Approval mode "read-only" option

[tolgaytoklar]

What version of Codex CLI is running?

0.101

What subscription do you have?

plus

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.3-codex

What platform is your computer?

macOS

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

Terminal.app

What issue are you seeing?

In recent updates the approval mode called “read-only” either no longer appears in the CLI selectors. When selecting what used to be read-only, I observe that read-only mode no longer triggers on-demand approvals for edits — commands execute without prompting or force the CLI to use auto mode. This differs from historical behavior where every edit in read-only mode would explicitly ask for user approval. I expect to be prompted for approval before any file change when in read-only mode.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Run codex --version and confirm 0.101
2. Start CLI in a directory with files
3. Run /approvals and try selecting “Read Only”
4. Request a file edit (e.g. some simple change)
   → CLI either does not prompt for approval or defaults to auto mode. Older behavior used to require approval.

What is the expected behavior?

Read-only/approval mode should explicitly ask for permission before any write or command that modifies files.

Additional information

Multiple similar issues have been reported on GitHub regarding approval and read-only interactions not working as intended.

[etraut-openai]

This change was intentional and was an attempt to simplify the approval UI, which many users found difficult to understand.

I've changed this from a bug report to an enhancement request, and we can see if it gets upvotes.

[yash27-lab]

I put together a scoped fix that keeps /permissions behavior unchanged, but restores Read Only under /approvals (legacy command). That keeps the simpler default UX while still giving users an explicit read-only path when they ask for approvals directly.

Proposed behavior:

• /permissions on non-Windows: Default, Full Access (unchanged)
• /approvals: Read Only, Default, Full Access

I’ll open a PR and link it here. #11931

[etraut-openai]

@yash27-lab, we are not accepting PRs from external contributors. Please review our contribution guidelines. As I mentioned, this change was intended, so we don't consider it a bug.