Codex Session Tabs

Open multiple independent official Codex chats in VS Code or Cursor editor tabs. This is a community extension and is not affiliated with OpenAI.

Use

1. Install the official Codex extension (openai.chatgpt) and sign in.
2. In VS Code, install Codex Session Tabs by publisher youngunghan from the Visual Studio Marketplace. In Cursor, install the VSIX from the latest GitHub release using Extensions > ... > Install from VSIX. Cursor uses Open VSX rather than the Visual Studio Marketplace, so this extension will not appear in Cursor search until it is separately published there.
3. In a Remote SSH window, install both Codex Session Tabs and official Codex on the remote workspace host.
4. Run Codex: New Codex Tab, click + Codex in the status bar or the + button (Codex: New Codex Tab) in any editor title bar, or press Ctrl+Alt+N. Each call opens a new editor tab directly. Drag tabs into separate editor groups if desired.

The official Codex logo button still runs Open Codex Sidebar. This extension adds its own + button; it does not override the official command. To keep only the tab button, right-click the editor toolbar and hide Open Codex Sidebar if your IDE offers that menu option.

When you select a saved conversation from the official Codex history, it opens as a separate editor tab. The official Codex editor supplies its conversation title. The active + Codex tab stays open by default, protecting any ongoing conversation or unsent input. To close that tab automatically when a saved conversation opens, opt in to codexSessionTabs.replaceNewTabOnHistoryOpen. This also applies when another command opens a saved conversation while the new tab is active. An active conversation or unsent input in the closed tab may be lost; this extension cannot restore that tab from Recently closed. Tabs opened by older versions or by the official Codex command are left alone.

Sessions list

Open Codex Sessions in the Explorer sidebar to see Codex editor tabs across all editor groups. Select an entry to focus its tab. Right-click an entry and choose Rename List Label to give it a local name; this changes the sidebar label, not the official Codex conversation title or editor tab title. List labels are saved per workspace. The list distinguishes the selected tab from other open tabs. It does not infer whether Codex is working or waiting for approval.

The Recently closed section records tabs opened from an existing official Codex conversation URI (/local/<id> or /remote/<id>). Select one to reopen its URI, or run Codex Sessions: Reopen Conversation to reopen the latest one. Tabs opened with + Codex retain their /extension/panel/new#... URI after chatting, so they cannot enter this list. On window reload, VS Code may restore those editor tabs, but this extension cannot guarantee that their conversation content is restored. It reads restored tabs and does not recreate chats from its own records. Reopening a saved URI depends on the official Codex extension continuing to support that route.

If you installed a 0.2.0 or 0.2.1 VSIX, uninstall its local-development.yuhan-codex-session-tabs extension before installing this release. The publisher change creates a different extension ID, and keeping both versions would duplicate the command and status button.

Each command call passes openai-codex://route/extension/panel/new with a unique URI fragment to vscode.openWith and the official chatgpt.conversationEditor. The unique fragment gives each tab a different document ID. No official extension files are modified. The extension checks that the installed Codex build registers the editor and contains the new-panel route before opening a tab.

Compatibility

The VSIX contains only JavaScript and runs in desktop VS Code on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Its declared minimum is VS Code 1.96.2. GitHub CI tests all three operating systems with VS Code 1.96.2 and the current stable version, including opening two separate official Codex tabs and retaining a pre-existing tab. The sessions list and recent-record logic have unit tests; reopening an existing local conversation URI was tested in VS Code and Cursor on Windows, but that path is not exercised in CI. CI installs a compatible official Codex build from the Marketplace. These tests do not prove compatibility with every historical or future Codex version.

Codex's editor route is an internal implementation detail and may change. The extension reports an error if the installed build no longer exposes the expected editor or route. A session's working, completed, and approval-pending states are not exposed through the stable VS Code tab API, so this extension does not claim to show them. In Windows Cursor UI checks for 0.3.1, two clicks on + Codex opened two separate editor tabs and Codex Sessions showed Open tabs (2). The local Cursor editor webview stayed blank, including a tab opened with the official Codex: New Codex Agent command. In a Cursor Remote SSH window connected to Ubuntu host SN_introai4_39, two separate tabs and Open tabs (2) were visible, and the official Codex input rendered. Actual chat exchange, session restoration after reload, and approval or working status were not visually verified. The 0.4.0 history replacement was verified in isolated VS Code and Cursor integration tests using a saved local conversation; direct clicking in the official history popup was not visually tested.

Updates

VS Code installs updates automatically for enabled extensions installed from its Marketplace when extension auto-update is enabled. VS Code disables auto-update by default for extensions installed from a VSIX. This extension is distributed to Cursor as a VSIX, so install each new GitHub release manually in Cursor and Remote SSH. The extension does not contain its own updater.

Build and test

npm ci
npm test
npm run test:integration
npm run package

Building requires Node.js 22 or newer. test:integration uses an installed official Codex extension from the default VS Code/Cursor extensions folder, or installs one from the Marketplace if none is found. Set CODEX_EXTENSION_PATH to a specific installation folder if needed.

Publisher: youngunghan. Extension ID: youngunghan.yuhan-codex-session-tabs.