codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix /copy only copies the latest assistant step instead of the full multi-step response [4 comments, 3 participants]

Summary

When Codex produces output in multiple assistant steps, the /copy command only copies the most recent step to the clipboard. This makes it easy to lose important earlier parts of the answer, especially when Codex has produced a long explanation, a patch, a diff, or staged instructions over several steps.

Problem

In a long Codex interaction, the assistant response may be split into several visible steps. However, when using:

/copy

or the keyboard shortcut:

Ctrl-O

only the latest visible step is copied.

This is very limiting because the user often expects /copy to copy the complete assistant response, not just the last fragment.

Example

A user asks Codex to produce a fix. Codex responds in several steps, for example:

1. Explanation of the issue
2. Proposed approach
3. Patch/diff
4. Follow-up notes

When the user runs /copy, only step 4 is copied, while steps 1–3 are omitted.

In my case, the important part was an exact diff, but /copy only captured the latest step instead of the whole response.

Expected behavior

/copy should offer a way to copy the entire assistant response, including all assistant-generated steps that belong to the current turn.

At minimum, there should be a clear distinction between:

• Copy latest step
• Copy full assistant response
• Copy full conversation turn
• Copy selected block/diff/code section

Actual behavior

/copy copies only the latest assistant step.

This is surprising because the UI presents the multi-step output as part of the same assistant response, but the clipboard only receives the last part.

Why this matters

This is especially problematic for coding workflows because Codex often emits useful output progressively:

• diffs
• build logs
• patch explanations
• terminal commands
• multi-file change plans
• follow-up instructions

If only the last step is copied, users can accidentally paste incomplete patches or lose the reasoning and context needed to apply a fix safely.

For long debugging sessions, this is not just inconvenient. It can make the output unreliable to use outside the terminal.

Suggested fix

Add a copy mode that copies the entire assistant response/turn, not only the latest step.

Possible UI/CLI behavior:

/copy latest
/copy response
/copy turn
/copy all
/copy selection

Or make /copy default to the full assistant response, and provide a separate command for copying only the latest step.

Environment

• Product: Codex CLI
• Observed behavior: /copy or Ctrl-O only copies the latest assistant step
• Use case: Long multi-step coding/debugging responses with diffs and patch instructions

Impact

High usability impact for CLI-based coding workflows.

The current behavior makes /copy unreliable when Codex output is split across multiple steps.