Recover Codex sessions with missing rollouts

PLAN.md

@@ -233,6 +233,19 @@ instead of being lost. An interrupt requested while a turn is still starting
 is applied once Codex supplies that turn's id, so it cannot leak forward and
 hide a later failure.
 
+A missing thread is recoverable (2026-09-14). Codex returns a thread id before
+its first turn creates a rollout, so restarting in between can leave ai-app
+holding an id that `thread/resume` rejects as either "thread not found" or "no
+rollout found". A rollout can disappear later too. Both mean the model context
+is gone but ai-app's common transcript is not: the driver forgets only that
+stale id, reports Codex's refusal, records a context-clear boundary, starts a
+fresh Codex thread and then delivers anything queued. The error stays visible
+because losing model context is material even when the process can heal it.
+Other resume failures remain errors rather than silently discarding context.
+The replacement's `thread/started` notification is a new root despite not
+matching the translator's old root id; its null `parentThreadId` distinguishes
+it from a subagent and moves the translator to the replacement conversation.
+
 Codex subscription limits come from the CLI's `account/rateLimits/read`
 app-server request on the machine that runs Codex. This keeps login and
 token refresh inside the CLI. Its primary and secondary windows are normalized

server/src/session/codex.rs

@@ -894,6 +894,41 @@ fn handle_response(inner: &Arc<Inner>, line: &Value) {
     if state.thread_request.as_deref() == Some(id) {
         state.thread_request = None;
         if let Some(error) = response_error(line) {
+            // `thread/start` returns an id before the first turn creates its rollout. If the
+            // app-server is restarted in that window, the id we correctly persisted is not one
+            // Codex can resume. A rollout can also disappear independently of ai-app. In either
+            // case our common transcript still exists, so start a blank Codex thread and mark the
+            // point where the model's context stopped instead of stranding every queued message.
+            if missing_thread(&error) && read_thread(&inner.session_dir).is_some() {
+                protocol_error(inner, error.clone());
+                let path = inner.session_dir.join(THREAD_FILE);
+                match std::fs::remove_file(&path) {
+                    Ok(()) => {}
+                    Err(err) if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {}
+                    Err(err) => {
+                        drop(state);
+                        protocol_error(
+                            inner,
+                            format!("couldn't forget the missing Codex thread: {err}"),
+                        );
+                        return;
+                    }
+                }
+                let request = request_id();
+                state.thread_request = Some(request.clone());
+                drop(state);
+                save_state(inner);
+                send_json(
+                    inner,
+                    json!({
+                        "id": request,
+                        "method": "thread/start",
+                        "params": thread_params(inner)
+                    }),
+                );
+                let _ = inner.sink.send(Event::Cleared);
+                return;
+            }
             drop(state);
             protocol_error(inner, error);
             return;
@@ -989,6 +1024,11 @@ fn response_error(line: &Value) -> Option<String> {
         .map(str::to_string)
 }
 
+fn missing_thread(message: &str) -> bool {
+    let message = message.to_ascii_lowercase();
+    message.contains("thread not found") || message.contains("no rollout found for thread id")
+}
+
 fn active_turn_not_steerable(line: &Value) -> bool {
     line.pointer("/error/data/codexErrorInfo/activeTurnNotSteerable")
         .is_some()
@@ -1239,4 +1279,70 @@ mod tests {
         );
         assert_eq!(context_from_rollout(""), None);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn both_missing_thread_failures_are_recognised() {
+        assert!(missing_thread(
+            "thread not found: 01a099bd-2e0f-7442-b750-a9f33998c8c5"
+        ));
+        assert!(missing_thread(
+            "no rollout found for thread id 01a099bd-2e0f-7442-b750-a9f33998c8c5"
+        ));
+        assert!(!missing_thread("thread is already running"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_missing_thread_is_reported_then_replaced() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().expect("tempdir");
+        write_thread(dir.path(), "missing-thread");
+        let (sink, mut events) = mpsc::unbounded_channel();
+        let (to_child, mut requests) = mpsc::unbounded_channel();
+        let inner = Arc::new(Inner {
+            sink,
+            state: Mutex::new(ProtocolState {
+                thread_request: Some("resume-request".to_string()),
+                ..ProtocolState::default()
+            }),
+            settings: Mutex::new(Settings {
+                model: None,
+                permission_mode: None,
+                effort: None,
+            }),
+            to_child,
+            transport: Transport::Here,
+            session_dir: dir.path().to_path_buf(),
+            subagents: Arc::new(Subagents::new(dir.path().to_path_buf())),
+            reading: AtomicBool::new(true),
+        });
+
+        handle_response(
+            &inner,
+            &json!({
+                "id": "resume-request",
+                "error": {"message": "thread not found: missing-thread"}
+            }),
+        );
+
+        assert!(matches!(
+            events.try_recv().expect("visible refusal"),
+            Event::Error { message } if message ==
+                "Codex refused a request: thread not found: missing-thread"
+        ));
+        assert_eq!(events.try_recv().expect("context boundary"), Event::Cleared);
+        assert_eq!(read_thread(dir.path()), None);
+        let request: Value =
+            serde_json::from_str(&requests.try_recv().expect("replacement thread request"))
+                .expect("request json");
+        assert_eq!(request["method"], "thread/start");
+        let request_id = request["id"].as_str().expect("request id");
+
+        handle_response(
+            &inner,
+            &json!({"id": request_id, "result": {"thread": {"id": "replacement-thread"}}}),
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            read_thread(dir.path()).as_deref(),
+            Some("replacement-thread")
+        );
+    }
 }

