Rename Thread

Rename Thread

Workflow

Rename the active Codex thread from inside a VS Code Codex extension session.

1. Choose the new thread name.

   • If the user provided a name, use it exactly after trimming surrounding whitespace.
   • If the user did not provide a name, summarize the current thread into a concise title.
   • Prefer 3-8 words, concrete nouns, and no terminal punctuation.
   • Keep the name under 80 characters unless the user explicitly requests a longer name.

2. Confirm there is an active thread id.

   • Prefer the environment variable CODEX_THREAD_ID.
   • If CODEX_THREAD_ID is empty, ask the user for the thread id or explain that the active extension session did not expose one.

3. Run the bundled script:

python ~/.codex/skills/rename-thread/scripts/rename_codex_thread.py --name "New Thread Name"

To rename a known thread id instead of the active thread, pass --thread-id:

python ~/.codex/skills/rename-thread/scripts/rename_codex_thread.py --thread-id "019..." --name "New Thread Name"

4. Report the result, including the final thread name and backup path printed by the script.

5. Tell the user to reload the VS Code or code-server window if the sidebar does not refresh immediately.

Implementation Notes

The script writes a rename overlay into ~/.codex/session_index.jsonl. If the thread already has an index row, it updates thread_name; otherwise it looks up the thread in ~/.codex/state_5.sqlite and appends a row with the thread's existing updated_at value.

Before every write, the script creates a timestamped backup under ~/.codex/session_index_manual_backup/.