Codex 0.142.0: Precise budget controls, usage insights, and time-aware AI

Release notes

FEATURE

Precise budget controls, usage insights, and time-aware AI

The /usage command now doesn't just show stats, but lets you actively redeem your hard-earned usage-limit reset credits; we've also introduced configurable "token budgets" that track spending across agent threads, warn you when you're running low, and automatically hit the brakes if your budget runs out. When managing agents, you can now configure them to be fully disabled, explicit-request-only, or proactively helpful. Most interestingly, the system now has a sense of time: it can receive scheduled UTC reminders and proactively check the current time. Like hiring an accountant with a stopwatch: they help you cash in your discount vouchers, watch over every employee's expenses so you never go over budget, and actively remind you when it's time for a meeting.

FEATURE

Organized plugin catalogs, smarter installations, and indexed search

Finding tools and information is no longer like searching for a needle in a haystack. Running /plugins now neatly organizes remote plugins into "OpenAI Curated", "Workspace", and "Shared with me" sections, and the system will proactively recommend relevant plugins right in the middle of your conversation. Installing plugins is also much more robust: it gracefully handles weird marketplace layouts, manifest fallbacks, and download errors, making new tools available immediately after installation. We've also added an "indexed web-search" mode that lets the AI search the web live, while strictly restricting its direct page access to only server-approved safe URLs. Like visiting a newly renovated hardware store: all the tools are perfectly categorized, the clerk proactively hands you a wrench when they see you fixing a pipe; and if you need to look up a repair manual online, they'll search it for you while making sure never to accidentally click on sketchy websites.

BUGFIX

Perfect remote environment emulation and disconnect survival

Remote development is now just as seamless and secure as working locally. When running remotely, the system now perfectly preserves the host operating system's native path formats, shell environments, and security sandboxes; it even correctly discovers and reads AGENTS.md on the remote side. Even better, the underlying execution engine and tool connections (MCP) now have "nine lives": if your network drops unexpectedly, they can survive transient disconnects by refreshing signed URLs and safely retrying inputs to resume exactly where they left off. Like sending a remote-controlled rover to another planet: not only does it perfectly adapt to the local gravity and atmosphere, but if your communications link cuts out for a few seconds, it doesn't just crash. It patiently waits for you to reconnect and casually resumes its work.

FEATURE

Massive speedups and honest subagents

Parent agents (manager AIs) will no longer be fooled: if a subagent (employee AI) crashes or fails fatally, the manager now correctly receives an error report instead of a fake "successfully completed but empty" report. To make everything feel snappier, the system skips unnecessary network lookups at startup, warms up the model cache, parallelizes data reads, and stops spamming your hard drive with duplicate connection logs. If you suspend the UI in Linux using Ctrl+Z and resume with fg, the rendering will no longer break. Additionally, those missing "Goal-first" threads are finally being saved and returned in your history list correctly. Like catching that one lazy employee who always turned in blank sheets while claiming the work was done, while simultaneously optimizing the whole morning routine to cut commute and meeting times in half, and ensuring yesterday's paused projects are still right there when you return.

Original changelog

Original changelogPrecise budget controls, usage insights, and time-aware AI

`/usage` can now show and redeem earned usage-limit reset credits, with confirmation, retry, and refreshed availability states. (#28154, #28793)
Configurable rollout token budgets track usage across agent threads, provide remaining-budget reminders, and abort turns when exhausted. (#28746, #28494, #28707, #29423)
App-server clients can configure multi-agent delegation as disabled, explicit-request-only, or proactive at the thread and turn level. (#28685, #28792, #29324)
Codex can now receive scheduled UTC time reminders and query the current time directly, including through client-provided app-server clocks. (#28822, #28824, #28835, #29011)

Original changelogOrganized plugin catalogs, smarter installations, and indexed search

`/plugins` now organizes remote plugins into OpenAI Curated, Workspace, and Shared with me sections, while eligible turns can recommend and install relevant plugins. (#26703, #28399, #28400, #27704, #28403)
Added an indexed web-search mode that permits live searches while restricting direct page access to server-approved URLs. (#28489)
Plugin loading and installation now handle root marketplace layouts, manifest fallbacks, multiple skill paths, actionable download errors, and immediate tool refreshes. (#28771, #28789, #28790, #28863, #28951)

Original changelogPerfect remote environment emulation and disconnect survival

Exec-server processes and stdio MCP sessions now survive transient disconnects, including signed-URL refresh and retry-safe stdin writes. (#28512, #28374, #28546, #28895)
Remote environments now preserve executor-native paths, shells, `AGENTS.md` discovery, and sandbox behavior across operating systems. (#28146, #28152, #28958, #28983, #29099, #29108, #29113, #29424)

Original changelogMassive speedups and honest subagents

Parent agents now receive terminal subagent errors instead of seeing failed work as an empty successful completion. (#28375)
Goal-first threads are once again persisted and returned by `thread/list` and `thread/search`. (#28808)
Reduced startup and session latency by deferring unnecessary DNS work, warming the model cache, reusing parsed plugin skills, parallelizing skill metadata reads, and skipping redundant catalog synchronization. (#28542, #28699, #28844, #29326, #29005)
Reduced persistent-log churn by removing per-event WebSocket payload logging and filtering duplicated telemetry records. (#29432, #29457)
Restored reliable Linux TUI rendering after suspending with `Ctrl+Z` and resuming with `fg`. (#28342)