aia-website/AUTONOMOUS-CODEX.md

Autonomous Codex

Use the project launcher to run Codex with the azi4a2-autonomous permission profile:

./codex-auto

Start a fresh session with this command. Running plain codex, opening Codex through an editor integration, or continuing an already-running session does not automatically activate this profile.

For a non-interactive task:

./codex-auto exec "Continue the Astro migration, verify the build and audits, and document unresolved issues."

The launcher automatically permits non-interactive runs in this mounted workspace even when Codex cannot discover its Git metadata.

The profile:

• never pauses for approval
• automatically permits configured Playwright and OpenAI documentation MCP tools
• limits filesystem access to minimal runtime files plus this project
• allows writes in this project
• keeps .codex and www.azinstitute4autism.com read-only
• permits read-only Git inspection
• enables live web search and outbound network retrievals

Outbound network access is domain-unrestricted because package installation and retrieval sources vary. The sandbox cannot distinguish a retrieval from another outbound request, so do not place secrets in project files or task prompts.

The profile is stored outside the workspace at:

~/.codex/azi4a2-autonomous.config.toml

Do not add --sandbox; legacy sandbox flags override the custom permission profile. Do not use --dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox.

The launcher also applies these session overrides:

approval_policy="never"
mcp_servers.playwright.default_tools_approval_mode="approve"
mcp_servers.playwright.tool_timeout_sec=300
mcp_servers.openaiDeveloperDocs.default_tools_approval_mode="approve"
mcp_servers.openaiDeveloperDocs.tool_timeout_sec=300

The server-level approve settings pre-approve MCP tools without writing incompatible per-tool approval tables into the profile. These settings allow MCP tools to run without approval prompts and give long-running browser operations up to five minutes. An MCP server may still fail or time out. MCP elicitations that inherently require user input are rejected rather than shown as unattended prompts.

Do not persist an individual MCP tool approval when prompted by an older or misconfigured session. Codex CLI 0.133.0 may write a per-tool table that the profile-v2 parser rejects on the next launch.

Verification

The nested setup smoke test confirmed that the project is readable and ~/.codex/auth.json is not readable. In the current host session, sandboxed shell retrievals resolved domains but were reset by the beta network proxy. After launching ./codex-auto directly, verify shell retrievals with:

curl -fsS https://registry.npmjs.org/astro >/dev/null

Live web search is separate from shell network access and remains enabled.

In the current environment, the beta network proxy permits retrievals but sandboxed command-line tools may fail HTTPS certificate verification. Do not disable certificate verification for package installation or sensitive retrievals; use live web search or review the retrieval from the host instead.

Optional local browser environment

The repository now provides a Linux-only browser development shell, separate from the default content-editing shell. In a normal host terminal, from the repository root:

nix --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes" develop .#browser

It supplies a lockfile-matched Playwright driver, Chromium, headless shell and font configuration. New processes launched inside this shell inherit PLAYWRIGHT_MODULE and PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH; existing sessions do not. For a guarded real-page smoke test, run from www:

TMPDIR=/tmp npm run build
TMPDIR=/tmp node tools/playwright-smoke.mjs

Preview and browser run in the same process environment, avoiding dependence on remote MCP transport or cross-execution loopback access. All non-loopback and non-GET/HEAD browser requests are blocked. Results/screenshots stay in /tmp. The tool does not grant access to files or sockets denied by the autonomous profile. If Nix realization, Chromium startup or loopback access is denied, keep that result as an environment limitation and use the normal host terminal; do not weaken TLS, identity, signing or sandbox configuration. No global MCP configuration or launcher permissions were changed for this setup.

Git limitation

Codex always protects .git recursively in its workspace-write sandbox. Agents can inspect Git state and diffs, but cannot stage or commit. This cannot be overridden by a permissions profile.

For autonomous commits, use an outer container or VM as the security boundary, mount only this project into it, and run Codex with full access inside that isolated environment. Otherwise, review and commit agent changes from the host.

Writes that appear to succeed directly under /home/alice are made to the sandbox's temporary in-memory root. They do not modify the host home directory.

Check the startup banner before assigning work. It should report:

approval: never
sandbox: workspace-write ... (network access enabled)

Then check the MCP configuration:

/mcp verbose