricted 353.4K Codex window. It is not UI rounding. Sanitized historical runtime records repeatedly report model_context_window: 353400 before the rollout and model_context_window: 258400 afterward. No local model_context_window or auto-compaction override is configured.
Issue #31860 already documented that the earlier 353.4K Codex cap was far below the published GPT-5.6 Sol model specification. This report covers the new and materially worse regression from 353.4K to 258.4K.
The official GPT-5.6 Sol model page still advertises:
- 1,050,000-token context window
- 922,000 maximum input
- 128,000 maximum output
Source: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/gpt-5.6-sol
At the same 95% effective-window policy, the advertised model would provide approximately 997,500 usable tokens. Codex now exposes only 258,400, or 25.9% of that comparable effective capacity.
Why this is unacceptable
This combination is infuriating: OpenAI advertises a 1.05M flagship model, initially restricts it to 353K in Codex, and then silently cuts it again to 258K. Paying users are left with more compactions, lost working context, disrupted long-running tasks, and no advance notice or explanation.
This feels dismissive of paying users and materially undermines trust in Codex as a professional development tool. Repository-scale analysis, long-running implementation work, multi-agent coordination, large specifications, and tool-heavy sessions all depend on stable context capacity. Context size is not a cosmetic setting that can be silently reduced by another 26.9%.
The pricing situation makes this even more frustrating. The same official model page states that requests above 272K input are priced at 2× input and 1.5× output for the full request. Codex now caps the raw window at exactly 272K, so users cannot even choose to access the published long-context tier through Codex.
To be precise: this report concerns the Codex product limit under ChatGPT authentication. The pricing comparison refers to OpenAI's published API long-context policy; it demonstrates that long-context capacity exists and is explicitly priced, while Codex prevents access to it.
Major competing platforms already offer 1M-class context:
A flagship coding product limited to 258K effective context is no longer competitive, especially when its underlying OpenAI model is publicly specified at 1.05M.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Run Codex CLI
0.144.3 with the official OpenAI provider and ChatGPT authentication.
- Select
gpt-5.6-sol.
- Ensure there is no local
model_context_window, model_auto_compact_token_limit, provider, or project override.
- Fetch or refresh the server-delivered model catalog.
- Inspect the sanitized
gpt-5.6-sol catalog entry.
- Observe
context_window: 272000, max_context_window: 272000, and effective_context_window_percent: 95.
- Start or continue a thread and inspect token-usage metadata.
- Observe
model_context_window: 258400.
- Compare with earlier sanitized GPT-5.6 Sol thread records, which report
model_context_window: 353400.
The transition was observed on 2026-07-13. Old and new values briefly overlapped across existing and newly started threads, consistent with a phased or cached server-side catalog rollout.
What is the expected behavior?
- Codex should expose the full published 1.05M GPT-5.6 Sol context window, with a clear effective input/output reserve.
- If a product-specific cap is unavoidable, it must be prominently documented before users select the model.
- Context limits must not be silently reduced for existing or new paid-user workflows.
- Active threads should retain the context contract under which they were started.
- Users should be allowed to opt into the published long-context tier when they accept the associated usage or pricing impact.
- As an immediate stopgap, restore the previous 372K raw / 353.4K effective Codex limit while full 1.05M support is implemented.
- OpenAI should explain why the context was reduced, whether the change is temporary, which plans/surfaces are affected, and how usage accounting interacts with this cap.
Additional information
Related reports:
Privacy note: this report intentionally excludes account identifiers, thread IDs, repository names, local paths, prompts, transcripts, and exact machine metadata. Only model metadata and aggregate context-window observations required to reproduce the regression are included.
What version of Codex CLI is running?
codex-cli 0.144.3What subscription do you have?
Paid ChatGPT-authenticated Codex subscription. Exact tier is redacted for privacy because the catalog/runtime regression is not account-specific.
Which model were you using?
gpt-5.6-solWhat platform is your computer?
Linux x86_64. Exact host and kernel details are redacted because they are unrelated to server-delivered model metadata.
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
Codex desktop/CLI environment. Local application and project identifiers are redacted.
Codex doctor report
Not included to avoid publishing machine, account, path, repository, and runtime metadata. The relevant sanitized version, model-catalog fields, and runtime values are included below.
What issue are you seeing?
Summary
Codex has silently reduced the usable context window for
gpt-5.6-solagain.The previous server-delivered Codex model catalog exposed:
{ "context_window": 372000, "max_context_window": 372000, "effective_context_window_percent": 95 }That produced a
353,400-token effective runtime window:The current freshly fetched catalog now exposes:
{ "context_window": 272000, "max_context_window": 272000, "effective_context_window_percent": 95 }Codex therefore now reports only
258,400effective tokens:This is a further 95,000-token / 26.9% reduction from the already restricted 353.4K Codex window. It is not UI rounding. Sanitized historical runtime records repeatedly report
model_context_window: 353400before the rollout andmodel_context_window: 258400afterward. No localmodel_context_windowor auto-compaction override is configured.Issue #31860 already documented that the earlier 353.4K Codex cap was far below the published GPT-5.6 Sol model specification. This report covers the new and materially worse regression from 353.4K to 258.4K.
The official GPT-5.6 Sol model page still advertises:
Source: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/gpt-5.6-sol
At the same 95% effective-window policy, the advertised model would provide approximately
997,500usable tokens. Codex now exposes only258,400, or 25.9% of that comparable effective capacity.Why this is unacceptable
This combination is infuriating: OpenAI advertises a 1.05M flagship model, initially restricts it to 353K in Codex, and then silently cuts it again to 258K. Paying users are left with more compactions, lost working context, disrupted long-running tasks, and no advance notice or explanation.
This feels dismissive of paying users and materially undermines trust in Codex as a professional development tool. Repository-scale analysis, long-running implementation work, multi-agent coordination, large specifications, and tool-heavy sessions all depend on stable context capacity. Context size is not a cosmetic setting that can be silently reduced by another 26.9%.
The pricing situation makes this even more frustrating. The same official model page states that requests above 272K input are priced at
2×input and1.5×output for the full request. Codex now caps the raw window at exactly 272K, so users cannot even choose to access the published long-context tier through Codex.To be precise: this report concerns the Codex product limit under ChatGPT authentication. The pricing comparison refers to OpenAI's published API long-context policy; it demonstrates that long-context capacity exists and is explicitly priced, while Codex prevents access to it.
Major competing platforms already offer 1M-class context:
A flagship coding product limited to 258K effective context is no longer competitive, especially when its underlying OpenAI model is publicly specified at 1.05M.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
0.144.3with the official OpenAI provider and ChatGPT authentication.gpt-5.6-sol.model_context_window,model_auto_compact_token_limit, provider, or project override.gpt-5.6-solcatalog entry.context_window: 272000,max_context_window: 272000, andeffective_context_window_percent: 95.model_context_window: 258400.model_context_window: 353400.The transition was observed on 2026-07-13. Old and new values briefly overlapped across existing and newly started threads, consistent with a phased or cached server-side catalog rollout.
What is the expected behavior?
Additional information
Related reports:
Privacy note: this report intentionally excludes account identifiers, thread IDs, repository names, local paths, prompts, transcripts, and exact machine metadata. Only model metadata and aggregate context-window observations required to reproduce the regression are included.