Support IDE-integrated diff/approval (not only in terminal)

[yuan763161]

What feature would you like to see?

Codex CLI already has a good approval flow: it can show red/green diffs in the terminal and ask the user to approve or reject changes. This works well, but currently it only happens in the terminal.

It would be great to also have this experience directly inside an IDE (e.g. VS Code or Cursor). For example:

Show the diff inline in the IDE’s editor

Let the user approve, approve for session, or reject from there

Then send the decision back so Codex can apply or skip the patch

This would feel much smoother, similar to how CloudCode shows changes inside the editor, instead of switching back to the terminal.

Are you interested in implementing this feature?

Yes — I’d be happy to help prototype an extension that connects Codex approvals into VS Code / Cursor.

Additional information

No response

[kromacie]

Sounds good. I would vote to see it also in a Jetbrains IDE as well

[bhack]

Is the accept or discard edits API exposed in VScode?

https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/chat-agent-mode#_accept-or-discard-edits

[azeek]

It would be great if Codex had a feature to attach the code from the currently viewed file or selected line when sending commands.

This is already supported in Claude Code.

[eugene-kim]

Yes, this would be very helpful. I'd like an integration between IDE and Codex CLI (not the VSCode extension) that includes:

• Sending selected lines in the IDE to the CLI
• Sharing diagnostics like type and lint errors from IDE to CLI
• Diff viewing

[yathxyz]

Was going to submit an issue asking for this, specifically for IDE integration that is agnostic.

A good example that I am aware of (and currently use) is https://github.com/stevemolitor/monet which sends diff proposals from Claude Code to an Emacs diff buffer through a websocket connection.

[theclunkerjunker]

The CC VScode extension has a much better diff viewing experience. It allows you to view the full diff in VScode's diff viewer BEFORE the file is written to disk. Codex only shows a tiny little window with a proposed diff and there is not even a way to expand it to full screen. You have to let it write to disk to use git and/or VSCode diff viewer which is not ideal when you are trying to collaborate and approve each change rather than using full on autonomous mode.

[gpeal]

@theclunkerjunker Have you tried clicking "View all changes". That will open a full editor pane with all of the diffs. We will also be iterating on this surface over time.

For the folks who want the CLI <> IDE integration, what do you prefer about the CLI vs using the extension directly?

[swfunc]

Have you tried clicking "View all changes". That will open a full editor pane with all of the diffs

That's the view that we are looking for, but we'd like to be able to see it before accepting or rejecting the proposed changes. Right now the View all changes button to see the full editor diff is only visible after accepting the changes

It's a much nicer experience to be able to see the diff in the full editor view when deciding if the changes should be accepted or rejected. Especially when there are a lot of proposed changes, it's a lot harder to read them in the small chat window. For me it's the number 1 missing feature from Codex compared to Claude Code

[theclunkerjunker]

@gpeal @swfunc yes, exactly that. You cannot "view changes" until the files have been written to disk already.

CC has this great workflow I use where it proposes a change, shows me a full diff in the VSCode native diff viewer (not yet written to disk), and allows me to either approve it or "Reject and tell Claude what to do instead". Claude also seems to retain the context of the rejected diff and incorporates it into feedback.

I've yet to be able to replicate this workflow with Codex.

[swfunc]

Reject and tell Claude what to do instead

This one I'd also love to have in Codex

[eugene-kim]

@theclunkerjunker Have you tried clicking "View all changes". That will open a full editor pane with all of the diffs. We will also be iterating on this surface over time.

For the folks who want the CLI <> IDE integration, what do you prefer about the CLI vs using the extension directly?

@gpeal I prefer being able to have Codex in a CLI so that it's in a dedicated screen. This allows me to have maximum real estate for code and my filetree in my main monitor. Viewing the Codex extension means I can't see my file tree. I also find the Codex extension hard to read. If I want to make its text bigger, that zooms everything in, which isn't ideal.