OpenAI Codex release notes: 0.166.0 adds keyboard transcript selection

OpenAI Codex CLI 0.166.0 adds keyboard selection and search in conversation history. The release shipped on October 29. Codex CLI is OpenAI's terminal-based coding agent; its transcript contains the conversation and the agent's replies.

Source: OpenAI Codex CLI 0.166.0 release notes.

OpenAI Codex release notes: select words, lines, and search matches

Selection mode adds word navigation with w, b, and e, whole-line selection with V, and active-end swapping with o. You can also navigate by page or jump to the beginning or end of the transcript. An existing mouse selection can be adopted and adjusted with the keyboard.

Source: OpenAI: keyboard navigation and selection.

Human step

Use these controls in the terminal interface, not as a prompt to the agent:

1. Open selection mode with your configured leader key followed by [. The action is tui.keymap.global.select_transcript. The shortcut follows the configured leader and can be remapped or unbound; existing bindings take precedence if they conflict.
2. Press / in selection mode to open Find. Enter your search text and press Enter to move the cursor to the match. An active selection extends to that match.
3. Use n for older matches and Shift+n for newer matches.

Source: OpenAI: selection mode shortcut.

Source: OpenAI: Find in selection mode.

Your draft survives the trip through history

The update preserves composer drafts when entering and leaving selection mode. It also handles repeated key events during dismissal so a held key does not accidentally submit the draft. This is a terminal interface improvement, not a new instruction for the model.

Source: OpenAI: preserve drafts and handle key events.