Per-tool plugin approval_mode ignored for bundled codex-app-tools in Desktop 26.820.60940 / CLI 0.150.0-alpha.8

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

ChatGPT Desktop 26.820.60940, build 7119; bundled codex-cli 0.150.0-alpha.8; codex-app-tools@openai-bundled 0.1.3.

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Pro

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.6.0 arm64 arm

What issue are you seeing?

The documented per-tool plugin approval_mode configuration is accepted by strict configuration validation but ignored at runtime for the bundled codex-app-tools plugin.

Configuration used:

approvals_reviewer = "user"

[plugins."codex-app-tools@openai-bundled".mcp_servers.codex_app.tools.create_thread]
approval_mode = "approve"

[plugins."codex-app-tools@openai-bundled".mcp_servers.codex_app.tools.send_message_to_thread]
approval_mode = "approve"

After a full Codex Desktop restart, both create_thread and send_message_to_thread still generated an MCP approval elicitation. create_thread succeeded only after a human Accept decision. send_message_to_thread remained waiting for approval and failed after a human Decline decision. The strict configuration doctor reported that the configuration and bundled plugin loaded successfully.

The bundled desktop-mcp.json marks automation_update, create_thread, send_message_to_thread, fork_thread, and handoff_thread as prompt. The observed behavior indicates that the documented per-tool override is not applied before the Desktop/MCP approval gate.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Add only the two per-tool overrides shown above.
2. Fully quit and restart Codex Desktop.
3. Run the bundled CLI strict configuration doctor and verify that configuration and plugin loading succeed.
4. Invoke create_thread.
5. From the created local task, invoke send_message_to_thread back to the source task.

What is the expected behavior?

Only create_thread and send_message_to_thread run without an MCP approval prompt. automation_update, fork_thread, and handoff_thread continue to require approval as declared by the bundled plugin manifest.

Additional information

Actual behavior

Both configured tools still generate ResolveElicitation approval requests. create_thread succeeds only after human acceptance; send_message_to_thread waits for approval and fails when declined. No invalid or unknown configuration is reported.

Additional information

The plugin MCP proxy contains no separate approval logic; it forwards tool discovery and calls to the native host. Please apply the effectively merged per-tool plugin configuration before Desktop/MCP approval gating and expose diagnostics showing the effective approval_mode, configuration source, and precedence per tool.

No secrets, full conversations, repository contents, or raw private logs are included in this report.

Start with the strict configuration doctor, the bundled desktop-mcp.json manifest, and the plugin MCP proxy, then trace how per-tool settings reach the Desktop/MCP approval gate. Compare the effective behavior for create_thread and send_message_to_thread with automation_update, fork_thread, and handoff_thread. Done means only the two configured tools bypass approval and diagnostics show each tool's effective approval_mode, source, and precedence.