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codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Codex-cli lag on every prompt when "background" apps/plugins discovery requests not disabled

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Fix Action

Fix / Workaround

  • This was observed in uploaded thread: 019da62a-5035-7b70-8505- 6d021c0bd416000
    • The actual Ouroboros MCP tool call was fast; the delay was on the Codex side.
    • The problem appears tied specifically to the apps and plugins feature paths.
    • The current workaround is:
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

What version of Codex CLI is running?

codex-cli 0.121.0

What subscription do you have?

pro

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.4

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

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

Powershell 7

What issue are you seeing?

Normal CLI responses stall for ~60-90 seconds while Codex performs background apps/plugins discovery requests that fail behind Cloudflare. The actual tool or prompt work is fast; the delay is dominated by these background lookups.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Uploaded thread: 019da62a-5035-7b70-8505-6d021c0bd416

  1. Start a fresh Codex CLI session on Windows with the default feature set, leaving apps and plugins enabled.
  2. Use a trivial prompt or command that uses a local MCP server such as ooo help or other short requests that should return quickly. ooo help is to use the ouroboros skill.
  3. Observe that each response can take roughly 60-90 seconds even when the actual work is trivial.
  4. Check ~/.codex/log/codex-tui.log.
  5. The log shows repeated background discovery failures like:
    • failed to load discoverable tool suggestions
    • failed to warm featured plugin ids cache
    • startup remote plugin sync failed
  6. The failing requests are to endpoints such as:
    • /backend-api//connectors/directory/list? tier=categorized&external_logos=true
    • /backend-api/plugins/list
    • /backend-api/plugins/featured
  7. Those requests return 403 Forbidden plus a Cloudflare HTML challenge page (Enable JavaScript and cookies to continue).
  8. Add this to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[features] apps = false plugins = false

  1. Restart Codex CLI and repeat the same prompt.
  2. Latency drops dramatically. In my case it went from over a minute to about 7 seconds.

What is the expected behavior?

Background discovery for apps/plugins/connectors should not materially delay normal CLI responses. If those lookups fail, Codex should fail fast, cache the failure, or continue without blocking the user-visible turn.

Additional information

  • This was observed in uploaded thread: 019da62a-5035-7b70-8505- 6d021c0bd416000

    • The actual Ouroboros MCP tool call was fast; the delay was on the Codex side.
    • The problem appears tied specifically to the apps and plugins feature paths.
    • The current workaround is:

    [features] apps = false plugins = false

    • It would be helpful if:
      • these lookups were fully async/non-blocking
      • failures were cached
      • CLI did not depend on browser-style JS/cookie-protected endpoints for background discovery
      • there were documented config flags for disabling this behavior

I hope this hasn't been chewing tokens unnecessarily.

extent analysis

TL;DR

Disable apps and plugins features in the Codex CLI configuration to mitigate the delay caused by background discovery requests.

Guidance

  • The delay is likely caused by the Codex CLI's background discovery requests for apps and plugins, which are failing due to Cloudflare's JavaScript and cookie requirements.
  • To verify the issue, check the ~/.codex/log/codex-tui.log file for repeated background discovery failures and 403 Forbidden responses from Cloudflare.
  • To mitigate the issue, add the following configuration to ~/.codex/config.toml: 
    [features]
apps = false
plugins = false
    and restart the Codex CLI.
  • Consider using asynchronous or non-blocking requests for background discovery to prevent delays in the future.

Notes

The provided workaround disables the apps and plugins features, which may not be desirable for all users. A more permanent solution would involve modifying the Codex CLI to handle background discovery requests in a non-blocking manner or caching failures to prevent repeated requests.

Recommendation

Apply the workaround by disabling apps and plugins features in the configuration file, as it provides a significant reduction in latency. This workaround is recommended until a more permanent solution is implemented to handle background discovery requests.

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