codex-auto-continue

Auto-send a follow-up prompt to Codex in tmux after each completed turn.

Quick Start

# Add an alias (optional but recommended)
alias acw='/path/to/codex-auto-continue/bin/auto_continue_watchd.sh'

acw start 2        # window index — opens $EDITOR for the message
acw start %6       # or pane id
acw start uvm      # or tmux window name

That's it. The watcher auto-discovers the Codex thread and sends your message whenever a turn completes.

Commands

start       <target> [thread-id] [--message TEXT | --message-file FILE]
stop        [target]
restart     <target>
edit        <target>
pause       <target>
resume      <target>
pause-all
resume-all
restart-all
status      [target]

<target> is a pane id (%6), window index (2), session:window (0:2), or a tmux window name (uvm).

Custom Message

When starting without --message or --message-file, your $EDITOR opens so you can write a multi-line message interactively. An empty message cancels the start.

You can also provide a message inline or via file:

acw start %0 --message "continue and focus on tests"
acw start 2 --message-file /path/to/msg.txt

To edit the message for a running watcher:

acw edit 2    # opens $EDITOR with the current message

Default message location: ~/.codex/auto_continue.message.txt, falling back to examples/messages/default_continue_message.txt.

How It Works

The watcher polls two event sources to support both old and new Codex versions:

• codex-tui.log — old Codex emits post sampling token usage lines here
• rollout JSONL (~/.codex/sessions/) — new Codex emits task_complete events here

When either source signals a completed turn, the watcher sends the continue message to the tmux pane.

Thread Auto-Discovery

The watcher automatically discovers which Codex session belongs to each pane by inspecting the pane's process tree and checking which rollout file the codex process has open (/proc/PID/fd/). This works reliably even when multiple Codex sessions run on different panes simultaneously.

If the Codex session restarts with a new thread, the watcher re-discovers it automatically during periodic health checks (every 30 seconds).

Live Pane Resolution

After a tmux crash and restart, Codex threads may end up in different panes than where the watcher was originally started. acw status resolves thread→pane mappings dynamically (via /proc/PID/fd/), so the WINDOW and PANE columns always reflect the current tmux layout.

Health Monitoring

Each watcher tracks its health status:

• ok — rollout file is being written, watcher is active
• stale — rollout file hasn't been written in 5+ minutes
• warn — no rollout file found for the tracked thread
• error — rollout channel closed

View health with acw status.

Screenshots

Status overview

$ acw status
Active watchers: 3
WINDOW      STATE    STARTED    LAST_MSG   LAST_ACW   MESSAGE
----------- -------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------
0:1:api     running  2d14h ago  0s ago     4m ago     msg:please continue working on the API...
0:2:tests   running  1d08h ago  12s ago    8m ago     msg:continue writing tests for the auth...
0:3:refac   paused   3d02h ago  1h22m ago  1h22m ago  msg:keep refactoring the database layer...

The columns show:

• WINDOW — session:index:name (uses live tmux state, survives window reordering)
• STARTED — when the Codex thread was created
• LAST_MSG — last activity in the Codex session (rollout file mtime)
• LAST_ACW — when the watcher last sent a continue prompt

Start with interactive editor

$ acw start tests
# $EDITOR opens with an empty buffer — write your multi-line continue message.
# Save and quit to start the watcher. Empty message = cancel.
resolved: target=tests pane=%2
started: pid=48305 pane=%2 thread_id=01a2b3c6-d5e6-7f80-9a1b-2c3d4e5f6a7b

Start with inline message

$ acw start api --message "continue and focus on tests"
resolved: target=api pane=%1
started: pid=49122 pane=%1 thread_id=01a2b3ca-d5e6-7f80-9a1b-2c3d4e5f6a7b

Pause and resume

$ acw pause tests
paused: pane=%2 pid=48305

$ acw resume tests
resumed: pane=%2 pid=48305

$ acw pause-all
paused: pane=%1 pid=48201
paused: pane=%2 pid=48305

Edit message for a running watcher

$ acw edit tests
# $EDITOR opens pre-filled with the current message.
# Save and quit to update. The watcher restarts with the new message.
resolved: target=tests pane=%2
stopped: pane=%2 pid=48305
started: pid=49501 pane=%2 thread_id=01a2b3c6-d5e6-7f80-9a1b-2c3d4e5f6a7b

Requirements

• python3, tmux, pstree
• Codex CLI
• Linux (uses /proc for thread discovery)