Slash commands fail when input is long and pasted (Codex CLI replaces input with “[Pasted Content XXX chars]” and Speckit workflows stop executing)

[wurucu]

What version of Codex is running?

codex-cli 0.61.0

What subscription do you have?

Pro

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.1-codex-max high

What platform is your computer?

Linux 5.15.167.4-microsoft-standard-WSL2 x86_64 x86_64

What issue are you seeing?

When running slash commands such as:

/prompts:speckit.specify
<pasted long content>

or:

/prompts:speckit.clarify "<pasted long content>"

Codex CLI collapses the pasted input in the UI to something like:

/prompts:speckit.specify [Pasted Content 2419 chars]

This appears to be a UI convenience, but in practice it changes the actual behavior of slash commands:

• Speckit does NOT run.
• Speckit’s system prompt does not appear.
• .specify/scripts/bash/check-prerequisites.sh is never executed.
• No feature directory is created.
• No spec.md, plan.md, or tasks.md files are written.
• The slash command behaves like a plain user message.

When the same slash command is typed manually (with short text), Speckit works correctly:

• System prompt appears,
• Scripts run,
• Feature directory created,
• spec.md written.

This indicates that Codex CLI’s “pasted content collapsing” is interfering with the actual payload forwarded to slash-command handlers.

---

Example Behavior

Broken Case (long pasted content)

Command:
(prompts:speckit.specify with ~2000–3000 chars of pasted input)

CLI shows:
/prompts:speckit.specify [Pasted Content XXXX chars]

Observed:

• No Speckit system prompt
• No prerequisite script execution
• No feature directory created
• No files written
• Plain LLM text response only

Working Case (short/manual input)

Command:

/prompts:speckit.specify "auth system with login + register"

Observed:

• Speckit system prompt appears
• check-prerequisites.sh runs
• A directory such as specs/001-auth-login-register/ is created
• spec.md is correctly written

The only difference is: long pasted content → CLI collapses input → slash command fails.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Initialize a Speckit-enabled repo (specify init).
2. Create a feature branch:
   git checkout -b 001-auth-foundations
3. In Codex CLI, run:

  /prompts:speckit.specify
  <PASTE ~1500–3000 chars of text>

4. CLI displays:

   /prompts:speckit.specify [Pasted Content N chars]

5. Observe:
   • Speckit system prompt does not appear
   • No prerequisites script runs
   • No files written
   • No feature directory created
6. Repeat with a short manual input:

   /prompts:speckit.specify "short text"

7. This time, everything works correctly.

The behavior is fully reproducible.

What is the expected behavior?

Even if the CLI UI chooses to visually collapse pasted input into:

[Pasted Content N chars]

the underlying behavior should remain unchanged:

• The full pasted content should be sent to the slash-command router.
• Speckit workflows should still execute normally.
• Prerequisite scripts should run.
• Feature directories/spec.md/plan.md/tasks.md should be generated exactly as with manually typed input.

The visual collapsing should NOT interfere with the actual prompt data or slash-command execution.

Additional information

• The issue affects multiple Speckit slash commands: specify, clarify, plan, tasks.
• The failure happens ONLY when Codex CLI shows “[Pasted Content ...]”.
• Long pasted prompts are normal for Spec-Kit workflows (feature specs, plans).
• Workaround is to manually type a short description for the slash command, then send details in follow-up messages.
• I can provide sample repo, session logs, or long-prompt examples if needed.

[github-actions]

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

• Custom prompts fail when using $arguments with truncated clipboard input #7047

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