How to resume the last Codex session

Resuming the last Codex session restores the most recent conversation state for a project, keeping prior decisions and task context available after closing a terminal or reconnecting to a workstation.

The codex resume command reattaches to a locally stored session and loads the session associated with the current working directory. Using the --last flag selects the most recent session for that directory without prompting, and sessions live under /~/.codex/sessions/.

Sessions are scoped by local state, so changing directories or switching machines can load a different session than expected or make older sessions unavailable. Resumed transcripts may include sensitive prompts, file paths, or logs, so confirming the restored context helps prevent continuing the wrong thread.

1. Change to the working directory associated with the session.

   $ cd ~/projects/example-app

2. Confirm the current directory matches the intended project.

   $ pwd
   /home/user/projects/example-app

   Resuming from the wrong directory can attach to a different session and lead to edits or commands being applied to an unintended project.

3. Resume the most recent session for the current directory.

   $ codex resume --last
   Resuming session 1f2e3d4c-5678-90ab-cdef-1234567890ab

   Running codex resume without --last typically shows a selector for older sessions when available.

   Use --all to list sessions outside the current working directory.

4. Review the restored transcript to confirm the expected context loaded.

   Checking the last few messages helps confirm the correct task and repository are active before continuing.

5. Review the working tree for unexpected changes before continuing.

   $ git status -sb
   ## main...origin/main
    M README.md

6. Enter a new prompt to continue the conversation.