server/src/session/codex/translate.rs

@@ -42,12 +42,13 @@ impl Translator {
         if line.get("id").is_some() && line.get("method").is_none() {
             return true;
         }
-        if line.get("method").and_then(Value::as_str) == Some("thread/started")
+        let kind = line.get("method").and_then(Value::as_str);
-            && line
+        let body = kind.and_then(|_| line.get("params")).unwrap_or(line);
-                .pointer("/params/thread/parentThreadId")
+        if let Some(root) = started_thread_is_root(kind, body) {
-                .is_some_and(|parent| !parent.is_null())
+            // A clear or missing-rollout recovery replaces the root id inside this same
-        {
+            // app-server. The new root cannot match the id this translator still holds; its null
-            return false;
+            // parent is the authoritative distinction from a newly spawned subagent.
+            return root;
         }
         match (self.thread_id.as_deref(), notification_thread(line)) {
             (Some(parent), Some(thread)) => parent == thread,
@@ -80,10 +81,13 @@ impl Translator {
         self.remember_spawned_thread(kind, body);
 
         let thread = notification_thread(line);
+        let root_started = started_thread_is_root(kind, body) == Some(true);
         let child = thread.filter(|thread| {
-            self.thread_id
+            !root_started
-                .as_deref()
+                && self
-                .is_some_and(|parent| parent != *thread)
+                    .thread_id
+                    .as_deref()
+                    .is_some_and(|parent| parent != *thread)
         });
         if let Some(id) = child {
             self.ensure_child(id, "subagent", None);
@@ -467,6 +471,13 @@ fn subagent_title(path: &str) -> String {
         .replace('_', " ")
 }
 
+fn started_thread_is_root(kind: Option<&str>, body: &Value) -> Option<bool> {
+    (kind == Some("thread/started")).then(|| {
+        body.pointer("/thread/parentThreadId")
+            .is_none_or(Value::is_null)
+    })
+}
+
 fn start_item(item: &Value) -> Vec<Event> {
     if matches!(
         item.get("type").and_then(Value::as_str),
@@ -935,6 +946,25 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(translator.limited());
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn a_replacement_root_is_not_mistaken_for_a_subagent() {
+        let mut translator = Translator {
+            thread_id: Some("old-root".to_string()),
+            ..Translator::default()
+        };
+        let replacement = line(
+            r#"{"method":"thread/started","params":{"thread":{"id":"new-root","parentThreadId":null}}}"#,
+        );
+        assert!(translator.is_parent(&replacement));
+        assert!(translator.translate(&replacement).is_empty());
+        assert_eq!(translator.thread_id.as_deref(), Some("new-root"));
+
+        let child = line(
+            r#"{"method":"thread/started","params":{"thread":{"id":"child","parentThreadId":"new-root"}}}"#,
+        );
+        assert!(!translator.is_parent(&child));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn command_translation_only_hides_the_known_bash_wrapper() {
         let legacy = tool(&line(