Codex CLI Sets Model, Effort and Permissions Inline With /model and /permissions
CodexCodex CLI 0.164.0 lets /model and /permissions take inline arguments, so the model, reasoning effort, speed and permission profile can be set directly in the command instead of through a picker menu. Because the whole switch fits on one line, it can also be stored in one of the /presets slots added in the same release.
Key Takeaways
/modelnow takes inline arguments for the model, reasoning effort and speed, instead of only opening a picker./permissionstakes a permission profile inline, on the same pattern.- No menu step is needed for a change that used to require running the bare command and selecting from a list.
- Inline commands can be stored in
/presets, the ten reusable prompt and command slots added in the same 0.164.0 release. - Intent is explicit, since the command states exactly what the session is switching to.
- The change targets the two controls Codex users touch most: the model answering and what it is permitted to do.
Setting the model without walking a menu
Codex CLI 0.164.0 lets /model and /permissions take their settings as inline arguments instead of only opening a picker. /model accepts the model, the reasoning effort and the speed in the command itself, and /permissions accepts a permission profile the same way.
Before this, changing any of these meant running the bare slash command and then stepping through a menu to make a selection. For a one-off switch that is fine; for a change made many times a day, or one that belongs in a saved prompt, the menu is the slow path.
Why inline arguments matter
An inline argument is composable in a way a menu is not. It can be typed in one go from muscle memory, and it can be stored, which matters because the same release added /presets, ten numbered slots for reusable prompts and slash commands. A permission profile or a model-and-effort combination can now be written as a single command and parked in a preset, so a whole working mode becomes one keystroke.
It also makes intent explicit. /model with the model, effort and speed stated in the command says exactly what the session is being switched to, rather than leaving the result to depend on which menu entry was highlighted.
Permission profiles on the same pattern
/permissions follows the same shape, taking a permission profile directly. Switching between a tighter and a looser profile is a frequent move when a task shifts from reading code to changing it, and doing it inline keeps that switch to one line.
Why it matters
These are small surface changes, but they sit on the two controls a Codex user reaches for most: which model is answering and what it is allowed to do. Making both settable in a single command, and therefore storable in a preset, turns repeated configuration into something that can be set up once and recalled.