Support Codex sessions started by the VS Code extension

[Wolfsrudel]

Support Codex sessions started by the VS Code extension

Environment

• macOS
• abtop 0.5.5 installed through Homebrew
• Codex VS Code extension
• Extension-bundled Codex version: 0.154.0-alpha.6.2

Problem

abtop does not display Codex sessions started through the VS Code extension, even though the extension’s codex app-server processes and rollout files are available locally.

The VS Code extension starts processes similar to:

.../.vscode/extensions/openai.chatgpt-*/bin/macos-aarch64/codex \
  -c features.code_mode_host=true \
  app-server \
  --analytics-default-enabled

These processes have their corresponding rollout files open under:

~/.codex/sessions/YYYY/MM/DD/rollout-*.jsonl

The rollout metadata identifies these sessions as:

{
  "originator": "codex_vscode",
  "source": "vscode"
}

However, the sessions do not appear in the abtop session, token, context, or project panels.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install and open the Codex VS Code extension.

2. Start a Codex session inside VS Code.

3. Confirm that the extension’s app-server process is running:

   ps ax -o pid=,command= | grep "codex.*app-server"
   

4. Confirm that it has one or more rollout files open:

   lsof -p <app-server-pid> -Fn | grep "rollout-.*\.jsonl"
   

5. Run:

   abtop
   

   or:

   abtop --json
   

6. Observe that the VS Code Codex session is missing.

Actual behavior

Codex app-server processes are excluded from the normal Codex CLI collector.

abtop has a separate app-server discovery path, but it currently accepts only rollouts whose metadata contains:

originator = "Codex Desktop"

VS Code rollouts use:

originator = "codex_vscode"

As a result, the app-server process and its rollout files are detected, but the rollout filter rejects the VS Code sessions.

Additionally, Codex sessions currently use LaunchSurface::Cli, even when they originate from an IDE.

Relevant source:

https://github.com/graykode/abtop/blob/v0.5.5/src/collector/codex.rs

Expected behavior

Codex sessions started by the VS Code extension should be displayed in abtop with the available:

• Session status
• Token usage
• Context-window usage
• Project information
• Tool activity
• Rate-limit information, when present in the rollout

They should be identified as IDE sessions, for example using:

LaunchSurface::Ide

The underlying app-server process should remain protected from session-level kill operations.

Suggested implementation

Generalize the existing Codex Desktop app-server collector so it supports multiple app-server launch surfaces.

For example:

• Recognize originator = "Codex Desktop" as LaunchSurface::App.
• Recognize originator = "codex_vscode" or source = "vscode" as LaunchSurface::Ide.
• Keep supporting multiple rollout files per app-server process.
• Continue excluding app-server processes from the normal one-PID-to-one-rollout CLI mapping.
• Continue preventing abtop from killing an app-server process as though it were an individual session.
• Rename Desktop-specific helper functions where appropriate to reflect their broader app-server purpose.
• Add tests covering Codex Desktop, VS Code, ordinary CLI, stale rollouts, and multiple rollouts owned by one app-server.

Additional context

This is separate from standalone Codex CLI discovery. Standalone CLI sessions use metadata such as:

{
  "originator": "codex-tui",
  "source": "cli"
}

The requested change is specifically to expose sessions already produced and owned by the Codex VS Code extension’s app-server processes.