OpenAI released Codex 0.162.0 on 8 October. Its release notes describe tools for creating and listing managed Git worktrees from trusted local projects, subject to the worktrees feature being enabled.
The update also changes how people organise and inspect agent work. These are documented release changes; we have not tested the new behaviour.
Separate working files for repository tasks
A Git worktree provides another checkout of a repository with its own working files. That can help you keep two tasks apart while they use the same underlying repository. Git’s documentation explains how multiple working trees share repository data.
Codex’s new tools bring worktree creation and listing into the agent’s available actions. The release notes do not claim that this turns a checkout into a separate security environment.
Controls and permission-related fixes
OpenAI lists clickable links in approval prompts and related messages, plus task pinning where the server supports it. Fixes cover Linux sandbox startup and restrictions, and Windows file access and temporary-directory permissions. The release also includes a signed PowerShell installer for Windows.
Our assessment
For a team trying parallel coding tasks, start with two small changes in separate worktrees. For example, assign one task to improve a test and another to adjust a help page. Define the files each task should change, then inspect both diffs before combining them. This is a suggested trial, not a measured result of the release.
Include overlapping edits in that trial. Separate working files can reduce interference during a task, but your review still needs to catch incompatible changes before they reach the shared branch. Check that the agent uses the intended checkout and that you can trace each resulting commit to its task.
Treat the sandbox fixes as a reason to repeat your permission tests. Try an allowed file operation and an operation outside the task’s approved scope, using harmless test files. Confirm that access boundaries behave as you expect on the operating systems your team uses. A release note about a fix does not establish that every access problem has been resolved.
Sources: OpenAI’s Codex 0.162.0 release notes and Git’s worktree documentation.
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OpenAI (opens in a new tab)The article date belongs to Agentic Horizon. The source publication date is listed separately. Vendor claims remain attributed; we have not independently tested the reported capability.
