Ecosystem Update - 2026-04-25

April 25, 2026 · curated by Chad Simon · 12 items reviewed

Highlights

Official Codex docs expose per-MCP startup_timeout_sec and tool_timeout_sec; local stdio MCPs now use explicit conservative timeouts
OpenAI Codex releases are ahead of the installed CLI (0.123.0 was visible upstream, local CLI is 0.122.0); worth upgrading separately, not as a config edit
The most relevant research signal is tool/schema gating and policy re-injection under long-context pressure, but both need deliberate runtime work rather than quick config changes

Local MCP timeout hardening mcp

OpenAI Codex MCP docs

Add startup_timeout_sec = 20 and tool_timeout_sec = 120 to local stdio MCP servers

Codex CLI release upgrade check config/runtime

openai/codex releases - local CLI is 0.122.0, while upstream release notes show newer MCP diagnostics and plugin handling. Upgrade intentionally not auto-run because it changes the installed runtime
MCP verbose integration in doctor diagnostic

openai/codex releases - once the local CLI supports /mcp verbose, extend codex-runtime-doctor to include richer MCP resource/template diagnostics
Tool schema gating for MCP-heavy sessions

arXiv 2604.21816 - has several MCP servers; lazy schema/tool gating is relevant but needs native Codex support or a focused wrapper design
Policy re-injection after compaction hook/research

arXiv 2604.20911 and Boris's PostCompact note - Codex currently has PreCompact, not confirmed PostCompact; keep as a watch item unless Codex exposes a matching hook

Tool Attention Is All You Need

arXiv

- directly relevant to reducing MCP/tools context tax with multiple configured servers
Security-Recall Divergence

arXiv

- supports the existing PreCompact memory/policy emphasis and argues for future post-compaction policy re-injection when Codex supports it
AgentFlow / multi-agent harness synthesis

arXiv

- relevant to governed runtime design, but too heavyweight for config-only adoption

Items reviewed and explicitly declined this cycle, with the reason. Curation discipline matters more than coverage.

Large Claude toolkit import — - overengineering; current skills already cover the useful categories and outside skills require strict audit first
PostCompact hook wiring — - not pulled into Codex config because current verified Codex hooks are SessionStart/PreToolUse/PermissionRequest/PostToolUse/UserPromptSubmit/Stop, while already has PreCompact through the app runtime
Native Codex memories feature
Direct plugin/skill packs from search results — - require external-skill audit and are not quick config changes