Reimplement skills loading using SkillsManager + skills/list op. (#7914)

refactor the way we load and manage skills:
1. Move skill discovery/caching into SkillsManager and reuse it across
sessions.
2. Add the skills/list API (Op::ListSkills/SkillsListResponse) to fetch
skills for one or more cwds. Also update app-server for VSCE/App;
3. Trigger skills/list during session startup so UIs preload skills and
handle errors immediately.

Author: xl-openai

codex-rs/app-server-protocol/src/protocol/common.rs

@@ -121,6 +121,10 @@ client_request_definitions! {
         params: v2::ThreadCompactParams,
         response: v2::ThreadCompactResponse,
     },
+    SkillsList => "skills/list" {
+        params: v2::SkillsListParams,
+        response: v2::SkillsListResponse,
+    },
     TurnStart => "turn/start" {
         params: v2::TurnStartParams,
         response: v2::TurnStartResponse,

codex-rs/app-server-protocol/src/protocol/v2.rs

@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ use codex_protocol::protocol::CreditsSnapshot as CoreCreditsSnapshot;
 use codex_protocol::protocol::RateLimitSnapshot as CoreRateLimitSnapshot;
 use codex_protocol::protocol::RateLimitWindow as CoreRateLimitWindow;
 use codex_protocol::protocol::SessionSource as CoreSessionSource;
+use codex_protocol::protocol::SkillErrorInfo as CoreSkillErrorInfo;
+use codex_protocol::protocol::SkillMetadata as CoreSkillMetadata;
+use codex_protocol::protocol::SkillScope as CoreSkillScope;
 use codex_protocol::protocol::TokenUsage as CoreTokenUsage;
 use codex_protocol::protocol::TokenUsageInfo as CoreTokenUsageInfo;
 use codex_protocol::user_input::UserInput as CoreUserInput;
@@ -967,6 +970,87 @@ pub struct ThreadCompactParams {
 #[ts(export_to = "v2/")]
 pub struct ThreadCompactResponse {}
 
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone, PartialEq, JsonSchema, TS)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
+#[ts(export_to = "v2/")]
+pub struct SkillsListParams {
+    /// When empty, defaults to the current session working directory.
+    #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Vec::is_empty")]
+    pub cwds: Vec<PathBuf>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone, PartialEq, JsonSchema, TS)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
+#[ts(export_to = "v2/")]
+pub struct SkillsListResponse {
+    pub data: Vec<SkillsListEntry>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, JsonSchema, TS)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "snake_case")]
+#[ts(rename_all = "snake_case")]
+#[ts(export_to = "v2/")]
+pub enum SkillScope {
+    User,
+    Repo,
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone, PartialEq, JsonSchema, TS)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
+#[ts(export_to = "v2/")]
+pub struct SkillMetadata {
+    pub name: String,
+    pub description: String,
+    pub path: PathBuf,
+    pub scope: SkillScope,
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone, PartialEq, JsonSchema, TS)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
+#[ts(export_to = "v2/")]
+pub struct SkillErrorInfo {
+    pub path: PathBuf,
+    pub message: String,
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone, PartialEq, JsonSchema, TS)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
+#[ts(export_to = "v2/")]
+pub struct SkillsListEntry {
+    pub cwd: PathBuf,
+    pub skills: Vec<SkillMetadata>,
+    pub errors: Vec<SkillErrorInfo>,
+}
+
+impl From<CoreSkillMetadata> for SkillMetadata {
+    fn from(value: CoreSkillMetadata) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            name: value.name,
+            description: value.description,
+            path: value.path,
+            scope: value.scope.into(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<CoreSkillScope> for SkillScope {
+    fn from(value: CoreSkillScope) -> Self {
+        match value {
+            CoreSkillScope::User => Self::User,
+            CoreSkillScope::Repo => Self::Repo,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<CoreSkillErrorInfo> for SkillErrorInfo {
+    fn from(value: CoreSkillErrorInfo) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            path: value.path,
+            message: value.message,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone, PartialEq, JsonSchema, TS)]
 #[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
 #[ts(export_to = "v2/")]

codex-rs/app-server/README.md

@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ Example (from OpenAI's official VSCode extension):
 - `review/start` — kick off Codex’s automated reviewer for a thread; responds like `turn/start` and emits `item/started`/`item/completed` notifications with `enteredReviewMode` and `exitedReviewMode` items, plus a final assistant `agentMessage` containing the review.
 - `command/exec` — run a single command under the server sandbox without starting a thread/turn (handy for utilities and validation).
 - `model/list` — list available models (with reasoning effort options).
+- `skills/list` — list skills for one or more `cwd` values.
 - `mcpServer/oauth/login` — start an OAuth login for a configured MCP server; returns an `authorization_url` and later emits `mcpServer/oauthLogin/completed` once the browser flow finishes.
 - `mcpServers/list` — enumerate configured MCP servers with their tools, resources, resource templates, and auth status; supports cursor+limit pagination.
 - `feedback/upload` — submit a feedback report (classification + optional reason/logs and conversation_id); returns the tracking thread id.

