Bring back rewind: restore code and conversation to an earlier prompt

What variant of Codex are you using?

CLI

What feature would you like to see?

A /rewind command like the one in Claude Code. You pick an earlier prompt and restore the code, the conversation, or both to that point.

I know #9203 and #11626 already ask for this, so I'll keep it short. I wanted to connect those requests to something you can actually try, so I went ahead and built it. The code is here: https://github.com/georgekhananaev/codex/tree/rewind/checkpoints

I tried to open a pull request first, but this repo doesn't allow pull requests from outside accounts, so a link to the branch is the best I can do.

Honestly, rewind is the main thing that makes Claude Code feel smoother than Codex for me right now. Being able to undo a wrong turn in a couple of keystrokes makes long sessions a lot less stressful.

Additional information

How it works for the user: type /rewind, or press Esc twice with an empty composer, pick an earlier prompt, and then choose to restore the code and the conversation, just the conversation, or just the code. After a code restore there's also an option to undo it.

I read why the old /undo was removed, so this version is built differently:

• It never touches git. Each thread keeps a small file history under CODEX_HOME/file-history, and history that hasn't been used for 30 days gets cleaned up.
• It only records what apply_patch actually wrote, after approval, using the delta the runtime already has. Rejected patches and remote environments record nothing.
• It's off by default behind a new experimental checkpoints feature. With the feature off, nothing is stored and no file contents get copied.
• Restores skip symlinks, hard links, .git and anything outside the workspace roots. The current contents are saved first, so a restore can be undone.
• Restoring the conversation reuses the existing backtrack fork, so there are no protocol or rollout changes.

The branch sits on top of current main and has unit tests for the store and the extension, plus an integration test through test_codex that covers both apply_patch routes. Edits made through shell commands aren't tracked, same as in Claude Code.

Happy to change the design, split it up, or hand it over if you'd rather build it your own way. Thanks for taking a look!

Start by reviewing the linked checkpoints branch and its unit tests for the store and extension. Run the integration test through test_codex, which covers both apply_patch routes. Done means the described /rewind and double-Esc flows can restore code, conversation, or both, with the stated checkpoint safeguards.