Codex crashes when CWD is unlinked

Reproduce the crash by starting Codex in /tmp/gone, removing that directory, and observing the "turn/start failed in TUI" path and Rust stack trace. Trace the turn/start handling from that entry point and make the unlinked original CWD case complete without crashing, then rerun the reproduction.

What version of Codex CLI is running?

codex-cli 0.145.0

What subscription do you have?

Enterprise

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.6-sol

What platform is your computer?

Linux 6.16.1 x86_64

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

tmux

Codex doctor report

{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "generatedAt": "<redacted-timestamp>",
  "overallStatus": "fail",
  "codexVersion": "0.145.0",
  "checks": {
    "app_server.status": {
      "id": "app_server.status",
      "category": "app-server",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "background server is not running",
      "details": {
        "control socket": "<codex-home>/app-server-control/app-server-control.sock",
        "daemon state dir": "<codex-home>/app-server-daemon",
        "mode": "ephemeral",
        "pid file": "<codex-home>/app-server-daemon/app-server.pid (missing)",
        "settings": "<codex-home>/app-server-daemon/settings.json (missing)",
        "status": "not running",
        "update-loop pid file": "<codex-home>/app-server-daemon/app-server-updater.pid (missing)"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "auth.credentials": {
      "id": "auth.credentials",
      "category": "auth",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "auth is provided by the active model provider",
      "details": {
        "auth env vars present": "<auth-env-var>",
        "auth file": "<codex-home>/auth.json",
        "auth storage mode": "File",
        "model provider requires OpenAI auth": "false",
        "provider auth env var": "<auth-env-var> (present)"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "config.load": {
      "id": "config.load",
      "category": "config",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "config loaded",
      "details": {
        "CODEX_HOME": "<codex-home>",
        "config.toml": "<codex-home>/config.toml",
        "config.toml parse": "ok",
        "cwd": "/home/<user>",
        "enabled feature flags": "<redacted feature list>",
        "feature flag overrides": "<redacted overrides>",
        "feature flags enabled": "33",
        "log dir": "<codex-home>/log",
        "mcp servers": "1",
        "model": "<configured model>",
        "model provider": "responses",
        "sqlite home": "<codex-home>"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "git.environment": {
      "id": "git.environment",
      "category": "git",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "git version 2.52.0",
      "details": {
        "PATH git #1": "<git-bin>",
        "PATH git #2": "<git-bin>",
        "PATH git entries": "2",
        "git build options": "git version 2.52.0; cpu: x86_64; no commit associated with this build; sizeof-long: 8; sizeof-size_t: 8; shell-path: /bin/sh; rust: disabled; libcurl: 7.76.1; OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.5.1 1 Jul 2025; zlib: 1.2.11; SHA-1: SHA1_DC; SHA-256: SHA256_BLK; default-ref-format: files; default-hash: sha1",
        "git exec path": "<git-exec-path>",
        "git version": "git version 2.52.0",
        "repo detected": "false",
        "selected git": "<git-bin>"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 11
    },
    "installation": {
      "id": "installation",
      "category": "install",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "installation looks consistent",
      "details": {
        "PATH codex #1": "<codex-bin>",
        "PATH codex #2": "<codex-bin>",
        "PATH codex entries": "2",
        "current executable": "<codex-executable>",
        "install context": "other",
        "managed by bun": "false",
        "managed by npm": "false",
        "managed by pnpm": "false",
        "managed package root": "not set"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "mcp.config": {
      "id": "mcp.config",
      "category": "mcp",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "MCP configuration is locally consistent",
      "details": {
        "configured servers": "1",
        "disabled servers": "0",
        "stdio servers": "1"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "network.env": {
      "id": "network.env",
      "category": "network",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "network-related environment looks readable",
      "details": {
        "proxy env vars present": "<proxy env vars present>"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "network.provider_reachability": {
      "id": "network.provider_reachability",
      "category": "reachability",
      "status": "fail",
      "summary": "one or more required provider endpoints are unreachable over HTTP",
      "details": {
        "reachability mode": "provider auth",
        "responses API base URL": "https://<redacted-internal-host>/openai/<redacted> error sending request for url (https://<redacted-internal-host>/openai/<redacted>) (required)"
      },
      "remediation": "Check proxy, VPN, firewall, DNS, and custom CA configuration.",
      "durationMs": 137
    },
    "network.websocket_reachability": {
      "id": "network.websocket_reachability",
      "category": "websocket",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "Responses WebSocket is not enabled for the active provider",
      "details": {
        "model provider": "responses",
        "provider name": "Azure",
        "proxy env vars present": "<proxy env vars present>",
        "supports websockets": "false",
        "wire API": "responses"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "runtime.provenance": {
      "id": "runtime.provenance",
