From 7e65e4f3303881ee8b042128996f159fa5b3f128 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Charlie Marsh <charliemarsh@openai.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2026 20:08:48 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Render the initial TUI session header before input (#38639)

## What changed

- Drain queued app events until the initial session header is installed before
  handling terminal input.
- Render the active session header without a leading separator so it starts at
  the top of the viewport.

## Testing

- Add a rendering snapshot that verifies the initial header begins on the first
  viewport row.

GitOrigin-RevId: 070417776b629c681b3f94e93ba619dfefe764b1
---
 codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs                       | 18 ++++++++--
 codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/rendering.rs      |  7 +++-
 .../tui/src/chatwidget/rendering_tests.rs     | 35 +++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs
index 55724a8c17..3f70f0bf01 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs
@@ -1181,6 +1181,7 @@ See the Codex keymap documentation for supported actions and examples."
 
         let mut listen_for_app_server_events = true;
         let mut waiting_for_initial_session_configured = wait_for_initial_session_configured;
+        let mut waiting_for_initial_session_header = true;
 
         #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
         let pre_loop_exit_reason = if let Some(latest_version) = upgrade_version {
@@ -1207,10 +1208,23 @@ See the Codex keymap documentation for supported actions and examples."
             Ok(exit_reason)
         } else {
             loop {
+                let initial_session_header_pending = waiting_for_initial_session_header
+                    && app.primary_session_configured.is_some()
+                    && !app_event_rx.is_empty();
                 let control = select! {
                     Some(event) = app_event_rx.recv() => {
+                        let is_initial_session_header = matches!(
+                            &event,
+                            AppEvent::InsertHistoryCell(cell)
+                                if cell.as_any().is::<history_cell::SessionInfoCell>()
+                        );
                         match Box::pin(app.handle_event(tui, &mut app_server, event)).await {
-                            Ok(control) => control,
+                            Ok(control) => {
+                                if is_initial_session_header {
+                                    waiting_for_initial_session_header = false;
+                                }
+                                control
+                            }
                             Err(err) => break Err(err),
                         }
                     }
@@ -1233,7 +1247,7 @@ See the Codex keymap documentation for supported actions and examples."
                         }
                         AppRunControl::Continue
                     }
-                    event = tui_events.next() => {
+                    event = tui_events.next(), if !initial_session_header_pending => {
                         if let Some(event) = event {
                             match app.handle_tui_event(tui, &mut app_server, event).await {
                                 Ok(control) => control,
diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/rendering.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/rendering.rs
index 8b35a26c1a..37685eed6a 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/rendering.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/rendering.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,12 @@ impl ChatWidget {
         let active_cell_renderable = match &self.transcript.active_cell {
             Some(cell) => RenderableItem::Owned(Box::new(TranscriptAreaRenderable {
                 child: cell.as_ref(),
-                top: 1,
+                // The initial header becomes the first history cell, which has no leading separator.
+                top: if cell.as_any().is::<history_cell::SessionHeaderHistoryCell>() {
+                    0
+                } else {
+                    1
+                },
                 right: active_cell_right_reserve,
                 // Externally backed transcript cells can also change viewport height without an
                 // active-cell revision. Spinner cells remain safe because their indicator width
diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/rendering_tests.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/rendering_tests.rs
index 34926b09de..e3cf4abc28 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/rendering_tests.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/rendering_tests.rs
@@ -75,6 +75,41 @@ fn contains_text(buffer: &Buffer, text: &str) -> bool {
         })
 }
 
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn initial_session_header_starts_at_the_top_of_the_viewport() {
+    let (mut widget, _sender, _events, _operations) = make_chatwidget_manual_with_sender().await;
+    widget.transcript.active_cell =
+        Some(ChatWidget::placeholder_session_header_cell(&widget.config));
+
+    let frame = render_frame(&widget, /*width*/ 48);
+    let header = frame
+        .content
+        .chunks(usize::from(frame.area.width))
+        .take(/*n*/ 6)
+        .map(|row| {
+            row.iter()
+                .map(ratatui::buffer::Cell::symbol)
+                .collect::<String>()
+                .trim_end()
+                .to_string()
+        })
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+        .join("\n")
+        .replace(crate::version::CODEX_CLI_VERSION, "<VERSION>");
+
+    let cwd = widget.config.cwd.as_path().display().to_string();
+    let normalized_cwd = format!("{:<width$}", "/tmp/project", width = cwd.len());
+
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(header.replace(&cwd, &normalized_cwd), @r"
+    ╭───────────────────────────────────────╮
+    │ >_ OpenAI Codex (v<VERSION>)              │
+    │                                       │
+    │ model:     loading   /model to change │
+    │ directory: /tmp/project               │
+    ╰───────────────────────────────────────╯
+    ");
+}
+
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn active_cell_layout_reuses_heights_without_freezing_animation() {
     let (widget, desired_height_calls, display_lines_calls) = widget_with_counting_cell(