codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Make bare Esc interrupt configurable or ignore it during IME/text input

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

all

What subscription do you have?

plus

What platform is your computer?

mac

What issue are you seeing?

Problem

In Codex Desktop, pressing bare Esc while an agent is running immediately interrupts/stops the current agent turn.

This is easy to trigger accidentally for users of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other IME-based input methods. In these input flows, Esc is commonly used to cancel composition text or candidate selection. If Codex has focus while the agent is working, one normal IME-related Esc press can stop the entire in-progress agent run.

The behavior is especially frustrating because this shortcut does not appear to be exposed in Keyboard Shortcuts, so users cannot disable or remap it.

Expected behavior

Esc should not be a non-configurable global interrupt key.

At minimum, Codex should ignore bare Esc for agent interruption when:

• A text input/composer/editor has focus
• IME composition is active
• A candidate/composition flow may be in progress

Suggested fixes

Any of these would solve or reduce the problem:

• Expose “Interrupt current turn/agent” in Keyboard Shortcuts so users can remap or clear it.
• Do not bind interrupt to bare Esc by default.
• Use a less collision-prone shortcut such as Cmd+. or Ctrl+C.
• Require confirmation for bare Esc interruption.
• Treat Esc as input/IME cancellation first, and agent interruption only when no text/IME context is active.

Why this matters

For non-English users, especially CJK users, Esc is a normal part of text entry. Mapping it to an irreversible agent interruption creates frequent accidental cancellations and makes Codex Desktop much harder to use.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

easy

What is the expected behavior?

No response

Additional information

No response