Agents overview steals focus into prompt on startup and when returning with Left

[moodysalem]

Version

codex-cli 0.154.0, Linux x86_64, shared persistent app-server. The same unconditional focus path remains on the current main branch.

Problem

The agents overview takes focus into the new-task prompt editor whenever it opens. This prevents immediate task-list navigation in two ordinary browsing flows:

1. Run codex agents with existing tasks. The prompt editor is focused; task selection with navigation keys does not work until pressing Esc.
2. Open a task, then use Left to return to the agents overview. Focus is forced into the prompt editor again, so another Esc is needed before navigating tasks.

The second case is especially disruptive: returning to a list should restore list navigation, not implicitly enter new-task composition.

Source-level diagnosis

In 0.154.0:

• AgentsOverviewFocus defaults to Composer.
• App::open_agents_overview unconditionally calls focus_composer() every time the overview opens.
• handle_key_event routes events to the composer and returns before list navigation while composing() is true.
• handle_composer_key switches focus to List on Escape. This explains why Escape consistently restores navigation.

The observed behavior and the source agree; it does not appear to be terminal interception of navigation keys. This report does not claim an independently reproduced PTY test or identify an exact first bad release.

Expected behavior

• Opening codex agents with existing tasks should focus the task list, allowing immediate selection.
• Returning from a task with Left should restore list focus and retain the previous selection/scroll position.
• Entering new-task composition should remain an explicit action; preserve unsent drafts without giving them focus merely because the overview is reopened.
• An empty overview can reasonably focus the new-task composer.
• Normal editor navigation should continue to work when the user deliberately focuses the composer.

Suggested regression coverage: initial overview with tasks, returning via Left, reopening after selecting another task, background refreshes, and preservation of a nonempty draft without unsolicited focus changes. Exercise both Vim and ordinary keymaps.

Related changes

#44360 changes Escape from the task list back to the composer, but does not fix the initial/re-entry focus choice. #44344 adds Right navigation but does not remove the unconditional focus reset.

No private task IDs, prompts, file paths, account details, or raw logs are included.

[etraut-openai]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think it makes sense to not steal focus into the prompt when returning with Left or with /agents, but I'm not convinced this should be the behavior on startup. For now, I'm going to retain the current behavior on startup but change it for navigation within the TUI.

[argszero]

Confirming this is now implemented on main — commit b9852fe6f7 "Focus the task list when reopening the agent command center (#44631)", matching the split you described: the composer keeps focus when starting directly in the overview, while opening/returning from a session or after task lifecycle actions focuses the list (with a fallback to the composer when no visible tasks remain). open_agents_overview now takes an explicit AgentsOverviewFocus, so the unconditional focus_composer() call is gone.

One practical note for anyone still reproducing: b9852fe6f7 is an ancestor of no rust-v* release tag yet (latest is rust-v0.155.0-alpha.2), so the change is on main but not in any tagged build — it will first reach users in the next release cut.