# Show HN: Codex Explorer, a local session manager for Codex CLI

> Source: <https://github.com/Tobiadefami/codex-explorer>
> Published: 2026-07-09 18:23:00+00:00

Codex Explorer is a local Codex session manager. The `cx`

command indexes `~/.codex/sessions/**/*.jsonl`

so you can search, preview, and resume old Codex sessions without remembering the exact date.

Codex Explorer is early, work-in-progress software. It is useful today, but the data model and interface are still evolving.

Codex Explorer is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by OpenAI.

- Rust and Cargo
- The Codex CLI available as
`codex`

on your`PATH`

for`cx resume`

- A terminal with TUI support

From this checkout:

```
cargo install --path . --locked
```

Cargo installs the `cx`

binary into `~/.cargo/bin`

. Make sure that directory is on your `PATH`

, then verify the installed command:

```
cx --version
```

To reinstall from a newer checkout:

```
cargo install --path . --locked --force
```

From GitHub:

```
cargo install --git https://github.com/Tobiadefami/codex-explorer --locked
cx
cx reindex
cx list
cx search "turnstile worker"
cx show <session-id>
cx resume <session-id>
```

Run `cx`

without a command to open the terminal session browser. The browser opens immediately with cached sessions and refreshes the index in the background.

TUI keys:

- type to search
`Backspace`

edits search`Up`

/`Down`

moves selection`a`

shows all projects`p`

returns to the current directory`PgUp`

/`PgDn`

scrolls the preview`Enter`

resumes the selected session`Esc`

quits`q`

quits when the search box is empty

`cx`

stores its search index in your platform data directory under `cx/index.sqlite`

. On Linux this is typically `~/.local/share/cx/index.sqlite`

.

The index is local SQLite data. It contains session metadata, source file paths, titles, searchable text, and full user/assistant message text so `cx show`

, search, and previews work without reparsing every JSONL file each time. Treat this index as private local data, because Codex sessions may contain prompts, code, file paths, command output, and other sensitive project context. Use `--db <PATH>`

to write the index somewhere else.

`cx`

reads Codex session files from `~/.codex/sessions`

by default. Use `--sessions-dir <PATH>`

to index a different directory.

Run tests:

```
cargo test
```

Run the full local check before opening a pull request:

```
cargo fmt --check
cargo test
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo package --allow-dirty --no-verify --offline
```

Run against fixture data:

```
cargo run -- --db /tmp/cx.sqlite --sessions-dir tests/fixtures reindex
cargo run -- --db /tmp/cx.sqlite search turnstile
```

MIT