codex-rs/app-server/src/codex_message_processor.rs

@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ use codex_app_server_protocol::ServerNotification;
 use codex_app_server_protocol::SessionConfiguredNotification;
 use codex_app_server_protocol::SetDefaultModelParams;
 use codex_app_server_protocol::SetDefaultModelResponse;
+use codex_app_server_protocol::SkillsListParams;
+use codex_app_server_protocol::SkillsListResponse;
 use codex_app_server_protocol::Thread;
 use codex_app_server_protocol::ThreadArchiveParams;
 use codex_app_server_protocol::ThreadArchiveResponse;
@@ -373,6 +375,9 @@ impl CodexMessageProcessor {
                 self.send_unimplemented_error(request_id, "thread/compact")
                     .await;
             }
+            ClientRequest::SkillsList { request_id, params } => {
+                self.skills_list(request_id, params).await;
+            }
             ClientRequest::TurnStart { request_id, params } => {
                 self.turn_start(request_id, params).await;
             }
@@ -2615,6 +2620,42 @@ impl CodexMessageProcessor {
             .await;
     }
 
+    async fn skills_list(&self, request_id: RequestId, params: SkillsListParams) {
+        let SkillsListParams { cwds } = params;
+        let cwds = if cwds.is_empty() {
+            vec![self.config.cwd.clone()]
+        } else {
+            cwds
+        };
+
+        let data = if self.config.features.enabled(Feature::Skills) {
+            let skills_manager = self.conversation_manager.skills_manager();
+            cwds.into_iter()
+                .map(|cwd| {
+                    let outcome = skills_manager.skills_for_cwd(&cwd);
+                    let errors = errors_to_info(&outcome.errors);
+                    let skills = skills_to_info(&outcome.skills);
+                    codex_app_server_protocol::SkillsListEntry {
+                        cwd,
+                        skills,
+                        errors,
+                    }
+                })
+                .collect()
+        } else {
+            cwds.into_iter()
+                .map(|cwd| codex_app_server_protocol::SkillsListEntry {
+                    cwd,
+                    skills: Vec::new(),
+                    errors: Vec::new(),
+                })
+                .collect()
+        };
+        self.outgoing
+            .send_response(request_id, SkillsListResponse { data })
+            .await;
+    }
+
     async fn interrupt_conversation(
         &mut self,
         request_id: RequestId,
@@ -3260,6 +3301,32 @@ impl CodexMessageProcessor {
     }
 }
 
+fn skills_to_info(
+    skills: &[codex_core::skills::SkillMetadata],
+) -> Vec<codex_app_server_protocol::SkillMetadata> {
+    skills
+        .iter()
+        .map(|skill| codex_app_server_protocol::SkillMetadata {
+            name: skill.name.clone(),
+            description: skill.description.clone(),
+            path: skill.path.clone(),
+            scope: skill.scope.into(),
+        })
+        .collect()
+}
+
+fn errors_to_info(
+    errors: &[codex_core::skills::SkillError],
+) -> Vec<codex_app_server_protocol::SkillErrorInfo> {
+    errors
+        .iter()
+        .map(|err| codex_app_server_protocol::SkillErrorInfo {
+            path: err.path.clone(),
+            message: err.message.clone(),
+        })
+        .collect()
+}
+
 async fn derive_config_from_params(
     overrides: ConfigOverrides,
     cli_overrides: Option<std::collections::HashMap<String, serde_json::Value>>,

codex-rs/core/src/auth.rs

@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ const REFRESH_TOKEN_UNKNOWN_MESSAGE: &str =
 const REFRESH_TOKEN_URL: &str = "https://auth.openai.com/oauth/token";
 pub const REFRESH_TOKEN_URL_OVERRIDE_ENV_VAR: &str = "CODEX_REFRESH_TOKEN_URL_OVERRIDE";
 
+#[cfg(any(test, feature = "test-support"))]
 static TEST_AUTH_TEMP_DIRS: Lazy<Mutex<Vec<TempDir>>> = Lazy::new(|| Mutex::new(Vec::new()));
 
 #[derive(Debug, Error)]
@@ -1111,6 +1112,18 @@ impl AuthManager {
         })
     }
 
+    #[cfg(any(test, feature = "test-support"))]
+    /// Create an AuthManager with a specific CodexAuth and codex home, for testing only.
+    pub fn from_auth_for_testing_with_home(auth: CodexAuth, codex_home: PathBuf) -> Arc<Self> {
+        let cached = CachedAuth { auth: Some(auth) };
+        Arc::new(Self {
+            codex_home,
+            inner: RwLock::new(cached),
+            enable_codex_api_key_env: false,
+            auth_credentials_store_mode: AuthCredentialsStoreMode::File,
+        })
+    }
+
     /// Current cached auth (clone). May be `None` if not logged in or load failed.
     pub fn auth(&self) -> Option<CodexAuth> {
         self.inner.read().ok().and_then(|c| c.auth.clone())