fix(codex): make host-credential bottles actually authenticate

Debugging a live codex smolmachines bottle surfaced three independent
failures past the sign-in screen; fix each so forward_host_credentials
works end to end:

- codex_auth: dummy access/id tokens now inherit the *real* host token's
  exp instead of now+1h. Codex (0.135) refreshes when its local token's
  JWT exp lapses; with a placeholder refresh_token that refresh fails and
  drops to the sign-in screen. Aligning exp tracks the real token's life.

- prepare: set CODEX_CA_CERTIFICATE to the agent CA bundle for codex
  bottles. Codex is rustls and ignores the system store / NODE_EXTRA_CA_
  CERTS; it reads CODEX_CA_CERTIFICATE (fallback SSL_CERT_FILE) for custom
  roots across HTTPS + wss, so it must be pointed at the egress MITM CA or
  injection can't work without tls_passthrough.

- pipelock: auto tls_passthrough the Codex API hosts when
  forward_host_credentials is on. Egress injects the bearer before
  pipelock, whose header DLP then flags the JWT ("request header contains
  secret") and the retry storm trips its 429. passthrough host-gates the
  CONNECT but skips decrypt+rescan of egress-owned auth. The auto-added
  routes aren't in bottle.egress.routes, so the hosts are added explicitly.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

README.md

@@ -373,11 +373,12 @@ launcher reads `tokens.access_token` from the host's
 `~/.codex/auth.json`, verifies it is fresh user/device auth, and passes
 it to the sidecar's `EGRESS_TOKEN_N` env slot. The agent container gets
 a dummy `~/.codex/auth.json` that preserves the host auth-mode shape
-but replaces credential values with placeholders, so Codex chooses the
+but replaces credential values with placeholders. It keeps the selected
-user/device auth path without receiving real access tokens, refresh
+ChatGPT account id so Codex sends requests for the same account while
-tokens, or `OPENAI_API_KEY`. The effective egress table automatically
+egress owns the real bearer token. The agent never receives real access
-adds or upgrades `api.openai.com` and `chatgpt.com` to authenticated
+tokens, refresh tokens, or `OPENAI_API_KEY`. The effective egress table
-routes when `forward_host_credentials` is true.
+automatically adds or upgrades `api.openai.com` and `chatgpt.com` to
+authenticated routes when `forward_host_credentials` is true.
 
 The built-in Codex template uses `Dockerfile.codex`; set
 `agent_provider.dockerfile` to build the agent from a custom Dockerfile

bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/bottle.py

@@ -45,19 +45,11 @@ _HOME_FOR = {
 }
 
 
-def _env_flags_for(user: str) -> list[str]:
+def _env_assignments_for(user: str, env: Mapping[str, str]) -> list[str]:
     home = _HOME_FOR.get(user, f"/home/{user}")
-    return ["-e", f"HOME={home}", "-e", f"USER={user}"]
+    out = [f"HOME={home}", f"USER={user}"]
-
-
-def _guest_env_flags(env: Mapping[str, str]) -> list[str]:
-    """Render `{K: V}` into a flat `-e K=V` argv slice for
-    `smolvm machine exec`. `smolvm machine create -e` set env
-    on PID 1 but it doesn't propagate to fresh exec process
-    trees, so we have to re-pass them every call."""
-    out: list[str] = []
     for k, v in env.items():
-        out += ["-e", f"{k}={v}"]
+        out.append(f"{k}={v}")
     return out
 
 
@@ -98,9 +90,8 @@ class SmolmachinesBottle(Bottle):
         flags = ["smolvm", "machine", "exec", "--name", self.name]
         if tty:
             flags += ["-i", "-t"]
-        flags += _env_flags_for("node")
+        agent_tail = ["env", *_env_assignments_for("node", self._guest_env),
-        flags += _guest_env_flags(self._guest_env)
+                      self.agent_command]
-        agent_tail = [self.agent_command]
         provider_prompt_args = prompt_args(
             self._agent_prompt_mode, self._prompt_path, argv=argv,
         )
@@ -148,16 +139,16 @@ class SmolmachinesBottle(Bottle):
         on both backends. Pass `user="root"` for tests that need
         root.
 
