### What version of Codex CLI is running?
`codex-cli 0.144.3`
### What subscri…ption do you have?
Paid ChatGPT-authenticated Codex subscription. Exact tier is redacted for privacy because the catalog/runtime regression is not account-specific.
### Which model were you using?
`gpt-5.6-sol`
### What platform is your computer?
Linux x86_64. Exact host and kernel details are redacted because they are unrelated to server-delivered model metadata.
### What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
Codex desktop/CLI environment. Local application and project identifiers are redacted.
### Codex doctor report
Not included to avoid publishing machine, account, path, repository, and runtime metadata. The relevant sanitized version, model-catalog fields, and runtime values are included below.
### What issue are you seeing?
## Summary
Codex has silently reduced the usable context window for `gpt-5.6-sol` **again**.
The previous server-delivered Codex model catalog exposed:
```json
{
"context_window": 372000,
"max_context_window": 372000,
"effective_context_window_percent": 95
}
```
That produced a `353,400`-token effective runtime window:
```text
372,000 × 95% = 353,400
```
The current freshly fetched catalog now exposes:
```json
{
"context_window": 272000,
"max_context_window": 272000,
"effective_context_window_percent": 95
}
```
Codex therefore now reports only `258,400` effective tokens:
```text
272,000 × 95% = 258,400
```
This is a further **95,000-token / 26.9% reduction** from the already restricted 353.4K Codex window. It is not UI rounding. Sanitized historical runtime records repeatedly report `model_context_window: 353400` before the rollout and `model_context_window: 258400` afterward. No local `model_context_window` or auto-compaction override is configured.
Issue #31860 already documented that the earlier 353.4K Codex cap was far below the published GPT-5.6 Sol model specification. This report covers the new and materially worse regression from 353.4K to 258.4K.
The official GPT-5.6 Sol model page still advertises:
- 1,050,000-token context window
- 922,000 maximum input
- 128,000 maximum output
Source: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/gpt-5.6-sol
At the same 95% effective-window policy, the advertised model would provide approximately `997,500` usable tokens. Codex now exposes only `258,400`, or **25.9%** of that comparable effective capacity.
## Why this is unacceptable
This combination is infuriating: OpenAI advertises a 1.05M flagship model, initially restricts it to 353K in Codex, and then silently cuts it again to 258K. Paying users are left with more compactions, lost working context, disrupted long-running tasks, and no advance notice or explanation.
This feels dismissive of paying users and materially undermines trust in Codex as a professional development tool. Repository-scale analysis, long-running implementation work, multi-agent coordination, large specifications, and tool-heavy sessions all depend on stable context capacity. Context size is not a cosmetic setting that can be silently reduced by another 26.9%.
The pricing situation makes this even more frustrating. The same official model page states that requests above 272K input are priced at `2×` input and `1.5×` output for the full request. Codex now caps the raw window at exactly 272K, so users cannot even choose to access the published long-context tier through Codex.
To be precise: this report concerns the Codex product limit under ChatGPT authentication. The pricing comparison refers to OpenAI's published API long-context policy; it demonstrates that long-context capacity exists and is explicitly priced, while Codex prevents access to it.
Major competing platforms already offer 1M-class context:
- Google documents Gemini models with 1M or larger context windows: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/long-context
- xAI documents a 1,000,000-token window for its flagship Grok 4.3: https://docs.x.ai/developers/models/grok-4.3
- Anthropic documents a 1M context option for Claude Sonnet 4: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/about-claude/pricing
A flagship coding product limited to 258K effective context is no longer competitive, especially when its underlying OpenAI model is publicly specified at 1.05M.
### What steps can reproduce the bug?
1. Run Codex CLI `0.144.3` with the official OpenAI provider and ChatGPT authentication.
2. Select `gpt-5.6-sol`.
3. Ensure there is no local `model_context_window`, `model_auto_compact_token_limit`, provider, or project override.
4. Fetch or refresh the server-delivered model catalog.
5. Inspect the sanitized `gpt-5.6-sol` catalog entry.
6. Observe `context_window: 272000`, `max_context_window: 272000`, and `effective_context_window_percent: 95`.
7. Start or continue a thread and inspect token-usage metadata.
8. Observe `model_context_window: 258400`.
9. Compare with earlier sanitized GPT-5.6 Sol thread records, which report `model_context_window: 353400`.
The transition was observed on 2026-07-13. Old and new values briefly overlapped across existing and newly started threads, consistent with a phased or cached server-side catalog rollout.
### What is the expected behavior?
1. Codex should expose the full published 1.05M GPT-5.6 Sol context window, with a clear effective input/output reserve.
2. If a product-specific cap is unavoidable, it must be prominently documented before users select the model.
3. Context limits must not be silently reduced for existing or new paid-user workflows.
4. Active threads should retain the context contract under which they were started.
5. Users should be allowed to opt into the published long-context tier when they accept the associated usage or pricing impact.
6. As an immediate stopgap, restore the previous 372K raw / 353.4K effective Codex limit while full 1.05M support is implemented.
7. OpenAI should explain why the context was reduced, whether the change is temporary, which plans/surfaces are affected, and how usage accounting interacts with this cap.
### Additional information
Related reports:
- #31860 — GPT-5.6 Sol was already capped at 372K raw / 353.4K effective instead of the published 1.05M.
- #29039 — a GPT-5.5 thread changed from 1M to 258K mid-thread.
- #30910 — request to restore 1M context support.
Privacy note: this report intentionally excludes account identifiers, thread IDs, repository names, local paths, prompts, transcripts, and exact machine metadata. Only model metadata and aggregate context-window observations required to reproduce the regression are included.
reaction on the GitHub issue page itself, not just on the forum topic, as reactions on GitHub help the developers gauge impact and prioritize work.