Codex Restart Handoff — claude-mem Recovery Release

You are Codex in the thedotmack/claude-mem repo. Continue from the current working tree; do not restart analysis from scratch and do not revert user or previous-agent changes.

User Intent

The user wants claude-mem working correctly in Codex first, then wants the recovery-release plan executed to bring users back. Ignore the Gemini-generated artifacts unless the user explicitly asks for them again.

Immediate user context:

• The user is going to restart Codex to confirm claude-mem works.
• The plugin cache was broken and has been patched locally.
• After confirming Codex works, start executing the recovery plan, beginning with preserving/landing the Codex compatibility fix and then Phase 0/Phase 1 of the release plan.

Repo And Working Tree

Current repo/worktree:

/Users/alexnewman/.superset/worktrees/df8069a7-eb08-4626-9d3d-918d1e12eb9f/night-parsnip

Expected relevant working tree changes:

 M plugin/hooks/codex-hooks.json
 M plugin/scripts/worker-service.cjs
 M scripts/build-hooks.js
 M src/services/worker-service.ts
 M tests/infrastructure/plugin-distribution.test.ts
 M tests/infrastructure/worker-json-status.test.ts
?? plans/2026-06-24-release-recovery-plan.md
?? plans/2026-06-24-codex-restart-handoff.md

The untracked release plan is intentional. Preserve it.

What Was Fixed Already

Codex compatibility root cause:

1. plugin/hooks/codex-hooks.json had an unsupported root-level description key. Codex 0.140+ rejects unknown hook-config root keys, so hooks looked installed/enabled but did not load correctly.
2. Codex hook startup paths could emit Claude-style suppressOutput, which Codex rejects on current hook output contracts.

Implemented repo changes:

• plugin/hooks/codex-hooks.json
  • Removed root description; root keys are now only ["hooks"].
  • Added CLAUDE_MEM_CODEX_HOOK=1 to every Codex hook command.
• scripts/build-hooks.js
  • Codex hook generation now injects CLAUDE_MEM_CODEX_HOOK=1.
  • Build verification now fails if Codex hooks contain unsupported root keys.
• src/services/worker-service.ts
  • buildStatusOutput() includes suppressOutput by default for Claude.
  • worker-service start omits suppressOutput when CLAUDE_MEM_CODEX_HOOK=1.
• plugin/scripts/worker-service.cjs
  • Regenerated bundle carrying the worker-service fix.
• Tests updated in:
  • tests/infrastructure/plugin-distribution.test.ts
  • tests/infrastructure/worker-json-status.test.ts

Local installed plugin copies were also patched so the user's restarted Codex session should work immediately:

/Users/alexnewman/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/thedotmack/plugin
/Users/alexnewman/.codex/plugins/cache/claude-mem-local/claude-mem/13.8.0

Both local copies were verified:

rootKeys=["hooks"]
commandCount=7
missingCodexEnv=0

Installed-cache smoke results:

Codex env:
{"continue":true,"status":"ready"}

Default/Claude env:
{"continue":true,"status":"ready","suppressOutput":true}

codex doctor --summary --ascii after the patch:

Configuration config loaded
16 ok | 1 idle | 2 notes | 1 warn | 0 fail degraded

The remaining doctor warning was unrelated stale thread state:

threads: rollout files are missing from the state DB

Verification Already Run

These passed after the Codex fix:

bun test tests/infrastructure/plugin-distribution.test.ts tests/infrastructure/worker-json-status.test.ts tests/hook-lifecycle.test.ts
npm run typecheck:root
npm run lint:spawn-env
npm run lint:hook-io

Focused test result:

124 pass
3 skip
0 fail
403 expect() calls

Primary Plan File

Use this as the release execution source of truth:

plans/2026-06-24-release-recovery-plan.md

That plan cross-references the PostHog report and GitHub issues/PRs. It defines the recovery-release blockers:

1. Setup/dependency preflight and graceful degradation.
2. Chroma launch/lifecycle reliability.
3. Observer output loop fix.
4. Codex hook compatibility.
5. Gemini request-shape fix.
6. Platform session identity fix.
7. Chroma backfill JSON tolerance.
8. Telemetry UUID compatibility.
9. Upgrade/install survival for partial dependency installs.

The Codex hook compatibility blocker is already implemented locally and should be treated as the first completed release slice, subject to final review/commit.

Start Here After Restart

First confirm the restarted Codex session can load the plugin:

codex doctor --summary --ascii
codex plugin list

Expected:

• claude-mem@claude-mem-local is installed and enabled.
• codex doctor shows config loaded and no plugin/hook config failure.
• Any stale-thread warning is unrelated unless it changes.

Then verify the local cache still has the patched hook file:

node - <<'NODE'
const fs = require('fs');
const paths = [
  '/Users/alexnewman/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/thedotmack/plugin/hooks/codex-hooks.json',
  '/Users/alexnewman/.codex/plugins/cache/claude-mem-local/claude-mem/13.8.0/hooks/codex-hooks.json',
];
function commands(hooks) {
  return Object.values(hooks).flatMap(groups =>
    groups.flatMap(group => (group.hooks || []).map(hook => hook.command || ''))
  );
}
for (const p of paths) {
  const json = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(p, 'utf8'));
  const cmds = commands(json.hooks);
  console.log(p);
  console.log('rootKeys=' + JSON.stringify(Object.keys(json)));
  console.log('commandCount=' + cmds.length);
  console.log('missingCodexEnv=' + cmds.filter(c => !c.includes('CLAUDE_MEM_CODEX_HOOK=1')).length);
}
NODE

