A way to exclude sensitive files issue still open for OpenAI Codex

A GitHub issue requesting a feature to exclude sensitive files from OpenAI Codex remains open as of August 2025. The feature would allow users to specify files and paths that the AI agent must not read or send to the model, addressing security and performance concerns. The issue was previously closed in favor of a Rust implementation, but the comparable feature has not yet been implemented.

- Notifications /login?return to=%2Fopenai%2Fcodex You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 14k /login?return to=%2Fopenai%2Fcodex A way to exclude sensitive files 2847 Copy link Copy link Open Labels enhancementNew feature or request https://github.com/openai/codex/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22enhancement%22 New feature or request sandboxIssues related to permissions or sandboxing https://github.com/openai/codex/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22sandbox%22 Issues related to permissions or sandboxing Description What feature would you like to see? - A mechanism to explicitly mark files/paths that the agent must not read or send to the model, at both repository and global levels e.g., a repo-local .codexignore plus a global ignore file . - Example: keep node modules/ searchable for implementation checks, but never read or send .env, .env. , .pem, id , .aws/ , .ssh/ . - The configuration should be deterministic and shareable across the team/repo, and also support user defaults, rather than relying on project documentation or conventions. Are you interested in implementing this feature? - Yes — I can contribute and tests. Additional information Related: 205 https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/205 . That issue surfaced two primary use cases: preventing sensitive data from being sent to the model and excluding large/irrelevant files. The issue was closed in favor of a Rust codex-rs implementation, but as of 2025-08-28 a comparable feature does not appear to exist in codex-rs. I’d like to restart the discussion and converge on a design. Reactions are currently unavailable Metadata Metadata Assignees Labels enhancementNew feature or request https://github.com/openai/codex/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22enhancement%22 New feature or request sandboxIssues related to permissions or sandboxing https://github.com/openai/codex/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22sandbox%22 Issues related to permissions or sandboxing Type Fields Give feedback https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/189141 No fields configured for issues without a type.