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Codex did not complete the task assigned but acted as if it did #35035

Description

@borbert

What version of Codex CLI is running?

v0.145.0

What subscription do you have?

Pro

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.6-sol

What platform is your computer?

Linux 7.1.4-arch1-1 x86_64 unknown

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

Ghostty

Codex doctor report

codex doctor --json
{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "generatedAt": "1784849127s since unix epoch",
  "overallStatus": "ok",
  "codexVersion": "0.145.0",
  "checks": {
    "app_server.status": {
      "id": "app_server.status",
      "category": "app-server",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "background server is not running",
      "details": {
        "control socket": "/home/bob/.codex/app-server-control/app-server-control.sock",
        "daemon state dir": "/home/bob/.codex/app-server-daemon",
        "mode": "ephemeral",
        "pid file": "/home/bob/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server.pid (missing)",
        "settings": "/home/bob/.codex/app-server-daemon/settings.json (missing)",
        "status": "not running",
        "update-loop pid file": "/home/bob/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server-updater.pid (missing)"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "auth.credentials": {
      "id": "auth.credentials",
      "category": "auth",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "auth is configured",
      "details": {
        "auth file": "/home/bob/.codex/auth.json",
        "auth storage mode": "File",
        "stored API key": "false",
        "stored ChatGPT tokens": "true",
        "stored agent identity": "false",
        "stored auth mode": "chatgpt"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "config.load": {
      "id": "config.load",
      "category": "config",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "config loaded",
      "details": {
        "CODEX_HOME": "/home/bob/.codex",
        "config.toml": "/home/bob/.codex/config.toml",
        "config.toml parse": "ok",
        "cwd": "/home/bob/dev/rustycode",
        "enabled feature flags": "shell_tool, unified_exec, shell_snapshot, code_mode_host, terminal_resize_reflow, sqlite, hooks, enable_request_compression, multi_agent, apps, tool_search_always_defer_mcp_tools, tool_suggest, plugins, in_app_browser, browser_use, browser_use_full_cdp_access, browser_use_external, computer_use, remote_plugin, plugin_sharing, image_generation, resize_all_images, skill_mcp_dependency_install, skill_search, mentions_v2, steer, guardian_approval, goals, collaboration_modes, tool_call_mcp_elicitation, auth_elicitation, personality, fast_mode, tui_app_server, remote_compaction_v2, workspace_dependencies",
        "feature flag overrides": "none",
        "feature flags enabled": "36",
        "log dir": "/home/bob/.codex/log",
        "mcp servers": "1",
        "model": "gpt-5.6-sol",
        "model provider": "headroom",
        "sqlite home": "/home/bob/.codex"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "git.environment": {
      "id": "git.environment",
      "category": "git",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "git version 2.55.0",
      "details": {
        "PATH git #1": "/usr/bin/git",
        "PATH git entries": "1",
        "git build options": "git version 2.55.0; cpu: x86_64; built from commit: e9019fcafe0040228b8631c30f97ae1adb61bcdc; sizeof-long: 8; sizeof-size_t: 8; shell-path: /bin/sh; rust: enabled; feature: fsmonitor--daemon; gettext: enabled; libcurl: 8.21.0; OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.6.3 9 Jun 2026; zlib-ng: 2.3.3; SHA-1: SHA1_DC; SHA-256: SHA256_BLK; default-ref-format: files; default-hash: sha1",
        "git exec path": "/usr/lib/git-core",
        "git version": "git version 2.55.0",
        "repo detected": "false",
        "selected git": "/usr/bin/git"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 6
    },
    "installation": {
      "id": "installation",
      "category": "install",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "installation looks consistent",
      "details": {
        "PATH codex #1": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #2": "/home/bob/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #3": "/home/bob/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex #4": "/home/bob/.local/bin/codex",
        "PATH codex entries": "4",
        "current executable": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
        "install context": "npm (package /home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
        "managed by bun": "false",
        "managed by npm": "true",
        "managed by pnpm": "false",
        "managed package root": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex",
        "npm update target": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 39
    },
    "mcp.config": {
      "id": "mcp.config",
      "category": "mcp",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "MCP configuration is locally consistent",
      "details": {
        "configured servers": "1",
        "disabled servers": "0",
        "stdio servers": "1"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "network.env": {
      "id": "network.env",
      "category": "network",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "network-related environment looks readable",
      "details": {
        "proxy env vars": "none"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "network.provider_reachability": {
      "id": "network.provider_reachability",
      "category": "reachability",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "active provider endpoints are reachable over HTTP",
      "details": {
        "ChatGPT base URL": "https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/ reachable (HTTP 403)",
        "reachability mode": "ChatGPT auth"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 166
    },
    "network.websocket_reachability": {
      "id": "network.websocket_reachability",
      "category": "websocket",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "Responses WebSocket handshake succeeded",
      "details": {
        "DNS": "1 IPv4, 0 IPv6, first IPv4",
        "auth mode": "chatgpt",
        "connect timeout": "15000 ms",
        "endpoint": "ws://127.0.0.1:8787/v1/<redacted>",
        "handshake result": "HTTP 101 Switching Protocols",
        "model provider": "headroom",
        "models etag present": "false",
        "provider name": "Headroom init proxy",
        "proxy env vars": "none",
        "reasoning header": "false",
        "server model present": "false",
        "supports websockets": "true",
        "wire API": "responses"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 895