Then smoke the installed worker-service output shape:

node - <<'NODE'
const { spawnSync } = require('child_process');
const runner = '/Users/alexnewman/.codex/plugins/cache/claude-mem-local/claude-mem/13.8.0/scripts/bun-runner.js';
const worker = '/Users/alexnewman/.codex/plugins/cache/claude-mem-local/claude-mem/13.8.0/scripts/worker-service.cjs';
for (const [label, env] of [
  ['codex', { ...process.env, CLAUDE_MEM_CODEX_HOOK: '1' }],
  ['default', { ...process.env }],
]) {
  const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [runner, worker, 'start'], { env, encoding: 'utf8' });
  console.log(label + ': exit=' + result.status + ' stdout=' + result.stdout.trim() + ' stderr=' + result.stderr.trim());
}
NODE

Expected:

codex: exit=0 stdout={"continue":true,"status":"ready"} stderr=
default: exit=0 stdout={"continue":true,"status":"ready","suppressOutput":true} stderr=

Execution Plan

Step 1 — Preserve The Codex Compatibility Fix

Review the six modified files and the generated bundle diff. Do not throw away plugin/scripts/worker-service.cjs; it is the distributed artifact for users.

Run:

git diff --stat
git diff -- plugin/hooks/codex-hooks.json scripts/build-hooks.js src/services/worker-service.ts tests/infrastructure/plugin-distribution.test.ts tests/infrastructure/worker-json-status.test.ts

Then rerun:

bun test tests/infrastructure/plugin-distribution.test.ts tests/infrastructure/worker-json-status.test.ts tests/hook-lifecycle.test.ts
npm run typecheck:root
npm run lint:spawn-env
npm run lint:hook-io

If the user wants a commit, commit only the Codex compatibility fix plus the handoff/recovery plan files if they want those included. Do not include unrelated generated churn.

Suggested commit message:

fix(codex): ship strict plugin hooks and Codex-safe worker status

Step 2 — Start Release Branch Discipline

Use the plan file:

plans/2026-06-24-release-recovery-plan.md

Target branch from the plan:

release/recovery-2026-06-24

Before creating or switching branches, inspect current branch and status. Do not drop local changes.

git branch --show-current
git status --short

If continuing in this worktree, keep the release branch scoped to recovery blockers only.

Step 3 — Execute Remaining Release Phases

Codex compatibility is plan-19 / Phase 1A and is already implemented locally. Next priorities from the recovery plan:

1. Phase 0: branch/freeze and route GitHub issues/PRs to recovery blockers.
2. Phase 1: setup/install survival.
   • Add dependency health for Claude CLI, Bun, uv/uvx, plugin hard deps, and provider key state.
   • Runtime missing Claude CLI becomes setup_required, not retry spam.
   • Runtime missing uvx disables vector search, but SQLite capture/search continues.
   • Replace Bun.randomUUIDv5 in src/services/telemetry/backfill.ts.
3. Phase 2: Chroma lifecycle reliability.
   • Prefer uvx --from chroma-mcp==<pin> chroma-mcp.
   • Split prewarm timeout from MCP handshake timeout.
   • Capture bounded stderr on connect failure.
   • Treat backoff/unavailable as "not synced yet", not user-flow throws.
4. Phase 3: observer output and quota pause.
   • Drop non-XML/prose instead of poison-respawn.
   • Pause on quota/weekly-limit messages without losing pending work.
5. Phase 4: Gemini request envelopes and platform-namespaced session identity.
6. Phase 5: Chroma backfill malformed JSON tolerance.

Do not spend time on new providers, broad refactors, or feature bundles unless they directly unblock one of the recovery blockers.

GitHub / Report Context

The plan was built from:

Attached PostHog report:
/Users/alexnewman/.superset/host/e7c5cb1f-3f94-4b7b-b6b7-37a97d3b4a51/attachments/08a4bcfe-650a-4094-a534-815c15b67701/08a4bcfe-650a-4094-a534-815c15b67701.json

GitHub snapshots:
/tmp/claude_mem_open_issues_full.json
/tmp/claude_mem_open_prs.json

High-impact report categories:

• Claude executable not found.
• uvx not found.
• Bun.randomUUIDv5 not a function.
• Chroma 30s timeout.
• MCP -32000 Connection closed.
• Chroma backoff throws into sync.
• Gemini 400 bad request.
• Platform source conflict.
• JSON parse error with Chinese/non-JSON strings.
• Observer poison/respawn loop.

Codex-specific blockers:

• #2972 / #2947: Codex refuses to load hooks config.
• #2975 / #2871: Codex rejects hook output.
• #2962 / #2941 / #2914: Codex/Windows spawn contract regressions.

PRs to consolidate from the plan:

• #3039 partial dependency install survival.
• #3033 UTF-8 BOM settings readers.
• #3018 proxy env preservation.
• #3028 observer poisoned respawn fix.
• #2920 Chroma uvx prewarm.
• #2880 Chroma uvx --from.
• #2887 bundle zod.
• #2849 SQLite busy timeout.
• #2953 Codex compatibility, if it still rebases cleanly.
• #2945 Windows hook install spawn/PATH fixes, if still needed.

Operating Constraints

• Keep edits scoped to recovery blockers.
• Preserve user changes and untracked plan files.
• Use rg for search.
• Use apply_patch for manual file edits.
• Do not use destructive git commands.
• Verify with focused tests before broad tests.
• For generated bundles, ensure only required bundle artifacts remain modified.