-        `runuser -u <user> -- /bin/sh -c <script>` switches UID
+        `runuser -u <user> -- env ... /bin/sh -c <script>` switches UID
-        without invoking a login shell; HOME / USER are set via
+        without invoking a login shell, then sets HOME / USER and the
-        `smolvm -e` (see `_env_flags_for`)."""
+        bottle env in the child process."""
-        argv = (
+        argv = [
-            _env_flags_for(user)
+            "--", "runuser", "-u", user, "--",
-            + _guest_env_flags(self._guest_env)
+            "env", *_env_assignments_for(user, self._guest_env),
-            + ["--", "runuser", "-u", user, "--", "/bin/sh", "-c", script]
+            "/bin/sh", "-c", script,
-        )
+        ]
-        # _smolvm.machine_exec expects argv (the bit after `--`);
+        # Call smolvm directly because this path needs the host-side
-        # the -e flags go before, so call smolvm directly.
+        # subprocess capture shape used by the Docker backend.
         r = subprocess.run(
             ["smolvm", "machine", "exec", "--name", self.name] + argv,
             capture_output=True, text=True, check=False,

bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/prepare.py

@@ -129,6 +129,24 @@ def resolve_plan(
     if provider.template == "claude" and has_provider_auth:
         guest_env.setdefault("CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC", "1")
         guest_env.setdefault("DISABLE_ERROR_REPORTING", "1")
+    if provider.template == "codex":
+        # Codex is a Rust/rustls client: unlike the Node agents it does
+        # NOT consult the system trust store or honor NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS.
+        # It reads CODEX_CA_CERTIFICATE (falling back to SSL_CERT_FILE)
+        # for custom roots, across HTTPS *and* the wss responses channel.
+        # Point it at the bundle update-ca-certificates rebuilt with the
+        # egress MITM CA so Codex trusts the proxy and egress can inject
+        # the host bearer — without this, codex bottles need
+        # pipelock tls_passthrough, which disables auth injection.
+        guest_env["CODEX_CA_CERTIFICATE"] = (
+            "/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt"
+        )
+    if provider.template == "codex" and provider.forward_host_credentials:
+        # Smolvm exec process trees do not reliably inherit the image
+        # user's login environment. Pin CODEX_HOME to the same path
+        # provision_provider_auth writes so Codex never falls back to a
+        # root or unset home and shows the sign-in picker.
+        guest_env["CODEX_HOME"] = "/home/node/.codex"
 
     supervise_plan = None
     if bottle.supervise:

bot_bottle/backend/smolmachines/provision/provider_auth.py

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
 
+from ....log import die
 from .. import smolvm as _smolvm
 from ..bottle_plan import SmolmachinesBottlePlan
 
@@ -28,3 +29,21 @@ def provision_provider_auth(plan: SmolmachinesBottlePlan, target: str) -> None:
     _smolvm.machine_cp(str(plan.codex_auth_file), f"{target}:{auth_path}")
     _smolvm.machine_exec(target, ["chown", "node:node", auth_path])
     _smolvm.machine_exec(target, ["chmod", "600", auth_path])
+    result = _smolvm.machine_exec(
+        target,
+        [
+            "runuser", "-u", "node", "--",
+            "env",
+            f"HOME={guest_home}",
+            f"CODEX_HOME={auth_dir}",
+            "codex", "login", "status",
+        ],
+    )
+    if result.returncode != 0:
+        detail = (result.stderr or result.stdout).strip()
+        if detail:
+            detail = f": {detail}"
+        die(
+            "codex host credentials: dummy auth was copied into the "
+            f"smolmachine, but Codex did not accept it{detail}"
+        )

