Codex Chat Vault wnunezc

Use this command to install Codex Chat Vault:

winget install --id=wnunezc.Codex-Chat-Vault -e

Windows desktop utility to inspect, back up, and clean local Codex chat and session files.

Codex Chat Vault

Desktop application for Windows 11 built with Rust to inspect, back up, and clean local Codex conversation/session files.

> Important: this tool works with local files. Before deleting conversations, close Codex Desktop, Codex CLI, VS Code, or any other process that might still be using those files.

Included Features

Detects CODEX_HOME automatically when available.
Falls back to the default Windows path %USERPROFILE%\.codex when CODEX_HOME is not set.
Scans sessions/ and .jsonl files such as rollout-*.jsonl.
Lets you select chat files individually or select every visible result.
Filters by workspace, title, file name, or relative path.
Groups files by workspace when it can detect the working directory from JSONL content.
Creates .zip backups with:
- manifest.json
- copies of the selected files while preserving their relative structure.
Deletes selected files.
Backs up files before deletion by default.
Moves deleted files to the Recycle Bin by default instead of removing them permanently.

Requirements

Windows 11
Stable Rust installed with rustup
PowerShell 7 or Windows PowerShell
OpenGL 2.0-compatible graphics driver available to the interactive user session

Recommended Rust installation:

winget install Rustlang.Rustup
rustup default stable
rustc --version
cargo --version

Build and Run in Development

From the project folder:

cargo run

Build Release Artifacts

.\build-release.ps1

The script generates:

target\release\codex-chat-vault.exe
target\wix\codex-chat-vault-1.0.2-x86_64.msi
target\release-artifacts\codex-chat-vault-1.0.2-x86_64.exe
target\release-artifacts\codex-chat-vault-1.0.2-x86_64.msi
target\release-artifacts\SHA256SUMS.txt

If you prefer to run the steps manually:

cargo build --release
cargo wix

MSI Installation

The installer places the application in Program Files\Codex Chat Vault.
It creates Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts.
It publishes the product icon to Add/Remove Programs.

Expected Local Codex Path on Windows

Codex documentation indicates that local state is stored under CODEX_HOME and falls back to ~/.codex when the variable is not defined. On Windows, that typically resolves to:

C:\Users\YOUR_USER\.codex

Files commonly found inside that folder include:

config.toml
history.jsonl
sessions\YYYY\MM\DD\rollout-*.jsonl

References:

https://developers.openai.com/codex/config-advanced
https://developers.openai.com/codex/cli/features
https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/20165
https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/20493

Safe Usage Recommendation

Open the application.
Confirm that the path is %USERPROFILE%\.codex or manually select the correct folder.
Press Rescan.
Filter by workspace if you are looking for something specific.
Select one or more chat files.
Create a ZIP backup first.
Delete using the Recycle Bin option.

Known Limitations

Codex may change the internal JSONL format in future versions.
Workspace detection relies on common keys such as cwd, working_dir, workspace, project_path, or path inside JSONL data.
If a JSONL file does not contain those keys, it falls back to grouping by folder/date.
This project does not use private Codex APIs; it only operates on local files.