RFC: Deterministic Session Checkpoint v1 (DSC) — Compaction Without Summarization #8573

What feature would you like to see?

Status: Draft
Target: Codex CLI + IDE extension (shared session format)

0. Summary

Replace lossy "conversation summarization" compaction with a deterministic, host-generated checkpoint.

Key idea:

• The Codex CLI already writes a structured per-session event log: $CODEX_HOME/sessions/YYYY/MM/DD/rollout-*.jsonl.
• We add a tiny derived projection: checkpoint_v1.json.
• Compaction becomes a local operation: reset context + inject view_v1(checkpoint, caps).

No LLM is required to produce the checkpoint.

1. Motivation / Problem

After compaction (manual or auto), Codex often:

• re-reads the same files,
• re-derives already known facts,
• loses awareness of recent edits or task pointer.

Users report that auto-compaction can reset the model's working state and it may only retain a lossy "memento" summary instead of tool-call history and concrete actions.

This wastes tokens/time and degrades UX.

Related reports:

• "memento summary instead of full tool call history" and the model forgetting edits mid-task: Auto compaction causes GPT-5-Codex to lose the plot. It forgets it is mid-task, forgets it has edited files and stops. #5957
• compaction fails or does not help: /compact does not work. #4813, /compact doesn't correctly optimize the context (v0.63.0) #7232
• compaction loop / hangs: Context compaction loop leaves ~5% context and stalls session (eventually 0% / interrupted) #8365, Codex agent is stuck in compaction loop #8481, Context compaction stalls and the session hangs after large tool outputs (codex-cli 0.74.0) #8402
• resume loses task intent; request for explicit task pointer + resume checkpoint: Bug report: Session resume after rate limit loses task intent and continues on wrong context #8310

2. Goals

• G1. Make compaction "state checkpoint", not "narrative summary".
• G2. Compaction must succeed even when context is full (no extra model call required).
• G3. Deterministic + testable: given the same inputs, checkpoint and view bytes are identical.
• G4. Dramatically reduce redundant file re-reads after compaction when artifacts are unchanged.
• G5. No silent wrongness: stale derived facts must become SUSPECT automatically.
• G6. Keep it bounded and cheap: stable caps, stable formatting.

3. Non-Goals

• N1. Cross-session long-term memory / personal preferences.
• N2. Storing "agent behavior policy" persistently (prompt-injection risk).
• N3. Semantic search / retrieval ranking inside the checkpoint (can be an optional later layer).
• N4. A new logging system: we reuse rollout JSONL.

4. Architecture (high-level)

Existing:

rollout-*.jsonl  (already produced by CLI)

New:

checkpoint_v1.json = deterministic projection of rollout + small validated semantic updates

Used at runtime:

view_v1(checkpoint, caps) -> injected as a "SESSION_CHECKPOINT v1" message after compaction/resume

ASCII diagram:

rollout.jsonl (events) ──► reduce() ──► checkpoint_v1.json ──► view_v1(caps) ──► LLM context
     ^  already exists             ^ new, tiny                 ^ stable text

5. Data Model (Checkpoint v1)

We keep a single JSON file as the "single source of truth" after compaction.

5.1 Types

type FactStatus = "VALID" | "SUSPECT"

type Artifact = {
  uri: string              // e.g. "src/auth.py"
  kind: "file" | "tool_output" | "command"
  hash?: string            // if available
  lastObservedSeq: number
}

type EvidenceRef = {
  source: "user" | "file" | "tool_output"
  ref: string              // message id, file path, tool call id
  hash?: string
}

type FactRecord = {
  value: string
  evidence: EvidenceRef
  dependsOn: Array<{ uri: string, hash?: string }>
  status: FactStatus
}

type DecisionRecord = {
  decisionId: string
  topic?: string
  decision: string
  rationale: string
  supersedes?: string
  evidence: EvidenceRef
}

type Plan = {
  steps: Array<{ id: string, text: string }>
  done: Record<string, boolean>
  evidence?: EvidenceRef
}

type CheckpointV1 = {
  schemaVersion: 1
  seq: number                         // last applied seq
  task: { text: string, evidence: EvidenceRef } | null
  plan: Plan
  decisions: DecisionRecord[]
  artifacts: Record<string, Artifact> // key = uri
  facts: Record<string, FactRecord>
  recentArtifacts: string[]           // URIs, stable bounded list
}

5.2 Boundedness

Hard limits (example defaults):

• maxFactsTotal = 64
• maxDecisionsTotal = 32
• maxPlanStepsTotal = 32
• maxRecentArtifacts = 16
• maxValueChars = 160 (truncate deterministically)

Eviction is deterministic:

• facts: evict oldest by lastTouchedSeq, tie-break by key lexicographic
• decisions: evict oldest by seq
• recentArtifacts: keep most recent unique URIs, bounded

6. Event Sources (no new logging layer)

We reuse existing rollout JSONL (already written by CLI).

We derive:

• artifact observations from tool calls (host truth)
• task pointer from last user message

Optionally, we accept validated semantic updates from the model (facts/plan/decisions) via a strict JSON tool.

6.1 Host-owned updates (always)

From tool calls / file ops:

• artifact observed: {uri, kind, hash?, seq}
• update recentArtifacts

Critical rule: hashes are computed/recorded by the host, not by the model.

