Remove the desktop pet feature completely: unwanted stress and disruption

What variant of Codex are you using?

Codex desktop app.

What feature would you like to see?

Please fully remove the desktop pet feature immediately, including its overlay, the “Show pets” menu entry, and its activation shortcuts.

The feature is causing me significant extra stress and annoyance, and has exacerbated my frustration with the app. I use Codex to work and need a calm, predictable interface. Having to manage or dismiss an unwanted pet adds friction to that work.

This is a focused escalation of #32069: that issue combines hiding the Pets menu entry with an unrelated prompt-polishing request. My request is complete removal of the pet feature, not just hiding one entry point.

Requested outcome:

• Remove the pet overlay and all UI entry points that activate it.
• Remove pet activation shortcuts so they cannot accidentally trigger it or conflict with other workflows.
• Ensure previously saved pet state cannot restore the feature after relaunches or updates.
• Preserve access to usage information and other account actions with a stable menu layout.

Please prioritize this urgently and provide a maintainer response on whether removal is planned and its expected timeline.

Additional information

Related report: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/32069

Other users in that issue report accidental activation when the account menu shifts, pets reappearing after being hidden, and a shortcut conflicting with another application. Those are linked community reports, not claims that I have independently reproduced every behavior.

The personal impact I am reporting is the additional stress and annoyance caused by the feature. This request is specifically about removing desktop pets.

Start by tracing the desktop pet overlay, the “Show pets” menu entry, activation shortcuts, and persisted pet state in the desktop app. Done means the pet feature and all activation paths are removed, saved state cannot restore it, and usage information and other account actions retain a stable menu layout.