## Why
Multi-agent V2 normally derives its mode instructions from reasoning
effort: Ultra enables proactive delegation, while other efforts require
an explicit request. Some deployments need to provide one configured
delegation policy that replaces those built-ins and remains stable when
reasoning effort changes.
## What changed
- Add `features.multi_agent_v2.multi_agent_mode_hint_text` alongside the
existing root and subagent hint settings.
- Treat any configured value, including an empty string, as
`MultiAgentMode::Custom(hint_text)`, so the configured text replaces the
built-in explicit-only and proactive policies.
- Persist the full custom variant and hint text in the turn-context
snapshot, so the durable comparison baseline detects both
reasoning-effort changes and configured policy-text changes.
- Preserve the existing explicit-only/proactive behavior when the
setting is absent.
- Replace the ambiguous `MultiAgentMode::None` variant with
`MultiAgentMode::Custom(String)` in new rollouts and API schemas. A
compatibility wire type maps legacy serialized `none` values to
`Custom("")` when resuming existing rollouts.
- Regenerate the config and app-server schemas.
## Configuration examples
The distinction is whether `multi_agent_mode_hint_text` is present. An
empty string is still a configured value and intentionally suppresses
the built-in mode instructions.
### Unset: preserve existing effort-derived behavior
```toml
[features.multi_agent_v2]
enabled = true
# multi_agent_mode_hint_text is omitted
```
- Ultra reasoning uses the built-in proactive delegation instructions.
- Other reasoning efforts use the built-in explicit-request-only
instructions.
### Empty: suppress all mode hint text
```toml
[features.multi_agent_v2]
enabled = true
multi_agent_mode_hint_text = ""
```
This selects effective mode `custom` at every reasoning effort and
injects an empty mode body, suppressing both built-in policies.
### Set: always use the configured text
```toml
[features.multi_agent_v2]
enabled = true
multi_agent_mode_hint_text = "Delegate to subagents when it will materially improve the result."
```
This selects effective mode `custom` at every reasoning effort and
injects the configured text verbatim instead of either built-in policy.
## Verification
- `just test -p codex-core multi_agent_mode`
- Covers a configured hint across High and Ultra reasoning efforts and
verifies the full custom hint is recorded for both turns.
- Covers an empty-string override suppressing both built-in instruction
bodies.
- `just test -p codex-protocol -p codex-app-server-protocol`
- Covers legacy `none` turn-context deserialization as `Custom("")` and
verifies the regenerated schemas.
## Why
Multi-agent delegation policy was split across `multiAgentMode`,
`features.multi_agent_mode`, and `usage_hint_enabled`. These controls
could disagree: a requested mode could be downgraded by the feature
flag, and disabling usage hints also disabled mode instructions.
Some clients also need multi-agent tools without adding
delegation-policy text to model context. The previous two-mode API could
not express that directly.
## What changed
`multiAgentMode` is now the only live delegation-policy control:
| Mode | Behavior |
| --- | --- |
| `none` | Keep multi-agent tools available without adding mode
instructions. |
| `explicitRequestOnly` | Only delegate after an explicit user request.
|
| `proactive` | Delegate when parallel work materially improves speed or
quality. |
- new threads default to `explicitRequestOnly`; omitting the mode on
later turns keeps the current value
- thread start, resume, fork, and settings responses always report the
concrete current mode instead of `null`
- mode selection remains sticky across turns and resume
- usage-hint text no longer controls whether mode instructions apply
- `features.multi_agent_mode` and `usage_hint_enabled` remain accepted
as ignored compatibility settings so existing configs continue to load
- app-server documentation and generated schemas describe the three-mode
API
## Tests
- `just test -p codex-core multi_agent_mode`
- `just test -p codex-core multi_agent_v2_config_from_feature_table`
- `just test -p codex-core spawn_agent_description`
- `just test -p codex-features`
- `just test -p codex-app-server-protocol`
- `just test -p codex-app-server multi_agent_mode`
## Why
Once multi-agent mode can be selected per turn, clients also need to
choose the initial selection when creating a thread and observe that
selection through lifecycle and settings APIs.
The selected value is intentionally distinct from the effective
model-visible value: no client selection is represented as `null`, even
though an eligible multi-agent v2 turn derives `explicitRequestOnly` as
its effective default.