6.2 Model-proposed semantic updates (optional MVP, but recommended)

Provide a tool:

memory.apply(payload: { kind: "plan"|"decision"|"fact", ... })

The reducer validates:

• must include evidence that references an existing artifact/tool output id or user message id
• must include dependsOn for facts (URIs), when applicable
• cannot write "behavior policies" (see Security)

If invalid: reject tool call (no state update).

7. Staleness Derivation (no invalidate event)

Fact.status is derived:

A fact is VALID iff:

• for every dep in fact.dependsOn:
  • checkpoint.artifacts[dep.uri].hash exists
  • and matches dep.hash (when dep.hash exists)

Otherwise SUSPECT.

If the current artifact hash is unknown → SUSPECT.

This guarantees no silent wrongness.

8. view_v1(checkpoint, caps) — deterministic, jitter-free

view_v1 must be:

• pure
• byte-for-byte stable for the same (checkpoint, caps)
• no token counting, no heuristics, no randomness

8.1 ViewCaps

type ViewCaps = {
  maxOpenPlanSteps: number
  maxDonePlanSteps: number
  maxDecisions: number
  maxFactsValid: number
  maxFactsSuspect: number
  maxRecentArtifacts: number
  maxValueChars: number
}

8.2 Output format (stable)

[SESSION_CHECKPOINT v1]

[TASK]
- ...

[PLAN]
- [ ] ... (id=...)
- [x] ... (id=...)

[RECENT_ARTIFACTS]
- file: src/auth.py (hash=...)
- cmd:  pytest -q
- file: tests/test_auth.py (hash=...)

[DECISIONS]
- ... — ... (id=... supersedes=... evidence=source:ref)

[FACTS_VALID]
- key: value (evidence=source:ref deps=n)

[FACTS_SUSPECT]
- key: value (why=SUSPECT dep=uri)

Selection ordering rules are fixed (lexicographic for facts; stable plan order; decisions last non-superseded).

Truncation is deterministic:

• if value > maxValueChars => take first (maxValueChars-1) + "…"

9. Compaction Behavior Change

Current compaction tries to summarize conversation.

New behavior:

1. Persist checkpoint_v1.json (projection).
2. Start a fresh model context and inject:
   • standard base instructions / AGENTS.md (unchanged)
   • a fixed short "how to use checkpoint" instruction
   • view_v1(checkpoint, caps)

No LLM call is required to generate the checkpoint.

This also makes /compact usable even at 100% context usage.

10. Resume Behavior

On resume (from rollout JSONL):

• load checkpoint_v1.json if present (or rebuild from rollout)
• inject view_v1 similarly
• bias toward completing open plan steps

11. Security / Integrity

• S1. Actor constraints:
  • Only "user/system" can set task pointer.
  • Only host can set artifact hashes/observations.
• S2. Facts/decisions are NOT "behavior policies":
  • Reducer rejects updates that attempt to store normative "always do X" agent policies.
• S3. Evidence gating:
  • facts derived from file/tool output must reference stable anchors (path/tool-call id).
• S4. Avoid persistent injection:
  • tool outputs are never treated as instructions; they are only evidence.

12. Metrics / Acceptance Criteria

• A1. After compaction, unchanged artifacts do not get re-read purely to "remember what we learned".
• A2. Compaction always reduces context usage to a predictable bounded range.
• A3. Staleness flips facts to SUSPECT automatically on hash mismatch/unknown.
• A4. view_v1 is deterministic and unit-tested (golden tests).
• A5. Checkpoint is bounded on disk and stable across platforms.

13. Implementation Plan (incremental)

Phase 0 (1 PR):

• Write checkpoint_v1.json projection:
  • task pointer from last user message
  • artifacts + recentArtifacts from tool calls / file ops
• Implement view_v1 + inject on compaction/resume
• No model semantic updates yet

Phase 1:

• Add memory.apply tool for plan/decision/fact updates with strict validation
• Add staleness derivation + SUSPECT rendering

Phase 2:

• Drift guardrails (optional): if next action edits unrelated file, ask confirmation
• UX: /checkpoint show (optional)

14. Open Questions

• Q1. Where to store checkpoint_v1.json (same folder as rollout? recommended).
• Q2. Hashing strategy: cheap vs strong (git blob hash, content hash, or mtime+size fallback).
• Q3. Default caps per model/tool-output limits.

Related Issues

• Support Task-Scoped Context with Session-Level Code Container to Reduce Redundant Token Usage #6102 — task-scoped context containers
• Control over auto-compaction parameters #4106 — control over auto-compaction parameters
• Proposal: Implement intelligent context selection for improved code generation #668 — intelligent context selection (closed, but related)
• Auto compaction causes GPT-5-Codex to lose the plot. It forgets it is mid-task, forgets it has edited files and stops. #5957 — memento summary loses tool call history
• /compact does not work. #4813, /compact doesn't correctly optimize the context (v0.63.0) #7232 — compaction fails or doesn't help
• Context compaction loop leaves ~5% context and stalls session (eventually 0% / interrupted) #8365, Codex agent is stuck in compaction loop #8481, Context compaction stalls and the session hangs after large tool outputs (codex-cli 0.74.0) #8402 — compaction loop/hangs
• Bug report: Session resume after rate limit loses task intent and continues on wrong context #8310 — resume loses task intent

Additional information

I'm willing to implement Phase 0 (checkpoint_v1.json projection + view_v1 + inject on compaction/resume) as a single PR. Can deliver working code with golden tests in a few days. Happy to iterate based on maintainer feedback.