      "category": "runtime",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "running local build on linux-x86_64",
      "details": {
        "commit": "unknown",
        "current executable": "<codex-executable>",
        "install method": "other",
        "platform": "linux-x86_64",
        "version": "0.145.0"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "runtime.search": {
      "id": "runtime.search",
      "category": "search",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "search is OK (system)",
      "details": {
        "search command": "rg",
        "search command readiness": "ripgrep 14.1.1",
        "search provider": "system"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 1
    },
    "sandbox.helpers": {
      "id": "sandbox.helpers",
      "category": "sandbox",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "sandbox configuration is readable",
      "details": {
        "approval policy": "UnlessTrusted",
        "codex-linux-sandbox helper": "<codex-home>/tmp/arg0/codex-arg07beq49/codex-linux-sandbox",
        "execve wrapper helper": "<codex-home>/tmp/arg0/codex-arg07beq49/codex-execve-wrapper",
        "filesystem sandbox": "unrestricted",
        "network sandbox": "enabled"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "state.paths": {
      "id": "state.paths",
      "category": "state",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "state paths and databases are inspectable",
      "details": {
        "CODEX_HOME": "<codex-home> (dir)",
        "active rollout files": "64 files, 58768622 total bytes, 918259 average bytes",
        "archived rollout files": "0 files, 0 total bytes, 0 average bytes",
        "goals DB": "<codex-home>/goals_1.sqlite (file)",
        "goals DB integrity": "ok",
        "log DB": "<codex-home>/logs_2.sqlite (file)",
        "log DB integrity": "ok",
        "log dir": "<codex-home>/log (missing)",
        "memories DB": "<codex-home>/memories_1.sqlite (file)",
        "memories DB integrity": "ok",
        "sqlite home": "<codex-home> (dir)",
        "state DB": "<codex-home>/state_5.sqlite (file)",
        "state DB integrity": "ok",
        "thread history DB": "<codex-home>/thread_history_1.sqlite (missing)",
        "thread history DB integrity": "skipped (missing)"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 164
    },
    "state.rollout_db_parity": {
      "id": "state.rollout_db_parity",
      "category": "threads",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "rollout files and state DB thread inventory agree",
      "details": {
        "default model provider": "responses",
        "rollout DB active files": "64",
        "rollout DB active rows": "64",
        "rollout DB archive mismatches": "0",
        "rollout DB archived files": "0",
        "rollout DB archived rows": "0",
        "rollout DB duplicate DB paths": "0",
        "rollout DB duplicate rollout thread ids": "0",
        "rollout DB malformed file names": "0",
        "rollout DB missing active rows": "0",
        "rollout DB missing archived rows": "0",
        "rollout DB model providers": "responses=64",
        "rollout DB rows": "64",
        "rollout DB scan cap reached": "false",
        "rollout DB scan errors": "0",
        "rollout DB sources": "cli=41, subagent:thread_spawn=22, subagent:other=1",
        "rollout DB stale rows": "0"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 25
    },
    "system.environment": {
      "id": "system.environment",
      "category": "system",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "OS language C",
      "details": {
        "EDITOR": "set",
        "GH_PAGER": "set",
        "GIT_PAGER": "set",
        "LANG": "en_US.UTF-8",
        "LC_ALL": "C.UTF-8",
        "LC_CTYPE": "C.UTF-8",
        "LESS": "set",
        "PAGER": "set",
        "VISUAL": "not set",
        "os": "CentOS 9.0.0 [64-bit]",
        "os language": "C",
        "os type": "CentOS",
        "os version": "9.0.0"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 1
    },
    "terminal.env": {
      "id": "terminal.env",
      "category": "terminal",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "terminal metadata was detected",
      "details": {
        "COLORTERM": "present",
        "NO_COLOR": "1",
        "SSH_CLIENT": "present",
        "SSH_CONNECTION": "present",
        "TERM": "xterm-256color",
        "color output": "disabled (NO_COLOR)",
        "effective locale": "C.UTF-8",
        "multiplexer": "tmux 3.5a",
        "stderr is terminal": "false",
        "stdin is terminal": "false",
        "stdout is terminal": "false",
        "terminal": "unknown",
        "terminal size": "80x24",
        "tmux allow-passthrough": "off",
        "tmux client termname": "xterm-256color",
        "tmux extended-keys": "off",
        "tmux focus-events": "off",
        "tmux set-clipboard": "external",
        "tmux xterm-keys": "on"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 31
    },
    "terminal.title": {
      "id": "terminal.title",
      "category": "title",
      "status": "ok",
      "summary": "terminal title default",
      "details": {
        "terminal title activity": "true",
        "terminal title items": "activity, project-name",
        "terminal title project source": "project config",
        "terminal title project value": "<project-name>",
        "terminal title source": "default"
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 0
    },
    "updates.status": {
      "id": "updates.status",
      "category": "updates",
      "status": "warning",
      "summary": "update configuration is locally consistent",
      "details": {
        "check for update on startup": "false",
        "latest version probe": "curl: (6) Could not resolve host: api.github.com",
        "update action": "manual or unknown",
        "version cache": [
          "<codex-home>/version.json",
          "missing"
        ]
      },
      "remediation": null,
      "durationMs": 8
    }
  }
}

