Codex Mission Control

A command-center TUI for watching local Codex Desktop/CLI threads.

It reads the same local artifacts as codex-live:

• ~/.codex/state_5.sqlite
• ~/.codex/sessions/**/rollout-*.jsonl

The TUI is file-backed, so it does not depend on the experimental app-server control socket being present. Local control actions use the public Codex CLI, starting with codex resume <thread-id>. The iOS bridge uses a persistent headless codex app-server process for prompts sent from the phone.

Run

Install:

go install github.com/parthsareen/codex-mission-control/cmd/cmc@v0.1.4

go run ./cmd/cmc

Build:

go build -o ./cmc ./cmd/cmc
./cmc

Static render for quick checks:

go run ./cmd/cmc --snapshot

Keys

j/k, up/down   move through threads
tab            switch between thread list and fleet/comms pane
1-9, 0         jump to fleet callsign, with 0 selecting the tenth row
c              open comms for selected thread
d              open nvim DiffviewOpen in the selected thread cwd
n              create a new mission in CMC: pick/create cwd, branch/review optional
/              search chats/folders/worktrees
enter          open comms for selected thread
o              fleet overview
pgup/pgdn      scroll comms history
ctrl+u/d       scroll comms history
[/]            scroll comms history
l              snap back to live/latest
v              visual-select comms lines
y              copy selected/current comms lines
r              resume selected thread through CMC
R or a         ask, then send that prompt through CMC
A              approve selected pending Codex request
S              approve selected pending Codex request for the session
D              deny selected pending Codex request
p              cycle pending Codex requests
t              cycle theme
space          pause/resume live updates
esc            leave focus or cancel prompt
q              quit

Themes: green, cyan, amber, blue, purple, red, white.

Mission Control remembers the last theme, selected thread, pane, comms position, intro splash preference, and seen final timestamps in ~/.codex/mission-control/state.json. Set "intro_splash": false there to skip the startup splash. When enabled, the splash stays up until you press a key.

The startup splash runs quick pre-flight checks for Codex data, SQLite, recent rollout files, the Codex CLI, detached terminal launch support, Git, nvim Diffview, and Mission Control state persistence. Green is ready, yellow is non-blocking degraded mode, and red means a required system failed.

Escalation requests, such as tool calls with sandbox_permissions: "require_escalated", render as ALERT. CMC-initiated turns run through a persistent headless codex app-server, so pending Codex exec and file-change approvals appear in the approvals pane and can be handled with A, S, or D without leaving Mission Control. Threads with a fresh final answer that you have not selected render as red REVIEW until opened.

iOS companion

The ios/CodexSessionControl project is a small SwiftUI app for selecting an existing thread, watching its latest rollout events, and sending a prompt from an iPhone or simulator. For a physical iPhone with Tailscale, start both the Codex bridge and the Zuko approval server in the background with:

cmc serve

cmc serve binds both services only to this Mac's Tailscale IPv4 address by default and prints the two URLs to enter in the iOS app:

• Codex bridge URL, usually http://100.x.y.z:8765
• Zuko approvals URL, usually http://100.x.y.z:9777

For local simulator testing:

cmc serve --local

Check or stop the background services with:

cmc serve --status
cmc serve --stop

cmc-bridge still exists as the bridge-only worker for debugging, but the normal phone workflow should use cmc serve.

On the thread detail screen, the app polls the bridge every 5 seconds for the latest messages/events. You can send a prompt or command into the selected thread through the bridge's persistent headless codex app-server, and optionally override model plus reasoning speed for that turn.

Codex exec and file-change approval prompts are routed to the phone by default; pending requests can be approved or denied with Face ID/passcode confirmation. When you are viewing a thread, matching Codex and Zuko approvals appear inside that thread. The shield button still opens the full approvals sheet, where you can disable Codex approvals or enter the Zuko URL from cmc serve and the token from zuko pair.

The app can also start a new chat. The bridge exposes a project picker rooted at ~/Documents/repos, validates that the chosen directory stays under that root, then starts the new thread in the selected project. For git projects, the new-chat flow can use the selected folder, switch to an existing worktree, or create a new worktree from a selected branch before starting Codex. Use --projects-root <path> if your repo directory lives somewhere else.