| name | codex-sweep |
| description | Kill stale OpenAI Codex plugin processes (orphaned app-server brokers, codex app-server/exec orphans) and clean their cxc-* temp dirs. Use when: (1) User says 'codex sweep', 'stale codex', 'codex processes', 'too many codex processes', or 'kill codex orphans', (2) A build fails with EMFILE, 'too many open files', or fs.inotify.max_user_instances exhaustion (e.g. Vite dev server on WSL2), (3) ps shows many app-server-broker.mjs or codex app-server processes, (4) After force-killing terminals or removing worktrees that had codex review sessions. |
| argument-hint | [--dry-run] [--age <hours>] |
| allowed-tools | ["Bash(node *)","Bash(ps *)"] |
Codex Sweep
Scans the process table for stale OpenAI Codex plugin processes and kills them, then removes their dead cxc-* temp dirs.
Why they accumulate: the codex plugin spawns one detached broker (app-server-broker.mjs + a codex app-server child) per workspace, and cleanup relies on Claude's SessionEnd hook — which never fires on killed terminals, crashes, or worktree-teammate sessions. Orphans pile up (~3 processes each); on WSL2 they exhaust fs.inotify.max_user_instances=128 and Vite starts failing with EMFILE.
Safe by design: the plugin respawns a broker on demand (ensureBrokerSession self-heal), so a false-positive kill costs at most a ~2s respawn. Brokers belonging to live Claude sessions are detected and kept.
Run
Run directly — no confirmation step needed (unlike /dev-clean-wsl's deletions, kills here cost nothing to redo):
node $HOME/.claude/scripts/codex-sweep.js
Pass through user args:
--dry-run — when the user asks "what would it kill" (lists each broker: pid, age, tier, workspace)--age <hours> — tier-2 idle threshold (default 2h; a SessionStart hook also runs this automatically with --auto = 6h threshold, throttled to once per 6h)--json — machine-readable
What it kills:
- Tier 1 (always): brokers whose
--cwd workspace was deleted; codex app-server orphaned to PPID 1; codex exec orphaned to PPID 1 for >60 min
- Tier 2: brokers older than the age threshold with no live claude session at or above their workspace
Report
Relay the script's summary line to the user. On --dry-run, show the per-broker table.
If the user hit EMFILE / inotify exhaustion on WSL2
After sweeping, verify the pressure dropped:
find /proc/*/fd -lname 'anon_inode:inotify' 2>/dev/null | wc -l
If it recurs, raise the ceiling (see the inotify note in /dev-clean-wsl):
echo 'fs.inotify.max_user_instances=1024' | sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/60-inotify.conf
sudo sysctl --system
Troubleshooting
- "kept N brokers" is normal — those belong to live Claude sessions or are under the age threshold.
- "tier 2 skipped: liveness lookup failed" —
lsof (Mac) or /proc (Linux) lookup failed; tier 1 still ran. Rerun manually.
- Some
cxc-* dirs survive one cycle after a sweep (10-min mtime floor guards freshly-spawned sessions); the next sweep removes them.
- A workspace on an unmounted volume looks deleted → its broker gets killed. Harmless: respawns on next use.
