codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Pet overlay should show compact main-agent status [1 participants]

What variant of Codex are you using?

Codex Desktop App on Windows

Observed locally:

• AppX package version: OpenAI.Codex 26.429.2026.0
• Platform: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64
• Model shown in the session: GPT-5.5

What feature would you like to see?

Please make the Codex Desktop pet overlay act as a compact main-agent status indicator.

The pet overlay is most useful when it gives the user a quick, low-distraction sense of what the main Codex agent is doing. Instead of relying on long assistant text inside a small bubble, the overlay should surface short, stable status labels that fit reliably at a glance.

Requested behavior:

• Show the main agent's current execution state with short labels, for example:
  • Thinking
  • Reading files
  • Running command
  • Writing changes
  • Running tests
  • Waiting for user
  • Done
  • Blocked
• Optionally show one short task title, such as Checking settings or Reviewing diff.
• Keep the default pet bubble compact and readable, with text that does not truncate in normal use.
• If more detail is available, allow the user to click the pet or bubble to expand a fuller status view.
• Add a setting with modes such as:
  • pet only
  • pet + compact status
  • pet + expandable details
• Keep the pet status synchronized with the main chat execution phases, especially thinking, file reading, command execution, waiting for user input, blocked, and done.

Additional information

The current overlay can display longer assistant/task text in a small bubble, which makes the text easy to truncate and lowers its usefulness as a status surface. A compact status model would make the pet feature more useful without turning it into a full output panel.

This issue was discussed and filed with assistance from Codex GPT-5.5 on behalf of the user.