bot_bottle/codex_auth.py

@@ -75,11 +75,22 @@ def codex_dummy_auth_json(
     now: datetime | None = None,
 ) -> str:
     """Return a non-secret `auth.json` that keeps Codex in the host's
-    auth branch while egress owns the real bearer token."""
+    auth branch while egress owns the real bearer token.
+
+    The dummy access/id tokens carry the *host* token's real `exp` so
+    Codex's proactive refresh lifecycle (it refreshes when its local
+    access token is at/past expiry) tracks the real token instead of
+    firing after an artificial TTL. Codex cannot refresh inside the
+    bottle — the refresh token is a placeholder and the OpenAI token
+    endpoint is off-route — so a shorter dummy exp would drop Codex to
+    the sign-in screen the moment it lapsed, even while egress still
+    holds a valid bearer."""
     path = codex_auth_path(host_env)
-    codex_host_access_token(host_env, now=now)
+    access = codex_host_access_token(host_env, now=now)
     raw = _read_auth_object(path)
-    dummy = _redact_codex_auth(deepcopy(raw), now=now)
+    host_exp = _jwt_exp(access)
+    exp_ts = int(host_exp.timestamp()) if host_exp is not None else None
+    dummy = _redact_codex_auth(deepcopy(raw), now=now, exp_ts=exp_ts)
     return json.dumps(dummy, indent=2, sort_keys=True) + "\n"
 
 
@@ -104,29 +115,35 @@ def _read_auth_object(path: Path) -> dict:
     return raw
 
 
-def _dummy_jwt(now: datetime | None = None) -> str:
+def _dummy_exp(now: datetime | None, exp_ts: int | None) -> int:
+    if exp_ts is not None:
+        return exp_ts
     check_now = now or datetime.now(timezone.utc)
-    exp = int(check_now.timestamp()) + 3600
+    return int(check_now.timestamp()) + 3600
 
+
+def _dummy_jwt(now: datetime | None = None, *, exp_ts: int | None = None) -> str:
     return _encode_dummy_jwt({
-        "exp": exp,
+        "exp": _dummy_exp(now, exp_ts),
         "sub": "bot-bottle-placeholder",
     })
 
 
-def _dummy_jwt_from_host(value: object, *, now: datetime | None = None) -> str:
+def _dummy_jwt_from_host(
+    value: object, *, now: datetime | None = None, exp_ts: int | None = None,
+) -> str:
     if not isinstance(value, str):
-        return _dummy_jwt(now)
+        return _dummy_jwt(now, exp_ts=exp_ts)
     parts = value.split(".")
     if len(parts) < 2:
-        return _dummy_jwt(now)
+        return _dummy_jwt(now, exp_ts=exp_ts)
     try:
         payload = json.loads(_b64url_decode(parts[1]))
     except (ValueError, json.JSONDecodeError):
-        return _dummy_jwt(now)
+        return _dummy_jwt(now, exp_ts=exp_ts)
     if not isinstance(payload, dict):
-        return _dummy_jwt(now)
+        return _dummy_jwt(now, exp_ts=exp_ts)
-    return _encode_dummy_jwt(_redact_jwt_payload(payload, now=now))
+    return _encode_dummy_jwt(_redact_jwt_payload(payload, now=now, exp_ts=exp_ts))
 
 
 def _encode_dummy_jwt(payload: dict) -> str:
@@ -141,12 +158,12 @@ def _redact_jwt_payload(
     payload: dict,
     *,
     now: datetime | None = None,
+    exp_ts: int | None = None,
 ) -> dict:
-    check_now = now or datetime.now(timezone.utc)
     out = _redact_claims(payload)
     if not isinstance(out, dict):
         out = {}
-    out["exp"] = int(check_now.timestamp()) + 3600
+    out["exp"] = _dummy_exp(now, exp_ts)
     out.setdefault("sub", "bot-bottle-placeholder")
     return out
 