    },
    "runtime.provenance": {
      "id": "runtime.provenance",
      "category": "runtime",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "running npm on linux-x86_64",
      "details": {
        "commit": "unknown",
        "current executable": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
        "install method": "npm (package /home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
        "platform": "linux-x86_64",
        "version": "0.145.0"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "runtime.search": {
      "id": "runtime.search",
      "category": "search",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "search is OK (bundled)",
      "details": {
        "search command": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path/rg",
        "search command readiness": "file exists",
        "search provider": "bundled"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "sandbox.helpers": {
      "id": "sandbox.helpers",
      "category": "sandbox",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "sandbox configuration is readable",
      "details": {
        "approval policy": "OnRequest",
        "codex-linux-sandbox helper": "/home/bob/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0KcDIj5/codex-linux-sandbox",
        "execve wrapper helper": "/home/bob/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0KcDIj5/codex-execve-wrapper",
        "filesystem sandbox": "restricted",
        "network sandbox": "restricted"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "state.paths": {
      "id": "state.paths",
      "category": "state",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "state paths and databases are inspectable",
      "details": {
        "CODEX_HOME": "/home/bob/.codex (dir)",
        "active rollout files": "50 files, 27738350 total bytes, 554767 average bytes",
        "archived rollout files": "0 files, 0 total bytes, 0 average bytes",
        "goals DB": "/home/bob/.codex/goals_1.sqlite (file)",
        "goals DB integrity": "ok",
        "log DB": "/home/bob/.codex/logs_2.sqlite (file)",
        "log DB integrity": "ok",
        "log dir": "/home/bob/.codex/log (dir)",
        "memories DB": "/home/bob/.codex/memories_1.sqlite (file)",
        "memories DB integrity": "ok",
        "sqlite home": "/home/bob/.codex (dir)",
        "state DB": "/home/bob/.codex/state_5.sqlite (file)",
        "state DB integrity": "ok",
        "thread history DB": "/home/bob/.codex/thread_history_1.sqlite (missing)",
        "thread history DB integrity": "skipped (missing)"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 49
    },
    "state.rollout_db_parity": {
      "id": "state.rollout_db_parity",
      "category": "threads",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "rollout files and state DB thread inventory agree",
      "details": {
        "default model provider": "headroom",
        "rollout DB active files": "50",
        "rollout DB active rows": "50",
        "rollout DB archive mismatches": "0",
        "rollout DB archived files": "0",
        "rollout DB archived rows": "0",
        "rollout DB duplicate DB paths": "0",
        "rollout DB duplicate rollout thread ids": "0",
        "rollout DB malformed file names": "0",
        "rollout DB missing active rows": "0",
        "rollout DB missing archived rows": "0",
        "rollout DB model providers": "headroom=32, openai=18",
        "rollout DB rows": "50",
        "rollout DB scan cap reached": "false",
        "rollout DB scan errors": "0",
        "rollout DB sources": "cli=31, exec=19",
        "rollout DB stale rows": "0"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 13
    },
    "system.environment": {
      "id": "system.environment",
      "category": "system",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "OS language en-US",
      "details": {
        "EDITOR": "set",
        "LANG": "en_US.UTF-8",
        "VISUAL": "not set",
        "os": "Arch Linux [64-bit]",
        "os language": "en-US",
        "os type": "Arch Linux",
        "os version": "Unknown"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "terminal.env": {
      "id": "terminal.env",
      "category": "terminal",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "terminal metadata was detected",
      "details": {
        "COLORTERM": "truecolor",
        "DISPLAY": "present",
        "TERMINFO": "/usr/share/terminfo (dir)",
        "TERM_PROGRAM": "ghostty",
        "WAYLAND_DISPLAY": "present",
        "color output": "enabled",
        "effective locale": "en_US.UTF-8",
        "stderr is terminal": "true",
        "stdin is terminal": "true",
        "stdout is terminal": "true",
        "terminal": "Ghostty",
        "terminal size": "174x84",
        "terminal version": "1.3.1-arch2"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "terminal.title": {
      "id": "terminal.title",
      "category": "title",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "terminal title default",
      "details": {
        "terminal title activity": "true",
        "terminal title items": "activity, project-name",
        "terminal title project source": "cwd",
        "terminal title project value": "rustycode",
        "terminal title source": "default"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "updates.status": {
      "id": "updates.status",
      "category": "updates",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "update configuration is locally consistent",
      "details": {
        "cached latest version": "0.145.0",
        "check for update on startup": "true",
        "last checked at": "2026-07-23T20:12:33.134056066Z",
        "latest version": "0.145.0",
        "latest version status": "current version is not older",
        "npm update target": "/home/bob/.local/share/mise/installs/node/25.2.1/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex",
        "update action": "npm install -g @openai/codex",
        "version cache": "/home/bob/.codex/version.json"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 429
    }
  }
}

What issue are you seeing?

I asked Codex to build a wrapper around other agent harnesses and it acted as if it did. Upon further troubleshooting and prodding the model it admitted that it had not. It was just regurgitating the codex documentation back to me and did not wrap any other harness.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Uploaded thread: 019f90af-890c-7a60-b531-368d02c55289

What is the expected behavior?

I expected it to ask a few questions clarify the context of the ask and start finding information on the internet to formulate its plan. Instead it used a skill on my computer for Rust and then built a toy POC that did not fulfill the ask at all.

Additional information

No response

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