DevOps / SRE / Platform · 19.08.2026, 18:01 UTC
Codex can now keep coding while it waits for your answer
| Schweregrad | info |
|---|---|
| Kategorie | DevOps / SRE / Platform |
| Quelle | The New Stack ↗ |
| Veröffentlicht | 19.08.2026 UTC |
Sicherheitsmeldung mit Schweregrad noch nicht bewertet. Technische Details im Tab „Originaltext“; empfohlene Schritte in der Checkliste.
Long-running coding agents face an awkward choice when they need a developer’s input. They can stop and wait or make an assumption and keep working. Now, OpenAI is testing a third option for Codex that allows the agent to ask the question, continue with any work that doesn’t depend on the answer, then adjust when the developer responds.
On Tuesday, OpenAI merged send_user_message_async into the public Codex repository. Once Codex sends the message, the tool immediately returns an accepted response to the model. Codex can then call another tool, inspect another file, or continue generating its answer rather than sit idle.
The feature has not been announced as a general Codex capability, and the public code does not identify which model or Codex interface will receive it first, but it proves OpenAI is working on a different relationship between coding agents and the developers supervising them.
OpenAI did not respond to questions from The New Stack before publication.
Async messaging replaces blocking
Codex already has a request_user_input tool for asking developers short questions; it works by waiting for a response before returning control to the model.
With the asynchronous tool, Codex doesn’t wait, it sends the question or update to the developer, receives confirmation that the message was accepted, and continues the current turn. Any reply comes back later as a new user message.
An integration test included with the change demonstrates the difference. The test has Codex send the update “Still investigating.” The tool returns an accepted result, and the model …