Codex MCP Server Interface [experimental]

This document describes Codex's experimental MCP server interface: a JSON-RPC API that runs over the Model Context Protocol (MCP) transport to control a local Codex engine.

• Status: experimental and subject to change without notice
• Server binary: codex mcp-server (or codex-mcp-server)
• Transport: standard MCP over stdio (JSON-RPC 2.0, line-delimited)

Overview

Codex exposes MCP-compatible methods to manage threads, turns, accounts, config, and approvals. The types live in app-server-protocol/src/protocol/{common,v1,v2}.rs and are consumed by the app server implementation in app-server/.

At a glance:

• Primary v2 RPCs
  • thread/start, thread/resume, thread/fork, thread/read, thread/list
  • turn/start, turn/steer, turn/interrupt
  • account/read, account/login/start, account/login/cancel, account/logout, account/rateLimits/read
  • config/read, config/value/write, config/batchWrite
  • model/list, app/list, collaborationMode/list
• Remaining v1 compatibility RPCs
  • getConversationSummary
  • getAuthStatus
  • gitDiffToRemote
  • fuzzyFileSearch, fuzzyFileSearch/sessionStart, fuzzyFileSearch/sessionUpdate, fuzzyFileSearch/sessionStop
• Notifications
  • v2 typed notifications such as thread/started, turn/completed, account/login/completed
  • codex/event/* stream notifications for live agent events
  • fuzzyFileSearch/sessionUpdated, fuzzyFileSearch/sessionCompleted
• Approvals (server -> client requests)
  • applyPatchApproval, execCommandApproval

See code for full type definitions and exact shapes: app-server-protocol/src/protocol/{common,v1,v2}.rs.

Starting the server

Run Codex as an MCP server and connect an MCP client:

codex mcp-server | your_mcp_client

For a simple inspection UI, you can also try:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector codex mcp-server

Use the separate codex mcp subcommand to manage configured MCP server launchers in config.toml.

Threads and turns

Use the v2 thread and turn APIs for all new integrations. thread/start creates a thread, turn/start submits user input, turn/interrupt stops an in-flight turn, and thread/list / thread/read expose persisted history.

getConversationSummary remains as a compatibility helper for clients that still need a summary lookup by conversationId or rolloutPath.

For complete request and response shapes, see the app-server README and the protocol definitions in app-server-protocol/src/protocol/v2.rs.

Models

Fetch the catalog of models available in the current Codex build with model/list. The request accepts optional pagination inputs:

• limit - number of models to return (defaults to a server-selected value)
• cursor - opaque string from the previous response's nextCursor

Each response yields:

• data - ordered list of models. A model includes:
  • id, model, displayName, description
  • supportedReasoningEfforts - array of objects with:
    • reasoningEffort - one of none|minimal|low|medium|high|xhigh
    • description - human-friendly label for the effort
  • defaultReasoningEffort - suggested effort for the UI
  • inputModalities - accepted input types for the model
  • supportsPersonality - whether the model supports personality-specific instructions
  • isDefault - whether the model is recommended for most users
  • upgrade - optional recommended upgrade model id
  • upgradeInfo - optional upgrade metadata object with:
    • model - recommended upgrade model id
    • upgradeCopy - optional display copy for the upgrade recommendation
    • modelLink - optional link for the upgrade recommendation
    • migrationMarkdown - optional markdown shown when presenting the upgrade
• nextCursor - pass into the next request to continue paging (optional)

Collaboration modes (experimental)

Fetch the built-in collaboration mode presets with collaborationMode/list. This endpoint does not accept pagination and returns the full list in one response:

• data - ordered list of collaboration mode masks (partial settings to apply on top of the base mode)
  • For tri-state fields like reasoning_effort and developer_instructions, omit the field to keep the current value, set it to null to clear it, or set a concrete value to update it.

When sending turn/start with collaborationMode, settings.developer_instructions: null means "use built-in instructions for the selected mode".

Event stream

While a conversation runs, the server sends notifications:

• codex/event with the serialized Codex event payload. The shape matches core/src/protocol.rs's Event and EventMsg types. Some notifications include a _meta.requestId to correlate with the originating request.
• fuzzyFileSearch/sessionUpdated and fuzzyFileSearch/sessionCompleted for the legacy fuzzy search flow.

Clients should render events and, when present, surface approval requests (see next section).

Tool responses

The codex and codex-reply tools return standard MCP CallToolResult payloads. For compatibility with MCP clients that prefer structuredContent, Codex mirrors the content blocks inside structuredContent alongside the threadId.

Example:

{
  "content": [{ "type": "text", "text": "Hello from Codex" }],
  "structuredContent": {
    "threadId": "019bbed6-1e9e-7f31-984c-a05b65045719",
    "content": "Hello from Codex"
  }
}

Approvals (server -> client)

When Codex needs approval to apply changes or run commands, the server issues JSON-RPC requests to the client:

• applyPatchApproval { conversationId, callId, fileChanges, reason?, grantRoot? }
• execCommandApproval { conversationId, callId, approvalId?, command, cwd, reason? }

The client must reply with { decision: "allow" | "deny" } for each request.

Auth helpers

For the complete request/response shapes and flow examples, see the Auth endpoints (v2) section in the app-server README.

Legacy compatibility methods

The server still accepts a narrow v1 compatibility surface for existing app clients:

• getConversationSummary
• getAuthStatus
• gitDiffToRemote
• fuzzyFileSearch, fuzzyFileSearch/sessionStart, fuzzyFileSearch/sessionUpdate, fuzzyFileSearch/sessionStop

Compatibility and stability

This interface is experimental. Method names, fields, and event shapes may evolve. For the authoritative schema, consult app-server-protocol/src/protocol/{common,v1,v2}.rs and the corresponding server wiring in app-server/.