codex-agent-indicator 0.4.3

Low-overhead Codex task status indicator for Logitech G915 G-keys
codex-agent-indicator-0.4.3 is not a library.

Codex Agent Indicator

Use the five G-keys on a Logitech G915 keyboard as a live Codex task monitor.

macOS Rust crates.io License

What the lights mean

Colour Status
Blue Codex is working
Amber Codex needs approval
Purple Codex needs your input
Green Codex finished successfully
Red Codex stopped with an error

G1 through G5 each represent one Codex task. Active keys flash brightly while the rest of the keyboard stays on with a dim, steady background.

The indicator intentionally uses only G1 through G5. It leaves F1 through F12, M1 through M3, MR, media controls, macros, and onboard profiles untouched.

Green, red, purple, and amber stay visible until you press their G-key. The key brings Codex to the foreground, selects the matching task in its sidebar, and then clears the acknowledged light. A blue key stays blue because its task is still working.

Requirements

  • macOS
  • Logitech G915 connected through its wired USB HID interface
  • Rust 1.91 or newer
  • jq for safely merging Codex hooks

If jq is missing and you use Homebrew:

brew install jq

Install

Install the CLI from crates.io

Install the published command-line binary:

cargo install codex-agent-indicator --version 0.4.3 --locked

Cargo installs the command in ~/.cargo/bin. This gives you the CLI, but it does not add Codex hooks or create the macOS LaunchAgent.

To upgrade or reinstall the same version:

cargo install codex-agent-indicator --version 0.4.3 --locked --force

Complete keyboard-monitor setup

Clone or download this repository, open Terminal in its folder, and run:

./scripts/install.sh

The installer:

  1. builds the optimized Rust binary;
  2. installs it in ~/.local/bin;
  3. creates a private user configuration;
  4. safely adds the required hooks to ~/.codex/hooks.json;
  5. starts a lightweight macOS LaunchAgent.

It preserves unrelated hooks already present in your Codex configuration.

After the first install, open /hooks in Codex and trust this command:

~/.local/bin/codex-agent-indicator hook

You do not need to restart Codex.

The complete installer builds the same version from the checked-out source and is recommended for first-time setup because it also configures the Codex hooks and macOS LaunchAgent.

Uninstall

From the repository folder, run:

./scripts/uninstall.sh

This removes the daemon, binary, and only this project's hook entries. Your custom configuration is kept. To remove that too:

./scripts/uninstall.sh --purge

Use it

Press an illuminated G-key to bring Codex forward and select its matching task in the sidebar.

Useful commands:

codex-agent-indicator status
codex-agent-indicator doctor
codex-agent-indicator reload

You can also preview or clear states manually:

codex-agent-indicator set done demo-task
codex-agent-indicator set approval demo-task
codex-agent-indicator clear demo-task
codex-agent-indicator clear

If your shell cannot find the command, add this to your shell profile:

export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Customize the lights

Edit:

~/.config/codex-agent-indicator/config.toml

The daemon automatically reloads valid changes. The main settings are:

[lighting]
background = "#101820"
flash_enabled = true
flash_interval_ms = 500
flash_dim_percent = 5

[colors]
working = "#007aff"
approval = "#ff9500"
requested = "#af52de"
done = "#34c759"
error = "#ff3b30"
  • Increase flash_interval_ms for slower flashing.
  • Increase flash_dim_percent for a brighter dim phase.
  • Set flash_enabled = false for steady status colours.
  • Increase reassert_interval_ms if you want less frequent direct-lighting watchdog refreshes.
  • Set navigation.enabled = false if G-keys should show status without opening tasks.
  • Set detect_questions = false to treat every stopped turn as completed.

Behaviour

  • The first five active Codex tasks use G1 through G5.
  • Parent turns and subagents are tracked separately, so a child finishing cannot turn the parent task green early.
  • Fast hooks are reconciled against the known task's local task_started and task_complete journal records. A missed terminal hook therefore corrects itself within about 250 ms instead of leaving a stale blue key.
  • Permission and user-input states take priority over unrelated subagent activity.
  • A failed individual tool remains blue while Codex handles it; red is reserved for a terminal turn failure.
  • Finished and attention states are never removed by a timer.
  • Current task lights are restored after the daemon or Mac restarts.
  • A low-rate watchdog reasserts direct lighting mode after keyboard sleep or another lighting app takes control.
  • A newer task cannot displace an unacknowledged green, red, purple, or amber state.
  • If all five keys need acknowledgement, open one before another task can be assigned.
  • The oldest blue working slot may be reused when all keys are occupied.
  • G-key navigation explicitly targets the Codex app, brings it to the foreground, and selects the task through its local deep link.
  • A task is acknowledged only after its Codex deep link opens successfully.
  • Merely ending a Codex process does not clear an unacknowledged result.

Troubleshooting

Run:

codex-agent-indicator doctor
codex-agent-indicator status

Common causes:

  • The G915 must expose the expected wired USB HID interface.
  • Logitech G HUB may overwrite the indicator colours if it is running an active lighting effect.
  • Codex may ask you to trust the hook command after installation.
  • A terminal task_complete record repairs a missed Stop hook. An app-level failure that writes neither record can still leave the last blue state; use codex-agent-indicator set error TASK_ID to correct that rare case manually.
  • The daemon log is stored at ~/Library/Logs/codex-agent-indicator.log.

Privacy and performance

  • Everything runs locally on your Mac.
  • There is no telemetry, analytics, cloud service, or network server.
  • Hook messages travel through a private user-only Unix socket.
  • The daemon follows only the local journals for tasks currently assigned to G1 through G5. It scans at most the latest 8 MiB once after a restart, then checks only for appended bytes every 250 ms.
  • It ignores non-lifecycle journal records and never stores journal content in its status file or logs.
  • The daemon does not poll Codex databases or processes and does not start a second app-server.
  • Only the tail of a final assistant message is inspected to distinguish a question from a completed response.
  • No Accessibility permission, screen recording, browser control, MCP server, Codex plugin, or extra background app is required.
  • Repository templates contain placeholders rather than usernames or personal computer paths.

How it works

The project is one small native Rust binary. It serves as:

  • the background daemon;
  • the fast Codex hook forwarder;
  • the G-key task switcher;
  • the configuration and diagnostic command.

Hooks send a small Unix datagram and exit. The daemon tracks task, turn, and subagent identity, batches lighting changes into one HID++ frame, debounces unchanged status-file writes, restores its last state after restarts, and sleeps between events. A bounded local-journal adapter reconciles native turn start and completion records when a hook is missed. A low-rate watchdog reclaims Logitech direct-lighting mode. G-key presses use Logitech's HID++ 0x8010 feature. Task switching uses Codex's codex://threads/<thread-id> deep link.

Only live RGB output and G-key notification diversion are controlled while the daemon runs. The program does not edit G HUB macros, profiles, key assignments, or onboard memory.

Development

cargo check --all-targets
cargo test --all-targets
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings

Lifecycle replay tests use privacy-scrubbed, version-labelled Codex hook JSON and the matching official input schemas. A separate pinned Codex app fixture exercises native task_started/task_complete reconciliation, including a missed Stop and a newer active turn. Together they exercise the complete adapter → lifecycle tracker → G-key slot path:

cargo test wire::replay_tests
cargo test journal::tests

When the Codex hook schema changes, add a new fixture snapshot instead of rewriting the historical one.

The project intentionally does not require a formatter pass for validation.

License

Licensed under either of:

at your option.

References