codex.md

summary	Codex provider data sources: OpenAI web dashboard, Codex CLI RPC, credits, and local cost usage.
read_when	Debugging Codex usage/credits parsing Updating OpenAI dashboard scraping or cookie import Changing Codex CLI RPC or diagnostic PTY behavior Reviewing local cost usage scanning

Codex provider

Codex has three automatic usage data paths (OAuth API, web dashboard, CLI RPC) plus a manual CLI PTY diagnostic parser and a local cost-usage scanner. The OAuth API is the default app source when credentials are available; web access is optional for dashboard extras.

Data sources + fallback order

App default selection (debug menu disabled)

1. OAuth API (auth.json credentials).
2. CLI RPC through codex app-server.
3. If OpenAI web extras are enabled and a matching OpenAI web session is available (Automatic or Manual cookies), dashboard extras load as a separate follow-up refresh and the source label becomes primary + openai-web.

Usage source picker:

• Preferences → Providers → Codex → Usage source (Auto/OAuth/CLI).

CLI default selection (--source auto)

1. OpenAI web dashboard (when available).
2. Codex CLI RPC through codex app-server.

OAuth API (preferred for the app)

• Reads OAuth tokens from ~/.codex/auth.json (or $CODEX_HOME/auth.json).
• Refreshes access tokens when last_refresh is older than 8 days.
• Calls GET https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/wham/usage (default) with Authorization: Bearer <token>.
• The app reads reset-credit inventory once per refresh with a best-effort GET https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/wham/rate-limit-reset-credits using the same account-scoped OAuth context; the CLI requests it only when optional credits are included.
• The menu and provider settings list every still-available expiry, while the optional credits setting controls nearing-expiry notifications. QuotaKit does not redeem or modify reset credits.
• rate_limit.primary_window / secondary_window map to the session/weekly lanes.
• additional_rate_limits[] (model-specific limits such as GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark) map to named UsageSnapshot.extraRateWindows entries. Spark uses stable codex-spark / codex-spark-weekly ids and Codex Spark 5-hour / Codex Spark Weekly titles. When the field is absent, the snapshot is unchanged.
• Preferences → Providers → Codex → Show Codex Spark usage hides only the Spark rows in menus and the provider preview. It does not change fetching, history, notifications, widgets, credits, or other extra limits.

Advanced profile-home accounts

• Managed Codex accounts remain the default multi-account path.
• Advanced users can add existing Codex homes to ~/.quotakit/config.json with providers[].codexProfileHomePaths.
• Each configured path must be absolute or start with ~/, and point at a Codex home that contains auth.json.
• QuotaKit reads identity from the configured home, exposes it in the Codex account switcher, and scopes remote Codex fetches with CODEX_HOME.
• Profile homes are not copied, reauthenticated, or removed by QuotaKit.

Example:

{
  "id": "codex",
  "codexProfileHomePaths": [
    "~/.codex-work",
    "~/.codex-personal"
  ]
}

OpenAI web dashboard (optional, off by default)

• Enable it in Preferences -> Providers -> Codex -> OpenAI web extras.
• It exists for dashboard-only extras such as code review remaining, usage breakdown, and credits history.
• It is intentionally opt-in because it loads chatgpt.com in a hidden WebView and can materially increase battery or network usage.
• OpenAI web battery saver is a separate toggle. When enabled, routine background/settings-driven refreshes are reduced, but explicit manual refreshes still run.
• OpenAI web battery saver currently defaults to off.
• Preferences → Providers → Codex → OpenAI cookies (Automatic or Manual).
• URL: https://chatgpt.com/codex/settings/usage.
• Uses an off-screen WKWebView with a per-account WKWebsiteDataStore.
  • Store key: deterministic UUID from the normalized email.
• WebKit store can hold multiple accounts concurrently.
• Cookie import (Automatic mode, when WebKit store has no matching session or login required):
  1. Safari: ~/Library/Cookies/Cookies.binarycookies
  2. Chrome/Chromium forks: ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/*/Cookies
  3. Firefox: ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/*/cookies.sqlite
  • Domains loaded: chatgpt.com, openai.com.
  • No cookie-name filter; we import all matching domain cookies.
• Cached cookies: Keychain cache com.steipete.quotakit.cache (account cookie.codex, source + timestamp). Reused before re-importing from browsers.
• Manual cookie header:
  • Paste the Cookie: header from a chatgpt.com request in Preferences → Providers → Codex.
  • Used when OpenAI cookies are set to Manual.
• Account match:
  • Signed-in email extracted from client-bootstrap JSON in HTML (or __NEXT_DATA__).
  • If Codex email is known and does not match, the web path is rejected.
• Web scrape payload (via OpenAIDashboardScrapeScript + OpenAIDashboardParser):
  • Rate limits (5h + weekly) parsed from body text.
  • Credits remaining parsed from body text.
  • Code review remaining (%).
  • Usage breakdown chart (Recharts bar data + legend colors).
  • Credits usage history table rows.
  • Credits purchase URL (best-effort).
• Errors surfaced:
  • Login required or Cloudflare interstitial.

