Issue Station
Sign In
Tools hereToolbox

codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Feature request: Claude-style /recap, plus /btw alias for /side [2 comments, 3 participants]

Official PRs (…)
ON THIS PAGE

Recommended Tools

×6

Utilities matched from this issue’s tags and category — try them while you read without losing context.

GitHub issue graph ai analysis

Paste a GitHub issue URL. We fetch that issue, discover linked issues from bodies/comments/timeline, collect linked pull requests, and produce a structured English report.

The report is written in English Markdown for sharing and archival.

Helpful · Quick feedback

Loading…
GitHub stats
openai/codex#18884•Fetched 2026-04-22 07:51:06
View on GitHub
Comments
2
Participants
3
Timeline
8
Reactions
0
Author
yizhoupan3-debugyizhoupan3-debug
Participants
etraut-openaietraut-openaigithub-actions[bot]github-actions[bot]yizhoupan3-debugyizhoupan3-debug
Timeline (top)
labeled ×4commented ×2unlabeled ×2
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

What variant of Codex are you using?

CLI, CODEX APP

What feature would you like to see?

Two small but very high-leverage session UX features that Claude Code users already have:

  1. A built-in /recap command
  2. A /btw alias for the existing /side flow

I know Codex already has /side (thank you, that is useful). The main gap now is that Claude users often reach for two habits together:

  • /btw for a side question that should not pollute the main thread
  • /recap to quickly recover the state of a long-running session before continuing work

Why this would help

For longer sessions, resume/fork/return workflows are where Codex still feels heavier than Claude Code. The missing piece is not raw capability, but quick recovery of context and muscle-memory-friendly commands.

/recap would be especially helpful when:

  • resuming an older thread
  • returning after a long tool-heavy run
  • preparing to continue work after context compaction
  • checking current goals / constraints / next steps without asking for a full natural-language summary in the main thread

And /btw as an alias would help people coming from Claude Code immediately discover that Codex already supports the same side-conversation pattern via /side.

Proposed behavior

/recap

A manual command that produces a compact, structured summary of the current thread, for example:

  • current task
  • key constraints
  • important files / surfaces
  • decisions already made
  • next recommended step

Important: this should be a lightweight user-invoked recap, not only an automatic compaction artifact.

/btw

A simple alias for /side, with the same semantics:

  • open a side conversation
  • keep the main thread clean
  • return to the main thread without contaminating its working context

Related issues

  • #18125 added /side for side conversations, which is great
  • #16291 asks for better summary visibility around /resume
  • #18637 asks for improved resume hint rendering
  • #10823 shows long-session/context recovery is still a real pain point

Additional information

If maintainers prefer to keep only one command internally, /btw does not need separate implementation logic; an alias to /side would already solve the discoverability / migration problem for many Claude Code users.

The bigger request is really /recap: a fast, explicit “where are we and what should I do next?” command for the current session.

extent analysis

TL;DR

Implementing a /recap command and a /btw alias for /side can improve session UX by providing quick context recovery and muscle-memory-friendly commands.

Guidance

  • Consider adding a /recap command that generates a compact, structured summary of the current thread, including key information such as current task, constraints, and next steps.
  • Implementing a /btw alias for /side can help users coming from Claude Code discover the existing side-conversation feature in Codex.
  • Review related issues (#18125, #16291, #18637, #10823) to ensure the new features align with existing functionality and address known pain points.
  • If implementing separate logic for /btw is not feasible, consider an alias to /side as a minimal solution to improve discoverability and migration for Claude Code users.

Example

No code snippet is provided as the issue focuses on feature requests rather than specific implementation details.

Notes

The implementation of /recap and /btw may require careful consideration of existing features and user workflows to ensure a seamless integration.

Recommendation

Apply workaround: Implement the /recap command and /btw alias as described, focusing on providing a fast and explicit way to recover context and navigate sessions, which can significantly improve user experience.

Vote matrix · Quick signals

Works
Did the solution work? Tap to confirm.
Easy Fix
Was it a quick fix?
Time Saver
Did it save you time?
Blocking
Was it severely blocking?
Common Issue
Are others likely hitting this too?
Flaky / Intermittent
Is it intermittent?
Verified / Reproducible
Can you reproduce it reliably?
Loading…
#GPU setup#container setup#orchestration issue#cache issue#memory leak

Still need to ship something?

×6

Another batch ranked right after the header list — different links, same matching logic.

Back to top recommendations

TRENDING

codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Feature request: Claude-style /recap, plus /btw alias for /side [2 comments, 3 participants]