codex just compacts repeatedly for hours at a time before it is able to make a change #14120
Description
What version of Codex CLI is running?
0.112
What subscription do you have?
Pro
Which model were you using?
5.4-xhigh
What platform is your computer?
darwin m3 max
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
ghostty
What issue are you seeing?
each compaction leaves codex with only like 12% context remaining, and so it is impossible to actually do anything. I'm like "great, can you make the change per the spec and discussion" and then it compacts from 10% to 15%, reads a few files, compacts from 5% to 12%, reads a few files, compacts, reads a few files, compacts, etc.
it has done this about 6 times in a row, and it has not been able to patch a single file yet after around 2 hours, and I bet its understanding of the change I want is degrading due to game of telephone.
this is completely unusable and I did not see the issue on older versions like 0.109 IIRC
What steps can reproduce the bug?
run a session with a bunch of docs and files touched. not really a large change, affecting less than 30 files and 10 docs.
What is the expected behavior?
for the /compact feature to actually /compact context to some reasonable extent, or to overall design the product in a way that makes it possible for the agent to edit code without just sitting there compacting repeatedly for hours.
Additional information
No response