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Codex background server has incompatible feature settings

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Source: Troubleshooting reference

Symptom: interactive Codex requires api_key_model_discovery and offers Run without daemon this time; restarting is disabled because the server is not managed by Codex.

Root cause: the CLI and the shared app server have different effective startup features. A desktop/SSH-launched app server can outlive CLI upgrades, and the CLI cannot automatically restart a server it does not manage. A version difference is useful evidence, but does not by itself establish which feature differs.

Confirm: compare the CLI and running server through the native command:

Terminal window
codex --version
codex app-server daemon version
codex features list

Fix for the current invocation: select Run without daemon this time, or:

Terminal window
codex --no-daemon

This preserves the shared server and its existing clients. For a persistent repair, restart it through the desktop/SSH client that owns it when active and queued work may be interrupted, using the shared features named by the compatibility dialog. Changing a file does not update an already running server’s startup features. Sources: official CLI reference and the installed CLI’s codex --help.