Codex CLI 0.161.0-alpha.5

What's new

• [new] App-server/protocol support for thread prediction requests and prediction-updated notifications, so clients can ask for and follow predicted thread state.
• [new] A request-user-input path so the agent can ask the user for input over the protocol instead of only consuming what was already typed.
• [new] Agent message-board notifications, so board events can be delivered as structured notifications rather than only as in-band messages.
• [new] The TUI can run in a projectless state, without an opened project directory.
• [changed] Thread goals are richer to set and clear, and a goal can be applied as user context for the thread.
• [changed] Chat composer paste handling in the TUI is split out into its own paste-input path.
• [changed] Local filesystem access in the exec server now goes through file handles and directory reads instead of the previous open/read flow.
• [removed] Empty-state greeting animation in the TUI.

Under the hood

• Exec-server local reads were reworked around file handles; noise-relay traffic now has explicit message framing.
• OpenTelemetry gained dedicated auth storage (including originator) and buffered metrics, so telemetry can be held and flushed more predictably.
• Rollout storage can list files and read compressed rollouts through a blocking reader, which keeps decompression off the async path.
• Session state adds SQLite validation and runtime log maintenance; local thread history can record revisions.
• Chat turns in the TUI have a dedicated turn runtime, and the agents keymap carries an extra binding field.
• MCP client libraries move to rmcp 3.3.0 (from 3.2.0); the previous resolved OAuth store helper is gone. Process wrapping moves to process-wrap 10.0.0.
• Environment-info and Windows requirements payloads picked up extra fields; several older one-off request shapes (including a separate thread-goal get) were dropped in favor of the set/clear and prediction APIs above.