Codex App: Add UI controls to delete local threads and session data #20251

What variant of Codex are you using?

App and IDE Extension

What feature would you like to see?

Feature request

Codex should provide explicit UI controls to delete threads and clear associated
local session data.

Problem

Codex currently appears to keep local session data under CODEX_HOME, including
date-based folders under sessions/. In practice, cleaning up old chats from the
UI may require manually deleting internal session folders.

This is poor UX and creates a local privacy/security concern.

Users should not need to inspect internal storage folders to manage old
conversations. A thread list should be manageable from the UI itself.

Why this matters

Codex threads can contain sensitive or semi-sensitive local context, including:

• source code
• file paths
• project names
• diffs
• commands
• logs
• environment details
• personal notes
• accidental secrets

If these transcripts or session artifacts remain on disk indefinitely, any
process with access to the user's profile can potentially read or copy them.

Archiving a thread is not the same as deleting the underlying local data.

Current behavior

The current workaround is to manually inspect and delete folders under local
session storage, for example date-based folders inside CODEX_HOME/sessions.

That workaround is brittle because users have to infer which internal files are
safe to remove.

Expected behavior

Codex should expose clear controls such as:

• Delete current thread.
• Delete archived thread.
• Delete all archived threads.
• Clear all local sessions.
• Clear local conversation history.
• Clear logs.
• Show local storage location.
• Open local storage folder.
• Disable transcript/session persistence.
• Configure retention by age or count.
• Explain exactly what will be deleted before deletion.

Suggested UX

For each thread, expose actions such as:

• Archive
• Delete
• Delete local data

For global cleanup, expose settings such as:

• Clear archived threads
• Clear all local sessions
• Clear local logs
• Disable local transcript persistence
• Delete local session data older than N days

If a thread is pinned, in progress, or attached to a protected/permanent worktree,
the UI can block deletion or require explicit confirmation.

Security and privacy angle

This is not only a UI cleanup problem. It is also a local data-retention problem.

A user should be able to answer these questions from the UI:

• What conversation/session data is stored locally?
• Where is it stored?
• How can I delete a specific thread?
• How can I delete all archived or old threads?
• How can I disable future local transcript persistence?

Manual deletion of internal folders should not be the primary data-management
workflow.

Additional information

• Archive and delete should be visibly distinct in the thread UI, following a model similar to ChatGPT but adapted to Codex's worktree logic.
• For privacy, local state and transcript storage must be discoverable and deletable without digging into filesystem manually.
• The app should include clear messaging for blocked/irreversible destructive actions or protected threads/worktrees.
• These improvements support better usability, privacy and data control, aligning with user trust and UX standards in coding assistants.