Codex CLI RPC (automatic CLI source)

• Launches local RPC server: codex -s read-only -a untrusted app-server.
• JSON-RPC over stdin/stdout:
  • initialize (client name/version)
  • account/read
  • account/rateLimits/read
• RPC reads are bounded: initialization has a longer startup budget, and normal requests have a shorter per-method timeout. On timeout, QuotaKit terminates the child codex app-server process so the stdout reader unwinds instead of leaving refresh stuck indefinitely.
• Provides:
  • Usage windows (primary + secondary) with reset timestamps.
  • Credits snapshot (balance, hasCredits, unlimited).
  • Account identity (email + plan type) when available.
• App-server errors are terminal for the CLI strategy, except when Codex includes a recoverable wham/usage JSON body in the error text.
• If macOS blocks or quarantines the codex executable, QuotaKit records the launch failure and skips background CLI launches for 30 minutes. Use a manual refresh after reinstalling or unblocking codex to retry immediately.
• QuotaKit also discovers the Codex CLI bundled with current ChatGPT and legacy Codex desktop apps, even when codex is absent from the shell PATH.
• If managed Codex account login still reports a missing executable, turn on Show debug settings in Settings > Advanced, then check Settings > Debug > CLI Paths. When no Codex binary appears there, confirm codex --version works in Terminal, check which -a codex for stale duplicate installs, then run npm install -g --include=optional @openai/codex@latest before retrying Add Account.

Codex CLI PTY diagnostics (/status)

• Manual/debug parser only; automatic background refresh and QuotaKitCLI usage --source cli do not launch bare Codex TUI.
• Kept for explicit diagnostics/parser coverage because bare codex TUI can start interactive auth and open browser tabs.
• Parses rendered /status output:
  • Credits: line
  • 5h limit line → percent + reset text
  • Weekly limit line → percent + reset text
• Detects update prompts and surfaces a "CLI update needed" error.

Account identity resolution (for web matching)

1. Latest Codex usage snapshot (from RPC, if available).
2. ~/.codex/auth.json (JWT claims: email + plan).
3. OpenAI dashboard signed-in email (cached).
4. Last imported browser cookie email (cached).

Credits

• Web dashboard fills credits only when OAuth/CLI do not provide them.
• CLI RPC: account/rateLimits/read → credits balance.
• CLI PTY diagnostics can still parse Credits: from saved/manual /status output.

Cost usage (local log scan)

• Menu source selection:
  • By default, a selected managed account keeps its own CODEX_HOME session history.
  • Local session cost estimates is a Codex-only opt-in that instead scans this Mac's ambient $CODEX_HOME (or ~/.codex) independently of quota, OAuth, web-dashboard, and administrator access.
  • The local-only mode never makes a network request or uploads session content. It uses an existing local models.dev cache when available, then the bundled CostUsagePricing rates.
• Source files:
  • Native Codex logs:
    • ~/.codex/sessions/YYYY/MM/DD/*.jsonl
    • ~/.codex/archived_sessions/*.jsonl (flat; date inferred from filename when present)
    • Or $CODEX_HOME/sessions/... + $CODEX_HOME/archived_sessions/... if CODEX_HOME is set.
  • Supported pi sessions:
    • ~/.pi/agent/sessions/**/*.jsonl
• Scanner:
  • Native Codex logs parse event_msg token_count entries and turn_context model markers; when both are present, turn_context is authoritative for the model bucket.
  • pi sessions count assistant-message usage rows and attribute openai-codex assistant usage to Codex.
  • pi assistant usage is bucketed by assistant-turn timestamp, so mixed-model pi sessions can contribute to multiple days/models correctly.
  • Native conversation rows reuse the corrected cached per-file totals and existing pricing tables. They are hidden when pi usage joins the aggregate because the native-only rows would not reconcile with the merged total.
• Cache:
  • Native + merged provider cache: ~/Library/Caches/CodexBar/cost-usage/codex-v11.json
  • pi-compatible session cache: ~/Library/Caches/CodexBar/cost-usage/pi-sessions-v7.json
• Window: configurable 1-365 day rolling history, with a 60s minimum refresh interval.

Usage & Spend account rows

Settings → Usage & Spend performs a separate fixed 30-day scan for every visible Codex account. Each request freezes the account source, exact Codex home, authentication fingerprint, and cache identity before scanning. A missing or invalid home is omitted; it never falls back to ambient ~/.codex or to the global Codex token snapshot.

These account rows intentionally exclude pi sessions because pi history is machine-local rather than owned by one Codex account. The normal Codex cost menu and CLI scan continue to include supported pi history. The dashboard labels its values as local estimates and keeps currencies separate.

Key files

• Web: Sources/QuotaKitCore/OpenAIWeb/*
• CLI RPC + diagnostic PTY parser: Sources/QuotaKitCore/UsageFetcher.swift, Sources/QuotaKitCore/Providers/Codex/CodexStatusProbe.swift
• Cost usage: Sources/QuotaKitCore/CostUsageFetcher.swift, Sources/QuotaKitCore/PiSessionCostScanner.swift, Sources/QuotaKitCore/PiSessionCostCache.swift, Sources/QuotaKitCore/Vendored/CostUsage/*