OpenAI addresses Codex safety check prompt blocking unattended sessions

OpenAI has updated Codex’s handling of additional safety checks after users reported a Codex safety check prompt blocking unattended sessions during some biological and cybersecurity-related requests and leaving sessions waiting for manual input.

According to an OpenAI Help Center article, Codex and the API may apply automated checks to certain requests in those domains. The company says these checks can temporarily pause a request and that users do not need to take action while the review is running. In some cases, the interface can offer an alternative: retrying with a faster model that is described as less capable.

The interaction became a problem for unattended or automated Codex sessions. An issue filed in the Agent Factory GitHub repository reported that sessions could stop at the safety-check dialog until a person selected an option such as continuing to wait. The report said an automated confirmation setting could not answer the prompt, meaning the session remained parked even when the user’s intended choice was simply to let the check finish.

OpenAI’s Codex codebase includes a related fix. A commit published on GitHub is titled “clear completed safety buffering prompt.” Its description says it fixes a stale modal that could remain visible after a turn had already completed. The change also revises the wording of the prompt to tell users to wait or retry with a faster model.

That distinction matters because a safety delay and an active request for a decision are not equivalent in an automated workflow. If a completed or still-running check leaves a blocking dialog on screen, a developer running Codex without continuous supervision may see work halted despite having no need to change models or override the check.

OpenAI’s documentation frames the additional checks as a safeguard for requests involving potentially sensitive biological or cybersecurity capabilities. The company does not describe every condition that can trigger a pause, but it says the checks are automated and may take time to complete. The documentation’s advice that no action is required during the check is now more closely aligned with the Codex interface change aimed at clearing completed safety-buffering prompts.

The update does not remove the safety-review process or guarantee that every affected request will proceed immediately. Instead, it targets the interface behavior around the pause: users can continue waiting for the standard check, or choose a faster, less-capable model when that option is available, without a completed prompt lingering and unnecessarily blocking the session.