Simplify multi-agent mode controls (#29324)

## Why

Multi-agent delegation policy was split across `multiAgentMode`,
`features.multi_agent_mode`, and `usage_hint_enabled`. These controls
could disagree: a requested mode could be downgraded by the feature
flag, and disabling usage hints also disabled mode instructions.

Some clients also need multi-agent tools without adding
delegation-policy text to model context. The previous two-mode API could
not express that directly.

## What changed

`multiAgentMode` is now the only live delegation-policy control:

| Mode | Behavior |
| --- | --- |
| `none` | Keep multi-agent tools available without adding mode
instructions. |
| `explicitRequestOnly` | Only delegate after an explicit user request.
|
| `proactive` | Delegate when parallel work materially improves speed or
quality. |

- new threads default to `explicitRequestOnly`; omitting the mode on
later turns keeps the current value
- thread start, resume, fork, and settings responses always report the
concrete current mode instead of `null`
- mode selection remains sticky across turns and resume
- usage-hint text no longer controls whether mode instructions apply
- `features.multi_agent_mode` and `usage_hint_enabled` remain accepted
as ignored compatibility settings so existing configs continue to load
- app-server documentation and generated schemas describe the three-mode
API

## Tests

- `just test -p codex-core multi_agent_mode`
- `just test -p codex-core multi_agent_v2_config_from_feature_table`
- `just test -p codex-core spawn_agent_description`
- `just test -p codex-features`
- `just test -p codex-app-server-protocol`
- `just test -p codex-app-server multi_agent_mode`
This commit is contained in:
jif authored and GitHub committed 2026-06-22 10:05:36 +02:00
1 parent 6d15bb3d17
commit c03742ca0a
44 files changed
+253 -350

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@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
use super::*;
use codex_protocol::approvals::ElicitationRequest as CoreElicitationRequest;
use codex_protocol::config_types::MultiAgentMode;
use codex_protocol::items::AgentMessageContent;
use codex_protocol::items::AgentMessageItem;
use codex_protocol::items::FileChangeItem;
@@ -3708,7 +3709,11 @@ fn thread_lifecycle_responses_default_missing_optional_fields() {
resume.multi_agent_mode,
fork.multi_agent_mode,
),
(None, None, None)
(
MultiAgentMode::ExplicitRequestOnly,
MultiAgentMode::ExplicitRequestOnly,
MultiAgentMode::ExplicitRequestOnly,
)
);
let foreign_source: LegacyAppPathString =