AI

Goals and questions

Manage continuing objectives and answer blocking or asynchronous questions.

Start with Open Codex chat if you have not used the agent before.

Set and manage a Codex goal

A goal gives a Codex chat thread an objective to keep working toward across automatic continuations.

  1. In the Codex thread's composer, click Set goal.
  2. Describe the outcome in What should Codex accomplish?
  3. Optionally expand Budget and usage and enter a positive whole number in Token budget (optional). Leave it blank for no goal token budget.
  4. Click Save goal. If the thread is idle, send a message to start its next turn.

Click Goal: ... to edit the objective or budget and inspect the reported tokens used and elapsed minutes. Changes apply during a running turn or when the next requested turn starts; they can remain pending until then. Opening the goal dialog does not start Codex. A failed change is shown in the control and its error appears when you reopen the dialog.

Use Pause to prevent automatic continuation while allowing the current turn to finish. Stop also interrupts the current turn and requests that its active goal be paused. Use Resume to reactivate an unfinished goal; if the thread is idle, start another turn for the change to apply. Editing a paused goal's text or budget alone does not resume it.

Choose Clear goal in the dialog to remove the goal. Use Stop as well if you need to interrupt work already running.

Answer questions from Codex

When Codex needs your input, an orange badge can mark the conversation in the chat list. Open that conversation to see its pending requests above the messages.

  1. Read the request's status. A blocking question pauses the current turn. For an asynchronous question, Codex may continue working while it waits; your response is added to the conversation as a user message.
  2. Answer every question. Choose a suggested answer, or use the text field when one is offered.
  3. Choose Send response and check the status. Response submitted means your response is saved and is waiting for Codex to accept it. Follow the conversation to see what happens next.

Choose Decline to tell Codex you will not answer the question. Acknowledge suppresses a pending email notification, while Snooze 5 minutes delays it when email delivery is enabled. Both leave the question open; a paused turn still needs a response.

If a disconnected request offers Continue with this answer, use it to submit the saved response again. If the request card is no longer available, send your answer in the conversation.

In CoCalc Lite, requests are available within the project. Cross-device inbox and email delivery are unavailable.