❯ OpenAI tests a persistent Codex mode that works across sessions until put to sleep

spotted in the codeOpenAI is testing a Persistent mode for its coding agent Codex, letting the agent keep working across sessions and create its own follow-up tasks until a user explicitly puts it to sleep. Wired found the code in the repository for Codex’s command-line version. OpenAI says it has no near-term plans to ship the feature and that it remains research-stage.

how it differsExisting modes stop after minutes or hours even when a task is unfinished. According to the code Wired reviewed, once Persistent mode is selected Codex will “continue working until put to sleep,” using past interactions and knowledge of the user to decide what to do next. The code appeared in the command-line repository in August and is not enabled in any shipped build. That CLI has historically been the testbed, and most features there eventually reached the desktop and web clients.

who should plan aheadEnterprise security teams need rules in place first: an agent that runs continuously and assigns itself work needs permission boundaries and audit logs designed for a resident service, not a one-off session. The tighter squeeze is on per-session cost models, which an agent that never clocks off would invalidate entirely.

▪ SIGNALGoing from “run a task” to “always on” changes both the billing unit and the permission model for agents.