codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Codex App: allow configuring default directory for projectless thread workspaces

What version of the Codex App are you using (From "About Codex" dialog)?

26.513.20950 (2816)

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT user, default service tier shown as fast

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.4.0 arm64 arm

What issue are you seeing?

Codex App creates new projectless thread workspaces under a fixed ~/Documents/Codex/<date>/<slug> directory. I want projectless/generated local workspaces to default to a user-chosen directory, for example ~/projects, but I could not find a documented ~/.codex/config.toml setting or app setting for this.

Observed local state for a projectless thread points at:

"thread-workspace-root-hints": {
  "<thread-id>": "/Users/<user>/Documents/Codex"
}

The generated workspace for a new projectless thread was:

/Users/<user>/Documents/Codex/2026-05-15/<thread-slug>

I also checked the documented Codex configuration reference and found settings for trusted projects, sandbox writable roots, project root markers, etc., but no documented option for the projectless workspace root/default generated project directory.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Open Codex App on macOS.
2. Start a new projectless chat/thread rather than opening an existing project folder.
3. Ask Codex to create or inspect local files.
4. Observe that the current working directory is created under ~/Documents/Codex/<date>/<thread-slug>.
5. Check ~/.codex/config.toml and the Codex configuration docs for a setting to change this default to another root such as ~/projects.

What is the expected behavior?

Codex App should provide a documented setting to choose the default root directory for projectless/generated local workspaces.

For example, either a UI setting or a documented config key such as:

projectless_workspace_root = "/Users/<user>/projects"

With that configured, new projectless threads would be created under:

/Users/<user>/projects/Codex/<date>/<thread-slug>

or another documented structure under the chosen root.

Additional information

Related but distinct issue: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/10599 covers configuring Git worktree location under ~/.codex/worktrees. This report is about the Codex App's projectless thread workspace location under ~/Documents/Codex.