What issue are you seeing?

Codex crashes with an error message "Error: turn/start failed in TUI" followed by a Rust stack trace when the original CWD where Codex started up is unlinked.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Reproducing the issue by explicitly rm -rf-ing the original cwd:

$ mkdir -p /tmp/gone
$ cd /tmp/gone
$ codex
╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ >_ OpenAI Codex (v0.145.0)                      │
│                                                 │
│ model:     gpt-5.6-sol xhigh   /model to change │
│ directory: /tmp/gone                            │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
  Tip: Use /personality to customize how Codex communicates.
• You ran rm -rf /tmp/gone
  └ (no output)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
› hello
Error: turn/start failed in TUI
Stack backtrace:
   0: <unknown>
   1: <unknown>
   2: <unknown>
   3: <unknown>
   4: <unknown>
   5: <unknown>
   6: <unknown>
   7: <unknown>
   8: start_thread
             at /..redacted../glibc/2.34/src/glibc-2.34/nptl/pthread_create.c:434:8
   9: clone3
             at /..redacted../glibc/2.34/src/glibc-2.34/misc/../sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/x86_64/clone3.S:81:0

The issue is reported more commonly in our environment when the original cwd disappears while moving around the commits

[~/repo]$ mkdir gone
[~/repo]$ touch gone/f
[~/repo]$ hg commit -A -m "do not land"
adding gone/f
[~/repo]$ cd gone
[~/repo/gone]$ codex
╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ >_ OpenAI Codex (v0.145.0)                      │
│                                                 │
│ model:     gpt-5.6-sol xhigh   /model to change │
│ directory: /data/users/shou/fbsource/gone       │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
  Tip: NEW: Prevent sleep while running is now available in /experimental.
• You ran hg up -r .^
  └ update complete
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
› hey
Error: turn/start failed in TUI
Stack backtrace:
   0: <unknown>
   1: <unknown>
   2: <unknown>
   3: <unknown>
   4: <unknown>
   5: <unknown>
   6: <unknown>
   7: <unknown>
   8: start_thread
             at /..redacted../glibc/2.34/src/glibc-2.34/nptl/pthread_create.c:434:8
   9: clone3
             at /..redacted../glibc/2.34/src/glibc-2.34/misc/../sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/x86_64/clone3.S:81:0

What is the expected behavior?

Codex keeps going the session without crash by changing directory to some default or closest parent. Otherwise, Codex shows a clearer error message before crashing.

Additional information

No response