Codex appears to be gaining a long-requested manual context command: /compact. In a short post on X, Tibo (@thsottiaux) said “/compact coming in Codex,” framing it as a response to sustained user demand.
Even from a single-line announcement, the reaction thread sketches a familiar pain point in AI-assisted coding: context management. Users regularly run into sessions that slow down, become less coherent, or require a restart once the conversation (and code) grows beyond comfortable limits. The arrival of a manual command suggests Codex is giving developers a more explicit lever—rather than relying solely on automatic compaction behavior.
What “/compact” is expected to address
Multiple replies point to workflow friction when compaction is only automatic or only available in other surfaces. One user noted needing to drop into a terminal session to compact and then return, while another described watching a low remaining context percentage and anticipating a long wait before the session compacts and work can continue.
There’s also a sense that manual compaction is about control as much as convenience. As one reply put it, “We still want control… for now.”
Feedback: control, speed, and predictability
With the feature teased, the thread immediately shifts to details:
- Requests for automated compaction thresholds (“set an automated compact at certain levels”).
- Requests to select the compacting model, with at least one user saying compaction can be “way too slow.”
- Reports that auto-compaction triggers too often, alongside questions about whether max context sizes changed.
- Complaints that compaction can degrade behavior (“models get so dumb”), countered by others saying auto-compaction “works great.”
Adjacent asks: reset, clear, and review flows
The same thread bundles other commonly requested session-management tools: /new or /clear to start fresh within a pinned chat, and /reset to perform a token reset. Separate from context, one developer asked for the ability to review a specific commit, noting they still rely on the Codex CLI for that.
Taken together, /compact reads less like a standalone command and more like part of a broader push: making long-running coding sessions easier to steer without abandoning the main Codex interface.
Original source: https://x.com/thsottiaux/status/2044591035532378511
