Codex VSCode Extension - How to name/rename a task?

Codex
1

It’s 2026, never thought about I’d ask for help on an essential feature like this :zany_face: .

I’m using Codex VS Code extension, great, I want to recommend to anyone except…

I’m so frustrated by a missing feature: name a task (session), isn’t that essential?

I realize the only way it generates the task title is by auto summarizing the first message, that’s fine, but shouldn’t it be either A) use my first line exactly or B) follow my explicity request of naming this task in the first message? none of them works.

What makes it worse is, Codex in VS Code doesn’t separate tasks by workspace, so it’s even more important you can name your task, if you’re working on more than 2 projects you know what I mean

Some hilarious examples:
(:speech_balloon:=1st message I tried, :pushpin:=title auto generated, the goal is just name the title as “MyProject-Mission”)

:speech_balloon:MyProject-Mission
:pushpin:Describe MyProject mission

:speech_balloon:[MyProject-Mission]
:pushpin:add my project mission

:speech_balloon:#MyProject-Mission (with a pound key as markdown)
:pushpin:Clarify MyProject mission

:speech_balloon:Title: MyProject-Mission
:pushpin:Title: MyProject-Mission

:speech_balloon:MyProject-Mission

Use that as the title of this task, don’t add any extra words
:pushpin:MyProject-Mission Use that as the title of this task, don’t add any extra words

:speech_balloon:MyProject-Mission

this is exactly the task title ‘MyProject-Mission’ I need, if you’re summarizing it don’t add any extra words
:pushpin:MyProject-Mission」} နဲ need no extra? Wait

I’m done.

To the dear creators of Codex VS Code Ext in OpenAI:

Do you really use it for multiple projects daily? Can you share your tip how you name the tasks in the list? Thanks!

2

Right now the Codex VS Code extension auto-generates task/thread titles based on the first message, and there isn’t a clearly exposed “rename” button in the list view. That’s been a pain point for a few folks.

That said, can you try clicking on the name of the Codex chat at the top of the panel? That opens a dropdown where you can rename the session directly. We tested this on our end and were able to edit the title that way.

If you don’t see that option, could you share a quick screenshot of what your Codex panel looks like? Just want to confirm we’re looking at the same UI/version.

Uploaded image

3

Thanks for you quick reply :heart: , mine is just different, see screenshot

20260304-143902
20260304-143902461×295 16.5 KB

  1. Search box placeholder text is “Search recent tasks”
  2. Mouseover a task I can only see Archive icon

I’m using Windows, Codex for VSCode Extension latest version, the issue is the same for both release version or pre-release extension versions

4

The Rename option is for Github Copilot chat sessions, not for Codex chat sessions:

image
image1086×573 51.8 KB

I’m with ShawnLee, crazy that this is feature we have to request, but it is one that very much should be implemented. Given that users can rename chats in the Codex app and Codex CLI, why is this feature missing from the IDE Extension? Fixing this would be greatly appreciated!

5

There is an open issue on the github repo : /openai/codex/issues/12564

6

Also adding my voice to this issue. This is a key feature that functions like a project name for a lot of people. The auto-generated name for several of my projects makes absolutely no sense and makes it harder to keep things straight and organized. An auto-suggested name is fine to start, even convenient, but we need to be able to set our own name for these projects that we spend a lot of time in.

7

FYI

In short, if you want this or any feature added then give this the issue a thumb up vote in the first post.

If the issue is using a heart then also give both a heart and thumbs up.

9

I took a look at this by first reviewing your prompt and then walking through the steps manually, since I am somewhat familiar with the .codex directory.

What quickly drew my attention was the reference to .codex/state_5.sqlite. That path appears to be hardcoded, and when I checked my own .codex directory, I did not find a state_5.sqlite file or directory. That said, I think your general approach of inspecting the .codex directory is correct, and it is what I would do as well.

One manual step that did work was searching the entire directory as plain text. Think grep; in my case, I used Notepad++. That search showed that the task name was located in:

~\.codex\session_index.jsonl

11

Hi there,

I just wanted to point out that you now seem to have duplicate posts here. Perhaps it was posted twice by mistake?

13

I still think you are on the right track.

I would only add a caution: making changes to the .codex directory without fully understanding the consequences can be disastrous, including the possible loss of all sessions visible in the Codex interface.

Also, the structure of the .codex directory is not something I would treat as stable. Its location, layout, file formats, and even embedded technologies such as SQLite may change over time.

Personally, I would not trust those kinds of changes to a prompt, or even to generated code, I would only do them as a manual process. That is why the first thing I did with your prompt was to walk through the steps by hand.

15

Hi everyone! If you want to rename your threads, you can do it manually by editing the local index file. Here is how:

  1. Close VS Code.

  2. Go to this folder path on your computer:
    C:\Users\<Your-Username>\.codex\
    (Replace C with your drive partition and <Your-Username> with your Windows profile name).

  3. Look for the file named session_index.jsonl.

  4. Open it using a text editor like Notepad++ or VS Code.

  5. Find the thread you want to rename, change its text value, and save the file.

When you reopen VS Code, your chat threads will show the new names!

16

Having to dig through conversation jsons just to rename a chat is unacceptable and not scalable.

17

Yeah, I understand. I found it so annoying too, and just posted here so people can help themselves. I’m just a dev and a user, that’s all :slight_smile:

18

they closed that issue for “lack of upvotes” this current one has been open for 2 days and has 2 thumbs up.