@@ -195,6 +212,11 @@ def _redact_auth_claim(value: object) -> dict:
         lower = key.lower()
         if lower == "chatgpt_plan_type" and isinstance(inner, str) and inner:
             out[key] = inner
+        elif lower == "chatgpt_account_id" and isinstance(inner, str) and inner:
+            # Current Codex uses the selected account id when building
+            # ChatGPT requests. Keep that non-secret identifier aligned
+            # with the host while egress owns the real bearer token.
+            out[key] = inner
         elif lower == "localhost" and isinstance(inner, bool):
             out[key] = inner
         elif isinstance(inner, bool):
@@ -212,7 +234,9 @@ def _redact_auth_claim(value: object) -> dict:
     return out
 
 
-def _redact_codex_auth(value: object, *, now: datetime | None = None) -> object:
+def _redact_codex_auth(
+    value: object, *, now: datetime | None = None, exp_ts: int | None = None,
+) -> object:
     if isinstance(value, dict):
         out: dict[str, object] = {}
         for key, inner in value.items():
@@ -220,18 +244,20 @@ def _redact_codex_auth(value: object, *, now: datetime | None = None) -> object:
             if lower == "openai_api_key":
                 out[key] = None
             elif lower == "tokens":
-                out[key] = _redact_codex_auth(inner, now=now)
+                out[key] = _redact_codex_auth(inner, now=now, exp_ts=exp_ts)
             elif lower in {"access_token", "id_token"}:
-                out[key] = _dummy_jwt_from_host(inner, now=now)
+                out[key] = _dummy_jwt_from_host(inner, now=now, exp_ts=exp_ts)
             elif "token" in lower or "secret" in lower or lower.endswith("_key"):
                 out[key] = "bot-bottle-placeholder"
+            elif lower == "account_id" and isinstance(inner, str) and inner:
+                out[key] = inner
             elif lower in {"account_id", "user_id", "email"}:
                 out[key] = "bot-bottle-placeholder"
             else:
-                out[key] = _redact_codex_auth(inner, now=now)
+                out[key] = _redact_codex_auth(inner, now=now, exp_ts=exp_ts)
         return out
     if isinstance(value, list):
-        return [_redact_codex_auth(v, now=now) for v in value]
+        return [_redact_codex_auth(v, now=now, exp_ts=exp_ts) for v in value]
     return value
 
 

bot_bottle/pipelock.py

@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@ from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import cast
 
-from .egress import EGRESS_HOSTNAME, egress_routes_for_bottle
+from .egress import (
+    CODEX_HOST_CREDENTIAL_HOSTS,
+    EGRESS_HOSTNAME,
+    egress_routes_for_bottle,
+)
 from .supervise import SUPERVISE_HOSTNAME
 from .manifest import Bottle
 
@@ -111,6 +115,19 @@ def pipelock_effective_tls_passthrough(bottle: Bottle) -> list[str]:
     for route in bottle.egress.routes:
         if route.Pipelock.TlsPassthrough:
             seen.setdefault(route.Host, None)
+    # forward_host_credentials makes egress inject the host ChatGPT bearer
+    # on the Codex API hosts AFTER the agent boundary. Pipelock sits
+    # downstream of egress and DLP-scans request headers; left to MITM
+    # these routes it flags the injected JWT as a leaked secret
+    # ("request header contains secret") and blocks. Pass them through so
+    # pipelock still enforces the host allowlist on CONNECT but does not
+    # decrypt + rescan egress-owned auth. The auto-added routes live in
+    # egress_routes_for_bottle, not bottle.egress.routes, so add the
+    # hosts explicitly here.
+    provider = bottle.agent_provider
+    if provider.forward_host_credentials and provider.template == "codex":
+        for host in CODEX_HOST_CREDENTIAL_HOSTS:
+            seen.setdefault(host, None)
     return sorted(seen.keys())
 