## What changed
- Add the optional experimental `thread/start.multiAgentMode` parameter
and pass it through thread creation.
- Preserve an omitted initial value as an unset selection rather than
eagerly storing `explicitRequestOnly`.
- Apply an explicit `thread/start` selection to the first turn through
the session configuration established at thread creation.
- Restore the latest persisted effective mode as the selected baseline
on cold resume when rollout history contains one.
- Inherit the optional selected mode from a loaded parent when creating
related runtime threads.
- Return the current selected `multiAgentMode` from `thread/start`,
`thread/resume`, `thread/fork`, and thread settings, using `null` when
no mode is selected.
- Keep lifecycle reporting independent from model capability and feature
eligibility; core turn construction remains responsible for calculating
and persisting the effective mode.
## Not covered
- Clearing an existing loaded-session selection back to unset through
`turn/start`; omitted or `null` currently retains the session's
selection.
- A TUI control, slash command, or `config.toml` preference.
## Verification
- `CARGO_INCREMENTAL=0 just test -p codex-app-server-protocol`
- `CARGO_INCREMENTAL=0 just test -p codex-app-server multi_agent_mode`
The focused app-server coverage verifies explicit `thread/start`
initialization, first-turn prompting, nullable reporting for an omitted
selection, and retention of selections that are not currently
runtime-eligible.
## Stack
Stacked on #28685. This PR contains only the thread initialization and
lifecycle/settings API layer.
## Summary
- accept non-empty model-defined reasoning effort values while
preserving built-in effort behavior
- propagate the non-Copy effort type through core, app-server, TUI,
telemetry, and persistence call sites
- preserve string wire encoding and expose an open-string schema for
clients
- update model selection and shortcut behavior for model-advertised
effort values
## Root cause
`ReasoningEffort` gained a string-backed custom variant, so it could no
longer implement `Copy` or rely on derived closed-enum serialization.
Existing consumers still moved effort values from shared references and
assumed a fixed built-in value set.
## Validation
- `just fmt`
- Local tests and compilation were not run per request; relying on CI.
## Stack
This is the foundation PR for the permission-profile inheritance stack.
- This PR adds config-level `extends` resolution and merge semantics.
- Follow-up: #23705 applies resolved profiles at runtime and updates the
active-profile protocol surfaces.
## Why
Permission profiles are starting to carry enough policy that
copy-pasting near-identical definitions becomes hard to review and easy
to drift. Before the runtime can consume inherited profiles, the config
layer needs one explicit resolver that can merge parent chains and
reject unsafe or invalid inheritance shapes.
## What changed
- Add `extends` to permission-profile TOML and resolve parent chains in
inheritance order.
- Merge inherited profile TOML with the existing config merge behavior
while preserving the permission-specific normalization needed for
network domain keys.
- Keep parent descriptions out of resolved child profiles and record
inherited profile names separately for downstream consumers.
- Reject undefined parents, unsupported built-in parents, and
inheritance cycles with targeted errors.
- Cover resolver behavior with TOML fixture tests and refresh the
generated config schema.
## Validation
- `cargo test -p codex-config`
- `cargo test -p codex-core permissions_profiles_`
## Why
App-server clients need a way to update a thread's next-turn settings
without starting a turn, adding transcript content, or waiting for turn
lifecycle events. This gives settings UI a direct path for durable
thread settings while clients observe the eventual effective state
through a notification.
This is a simplified rework of PR
https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/22509. In particular, it changes
the `thread/settings/update` api to return immediately rather than
waiting and returning the effective (updated) thread settings. This
makes the new api consistent with `turn/start` and greatly reduces the
complexity of the implementation relative to the earlier attempt.
## What Changed
- Adds experimental `thread/settings/update` with partial-update request
fields and an empty acknowledgment response.
- Adds experimental `thread/settings/updated`, carrying full effective
`ThreadSettings` and scoped by `threadId` to subscribed clients for the
affected thread.
- Shares durable settings validation with `turn/start`, including
`sandboxPolicy` plus `permissions` rejection and `serviceTier: null`
clearing.
- Emits the same settings notification when `turn/start` overrides
change the stored effective thread settings.
- Regenerates app-server protocol schema fixtures and updates
`app-server/README.md`.
