[macOS][Codex App] ~40 full-resolution photo attachments trigger endless context compaction loop

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

26.814.41407

What subscription do you have?

pro

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 27.0.0 arm64 arm

What issue are you seeing?

Attaching about 40 original-resolution photos as separate files to one Codex task overloads the context. After sending, automatic context compaction begins and repeatedly restarts in a loop. The task becomes unusable, and the app does not show a clear attachment or context limit before sending.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Open a task in the Codex desktop app on macOS.
2. Attach about 40 original full-resolution photos as separate files.
3. Send the message and continue working in the same task.
4. Wait for automatic context compaction to begin.

Actual result: context compaction repeatedly restarts in a loop, and the task cannot continue normally.

What is the expected behavior?

The app should process attachments without entering a compaction loop. If the payload exceeds a supported limit, it should block submission and show a clear limit, or resize, compress, or defer image processing.

Additional information

The problem occurs with individual large original photos. Using smaller batches or resized images is a workaround, but the app should fail gracefully rather than repeatedly restarting context compaction.

Related: #31351 reports the same auto-compaction loop without image attachments. This report adds a reproducible trigger involving about 40 full-resolution photo attachments.

Reproduce this in the Codex desktop app on macOS with about 40 original-resolution photos, then compare the behavior with smaller batches or resized images. Trace attachment submission into automatic context compaction; done means the task avoids the restart loop and either processes the attachments or clearly blocks an unsupported payload with a limit.