cto/.sot/03-PROTOCOLS/CTO-CODEX-RETENTION-DRY-RUN-PACKET.md

name, tier, status, owner, source, last_reviewed, description

name	tier	status	owner	source	last_reviewed	description
cto-codex-retention-dry-run-packet	T1	validated	jp	CTO-WORK-093	2026-06-04	Local CTO dry-run packet for Codex retention pressure.

CTO Codex Retention Dry-Run Packet

Local planning SOT only. Not a Core Protocol. Not active Core authority.

Claim

Codex retention pressure is measurable without reading raw transcripts or mutating ~/.codex.

Context

Core S410 already reduced Core-owned successful Validator stdout. Remaining pressure is external Codex state: session JSONL files and Codex SQLite logs. CTO records the operator-facing dry-run boundary because Codex is an admitted model provider surface, not Cortex OS authority.

Measured state on 2026-06-04:

Surface	Value
~/.codex	5.4G
~/.codex/sessions	2.3G
session JSONL files	1,038
JSONL files over 10MB	51
JSONL files over 50MB	3
logs_2.sqlite	2.7G
logs_2.sqlite-wal	268M
log rows	1,140,357
archived threads	0
active threads	1,038

Largest log families are responses websocket, codex_otel.log_only, and codex_otel.trace_safe.

Dry-Run Tool

python3 tools/report_codex_retention_pressure.py emits metadata-only JSON:

• storage bytes;
• session JSONL counts and size bands;
• thread archive counts;
• log row count and top log targets;
• blocked mutation list.

It does not read transcript bodies, update SQLite, delete files, vacuum databases, archive threads, mutate Core, start Runtime, read secrets, change Codex config, or claim product readiness.

Policy

Prevention default: use codex exec --ephemeral for disposable non-interactive worker runs.

Blocked without explicit operator approval:

• direct threads.archived updates;
• session JSONL deletion;
• logs table deletion;
• SQLite vacuum or checkpoint;
• raw transcript import into Core;
• broad cleanup of ~/.codex.

Decision

Use the dry-run report as the next operator gate. If cleanup is approved later, execute it as backup-first, archive-first, delete-last work. Core remains out of raw transcript retention authority.

New Issues

• must-fix: existing Codex state has 1,038 active threads and no archived threads.
• follow-up: check whether Codex 0.137.0 adds native retention commands before custom cleanup.