Expose thread automation tool in Codex App sessions #28650

Summary

Codex App appears to support thread automations / wakeups conceptually, and the app instructions mention using an automation_update tool for recurring automations, reminders, monitors, follow-ups, and thread wakeups. However, in my current Codex App session the tool is not exposed, even after tool discovery.

Tool discovery for automation-related queries currently exposes thread-management tools such as send_message_to_thread, fork_thread, list_threads, set_thread_archived, etc., but no automation_update or equivalent API for creating/updating/listing/deleting automations.

Use case

I am building a local course-note workflow:

1. Start a long-running Whisper / faster-whisper transcription job in tmux.
2. The job writes a local status.json, e.g. loading_model -> transcribing -> done.
3. When the transcription is complete, Codex should resume in the same App thread and generate detailed Obsidian notes from the transcript and lecture slides.

The ideal behavior is a thread-attached automation that wakes every few minutes, checks the status file, and continues only when the status is done. This avoids token-wasting busy waiting and preserves the original conversation context.

Current workarounds

• codex exec can be called from a local shell hook after the job finishes, but it runs as a separate non-interactive CLI session and does not naturally continue the current Codex App conversation.
• A separate Codex thread can monitor the job, but that fragments context.
• The app-server protocol may allow lower-level thread/resume / turn/start flows, but that is experimental and requires a custom client.

Request

Please expose a supported automation tool, such as automation_update or an equivalent, to Codex App sessions so an agent can programmatically create/update/list/delete thread automations when the user asks for monitors, reminders, follow-ups, or wakeups.

Ideally it would support:

• attaching an automation to the current thread
• interval schedules, including minute-based polling
• a durable prompt / instruction for each wakeup
• a stop condition or self-archive-on-completion pattern
• running with the current project context, skills, and plugins

Environment

• Codex App on macOS
• Codex CLI: 0.140.0
• App server: 0.140.0
• Local workflow: long-running tmux job plus status file polling