codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix apply_patch intermittently hangs/stalls without returning success or error

What version of Codex CLI is running?

codex-cli 0.133.0

What subscription do you have?

Business

Which model were you using?

gpt-5-codex

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.3.0 arm64 arm

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

Codex desktop / Codex shell environment. No terminal multiplexer.

Codex doctor report

What issue are you seeing?

apply_patch intermittently hangs or stalls while applying normal file edits.

When this happens, the tool call does not quickly return either success or a useful failure message. The agent appears blocked waiting for apply_patch, sometimes for more than 30 seconds, and the only practical workaround was to avoid apply_patch and use direct shell-based edits instead. In the latest releases that workaround does not work anymore.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

The issue is intermittent, but the pattern is:

1. Start a Codex session in a local code workspace.
2. Ask Codex to make a small source edit.
3. Codex invokes apply_patch.
4. Sometimes apply_patch stalls instead of returning success or a clear failure.
5. The session remains blocked until the workflow is abandoned or the agent switches to shell- based file edits.

Example class of operation:

• edit an existing source/header/test file
• apply a small patch
• expect the patch tool to return promptly

I do not have a deterministic minimal reproducer yet.

What is the expected behavior?

apply_patch should return deterministically.

If the patch applies, it should return success promptly. If the patch cannot be applied, it should fail promptly with a clear diagnostic. It should not hang or leave the agent blocked without feedback.

Additional information

No response