Feature request: lossless, portable Codex project/session export-import for cross-device and Git workflows #47196

What feature would you like to see?

Please add an official, supported Codex Project + Session export/import format that allows a project to be moved to another computer and reopened without losing its Codex working context.

The goal is not merely to sync source code or produce a summary such as AGENTS.md. I want a durable, portable representation of the actual Codex project and its sessions.

1. Lossless session/project restoration

After exporting a Codex project on machine A and importing/opening it on machine B, Codex should immediately be able to access the same durable session context, including as applicable:

• Full user/assistant conversation history
• Tool-call history and results
• Terminal command history and captured command output
• Debugging results, logs, stack traces, test output, experiment results, and other generated evidence
• Diffs/patches and Codex-produced changes
• Session metadata, titles, timestamps, task state, and relationships between sessions
• Project metadata and repository/worktree association
• Attachments or generated artifacts referenced by the session, where they are part of the durable Codex record

This should be a supported round-trip format, not a best-effort summary and not a dependency on undocumented internal SQLite/JSONL layouts.

The important acceptance criterion is:

Export on machine A -> copy/clone to machine B -> import/open -> Codex can continue with the same historical context without requiring the user to manually reconstruct prior discussions, debugging evidence, or experiment results.

I am referring to durable session/project state, not a byte-for-byte VM/RAM snapshot of a currently running debugger process.

2. Self-contained, portable project directory

Please support storing/exporting the Codex project state in one directory associated with the repository, for example:

MyProject/
├── .git/
├── src/
├── AGENTS.md
└── .codex-project/
    ├── manifest.json
    ├── sessions/
    ├── artifacts/
    ├── debug-results/
    └── index/

The exact layout is not important, but it should have these properties:

• Self-contained and easy to archive, copy, back up, and move
• Uses a versioned, documented schema
• Uses relative/project-root-aware paths so a project can move from C:\... to D:\... or to another OS where possible
• Supports integrity/version checking during import
• Does not require copying the user's entire global CODEX_HOME
• Clearly separates portable project state from machine-specific state, credentials, secrets, caches, and transient processes

A simple workflow could be something like:

codex project export --output .codex-project/
codex project import .codex-project/

or, ideally, Codex Desktop could recognize the project metadata automatically when the repository is opened.

3. Git-friendly and collaboration-friendly

The portable Codex project directory should be designed to work well with Git so that a team can optionally version and share Codex context together with the source repository.

Important properties:

• Stable, documented, preferably text/JSON/JSONL-based formats where practical
• Deterministic or low-noise files so Git diffs remain useful
• Large/binary artifacts can be separated or optionally handled via Git LFS
• Clear .gitignore guidance for caches, temporary files, credentials, and machine-specific state
• No secrets or local credentials included by default
• Multiple developers should be able to clone a repository and recover the shared Codex project/session history
• Provenance should be preserved so it is clear which session/user/machine produced a result
• Ideally support merging or at least safely coexisting session histories from multiple contributors without corrupting project state

This would make Codex projects behave more like a portable development workspace/solution rather than a collection of machine-local UI state.

Why this matters

For long-running engineering work, AGENTS.md, summaries, or manually maintained context files are useful but inherently lossy. They often preserve the current conclusion while losing:

• why earlier approaches were rejected,
• exact error messages and stack traces,
• commands and outputs,
• failed experiments,
• intermediate debugging evidence,
• and the chronology that led to an architectural decision.

That information can be critical months later.

A supported lossless project/session format would also solve several operational problems:

• moving between workstation and laptop,
• rebuilding or replacing a development machine,
• backing up Codex work,
• disaster recovery,
• team handoff,
• auditability/reproducibility,
• and keeping AI-assisted engineering context next to the source code.

Related existing requests

This request overlaps with, but is intentionally broader than:

• Feature request: option to export the entire session #13267 — export the entire session
• Feature request: Cross-device sync for Codex Projects and Chats #21803 — cross-device sync for Codex Projects and Chats
• Feature Request: Cloud Sync for Codex Projects Across Devices #32350 — cloud sync for Codex Projects across devices
• Feature request: Built-in session storage dashboard, backups, and safe bulk cleanup #38838 — session storage, backups, and export

Those requests address important parts of the problem. The additional requirement here is a documented, lossless, round-trippable, project-scoped format that can live in one directory and optionally be versioned with Git for cross-device use and team collaboration.

Thanks for considering this.