WIRED: OpenAI Is Building a 'Persistent Mode' So Codex Keeps Working Until Put to Sleep
emmanuelvivier · x · 2026-08-30
WIRED reviewed changes in the Codex codebase showing OpenAI is adding a "Persistent mode" setting to its CLI agent, letting it keep working proactively until it is "put to sleep."
- Codex CLI changes are public by default, and features usually surface there before reaching the desktop app and ChatGPT Work.
- An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed testing but said there are no immediate launch plans; head of core products Thibault Sottiaux called the open-source repo a shared playground.
- The setting sits in the "reasoning effort" menu. It's part of the broader OpenAI/Anthropic/Meta race to ship general-purpose agents beyond engineers.
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