Launch Codex inline so its transcript scrolls again (CROW-1319)

[dhilgaertner]

Closes #1319

Root cause

Codex 0.157.0 made tui.fullscreen_transcript the default. In that mode the TUI owns the alternate screen and scrolls its transcript only with mouse-wheel events it captures. Codex asks tmux for #{mouse} and skips mouse capture when the answer is off, which crow-tmux.conf sets on purpose. It falls back to DECSET 1007 alternate scroll instead, and tmux doesn't pass 1007 to the client.

I measured this live against Codex 0.160.1 in an isolated tmux server running the bundled crow-tmux.conf, with the window option alternate-screen on, as crowd sets it:

Launch	alternate_on	mouse_any	Web wheel
default (today)	1	0	dead: the CROW-1023 latch caps xterm scrollback to 0, and #850 never forwards a non-tracking wheel
TMUX/TMUX_PANE unset	1	1	forwarded as SGR, like Claude Code
--no-alt-screen	0	0	local 50k viewport, like Cursor

The default launch is the state behind this report. The transcript can't be reached by wheel or trackpad, and Reload re-attaches to the same state. Codex 0.141 rendered inline (CROW-1001), so the Codex upgrade caused this, not a Crow change.

Fix

Every Crow launch of Codex now passes --no-alt-screen (OpenAICodexAgent.inlineRenderingFlag):

• setup.sh launch_codex, plus its byte-identical template
• autoLaunchCommand for work, job, and review, first launch and resume --last, with and without -a never -s workspace-write
• managerLaunchCommand, both fresh and resume <id> (explore and handoff seeds append their brief after the flag)
• CodexLauncher.launchCommand, which a handoff to Codex uses

Inline, Codex writes its transcript into the pane's scrollback, so it lands in ADR 0013's existing inline-agent class with no client change. That class already gives it the unified 50k history, the CROW-606 replay on reload, the local wheel and trackpad scroll, Shift+PageUp, ⌘F search, and native selection. The flag overrides a user's tui.alternate_screen setting. It exists back to at least Codex 0.110, below Crow's Codex floor, so it needs no version gate.

Recorded as an ADR 0013 amendment (#1319) with the measurements and the alternatives I rejected:

• Unsetting TMUX: hides tmux from Codex's keyboard negotiation and from every command Codex spawns.
• Forwarding the wheel as arrow/PageUp keys in the client: this is the Terminal: mouse wheel & touch should scroll viewport up/down, not navigate prompt history #850 history-navigation bug in another form.
• mouse on: tmux would take the wheel into copy-mode for every pane.

Verification

• Live against Codex 0.160.1 under crow-tmux.conf, using an isolated CODEX_HOME with a dummy key:
  • Before the change: alternate_on=1 mouse_any=0.
  • With the flag: alternate_on=0.
  • Crow's exact prompt-file launch shape (_CROW_P=…; eval "codex --no-alt-screen $(printf %q …)") pre-fills the composer.
  • resume --last --no-alt-screen -a never -s workspace-write launches.
• Transcript cleanliness: after four status cards and four window resizes, tmux history held one banner, four cards, one composer, and one footer, with no stacked frames. Codex re-flows its history on resize.
• swift test --package-path Packages/CrowCodex: 105 pass. New tests:
  • everyLaunchRendersInline walks every kind × prompt-dispatched × auto-permission combination plus both Manager forms, and asserts the flag comes before any prompt argv.
  • handoffLaunchCommandRendersInline covers the handoff path.
• CrowCore (150), CrowPersistence (22), and CrowDaemon LaunchScaffold/WebTerminalAsset (36) pass.
• check-workspace-custom-instructions.sh and all five skills/crow-workspace/*_test.sh pass. bash -n setup.sh is clean.

Rollout note

A Codex session that is already running keeps its alt screen until it relaunches. Recreate its terminal: the new window clears the CROW-1023 latch for its index, and the relaunch runs codex resume … --no-alt-screen, so the conversation is kept. For a Codex primary Manager, crow restart-manager does the same.

Known gap (pre-existing, not addressed here)

This affects every inline agent, including Cursor today. An in-place agent tab or session switch clears xterm's buffer and calls select-window with replay: false (CROW-1035). After you switch back, the wheel works, but history older than the current screen returns only on Reload. Fixing that means a history-only replay that doesn't race the live redraw, which the CROW-1035 replay did. It's worth a separate ticket.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[dgershman]

Code & Security Review

Critical Issues

None.

Architecture / Existing Patterns

• Existing pathway: ADR 0013's inline-agent class (the Cursor row: alternate_on=0, unified 50k scrollback, local wheel). Codex 0.157+ left that class by defaulting to a fullscreen alt-screen transcript that will not mouse-track under crow-tmux.conf's mouse off. This change puts Codex back in that class by passing --no-alt-screen on every Crow launch, instead of adding a second client scroll path.
• The flag is the one constant OpenAICodexAgent.inlineRenderingFlag, and every Swift launch builds from it: fresh and resume --last in autoLaunchCommand, both Manager forms in managerLaunchCommand, and the handoff path in CodexLauncher.launchCommand. skills/crow-workspace/setup.sh and Resources/crow-workspace-setup.sh.template are byte-identical and pass the same flag on the first-launch prompt. Placement matches Codex: resume flattens the TUI options, so the flag belongs after resume --last / resume <id> (confirmed on installed codex-cli 0.141.0, whose resume --help lists --no-alt-screen). A prompt argv still follows the flag.
• Recreate already relaunches managed work/job/review terminals through autoLaunchCommand (the persisted row stores command: nil) and rebuilds Manager commands through managerLaunchCommand. The rollout note matches that path.

Security Review

Strengths:

• The new argv is a fixed flag, not user input. Prompt bodies still go through ShellLaunchArgs.evalPromptLaunch (quoted path, printf %q). Manager resume still sanitizes the conversation id and single-quotes it before the flag.

Concerns:

• None.

Code Quality

• Green — skills/crow-workspace/setup.sh hardcodes --no-alt-screen while Swift uses inlineRenderingFlag. Both shell copies match today, and everyLaunchRendersInline walks every Swift kind × prompt × auto-permission combination. scripts/check-workspace-custom-instructions.sh pins other setup.sh invariants with require but does not pin this flag, so a one-sided shell edit would not fail that check. Worth a needle when someone next touches that script; the flag is present on both copies in this diff.

swift test --package-path Packages/CrowCodex: 105 tests passed. bash -n skills/crow-workspace/setup.sh is clean.

Summary Table

Color	Meaning	Verdict effect
Red	Must fix	Request changes
Yellow	Should fix	Request changes
Green	Consider	Approve allowed

Recommendation: Approve — driven by [0 Red, 0 Yellow, 1 Green] findings.

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🐦‍⬛ Reviewed by Crow via Cursor