 

docs/prds/0029-codex-host-credentials-egress.md

@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ possible, not in the agent.
   `CODEX_ACCESS_TOKEN`, or real `tokens.access_token` /
   `tokens.refresh_token` values.
 - The agent container receives only a dummy Codex `auth.json` that
-  preserves the host auth-mode shape and replaces credential values
+  preserves the host auth-mode shape, keeps the selected ChatGPT
-  with placeholders.
+  account id, and replaces credential values with placeholders.
 - Egress route files remain non-secret: they contain only host/path/auth
   slot metadata, never token values.
 - Missing, API-key, malformed, or expired host Codex auth fails

tests/unit/test_codex_auth.py

@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ class TestCodexHostAccessToken(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertNotEqual(access, dummy["tokens"]["access_token"])
         self.assertNotEqual(refresh, dummy["tokens"]["refresh_token"])
         self.assertEqual("bot-bottle-placeholder", dummy["tokens"]["refresh_token"])
-        self.assertEqual("bot-bottle-placeholder", dummy["tokens"]["account_id"])
+        self.assertEqual("acct-host", dummy["tokens"]["account_id"])
         self.assertIsNotNone(
             codex_host_access_token(
                 {"CODEX_HOME": str(self.home)},
@@ -128,6 +128,31 @@ class TestCodexHostAccessToken(unittest.TestCase):
             )
         )
 
+    def test_dummy_auth_tokens_inherit_host_token_exp(self):
+        # Codex refreshes when its local access token is at/past exp;
+        # the dummy must carry the host token's real exp so Codex does
+        # not drop to the sign-in screen after an artificial TTL while
+        # egress still holds a valid bearer.
+        host_exp = 2000000000
+        self._write({
+            "auth_mode": "chatgpt",
+            "tokens": {
+                "access_token": _jwt(host_exp),
+                "id_token": _jwt(host_exp),
+                "refresh_token": "hidden",
+            },
+        })
+        dummy = json.loads(codex_dummy_auth_json(
+            {"CODEX_HOME": str(self.home)},
+            now=datetime(2026, 1, 1, tzinfo=timezone.utc),
+        ))
+        self.assertEqual(
+            host_exp, _jwt_payload(dummy["tokens"]["access_token"])["exp"],
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            host_exp, _jwt_payload(dummy["tokens"]["id_token"])["exp"],
+        )
+
     def test_dummy_auth_keeps_required_account_claim_shape(self):
         def jwt(payload: dict) -> str:
             def enc(obj: dict) -> str:
@@ -172,7 +197,7 @@ class TestCodexHostAccessToken(unittest.TestCase):
         auth = access_payload["https://api.openai.com/auth"]
         profile = access_payload["https://api.openai.com/profile"]
         self.assertEqual("plus", auth["chatgpt_plan_type"])
-        self.assertEqual("bot-bottle-placeholder", auth["chatgpt_account_id"])
+        self.assertEqual("acct-real", auth["chatgpt_account_id"])
         self.assertEqual("bot-bottle-placeholder", auth["chatgpt_user_id"])
         self.assertEqual("bot-bottle@example.invalid", profile["email"])
         self.assertTrue(profile["email_verified"])

tests/unit/test_pipelock_allowlist.py

@@ -113,6 +113,25 @@ class TestTlsPassthrough(unittest.TestCase):
         ])))
         self.assertEqual(["api.openai.com"], passthrough)
 
+    def test_forward_host_credentials_passes_through_codex_hosts(self):
+        # Egress injects the host bearer on the Codex API hosts; pipelock
+        # must pass them through or its header DLP blocks the injected JWT
+        # ("request header contains secret"). These routes are auto-added
+        # (not in bottle.egress.routes), so passthrough is host-derived.
+        passthrough = pipelock_effective_tls_passthrough(_bottle({
+            "agent_provider": {
+                "template": "codex",
+                "forward_host_credentials": True,
+            },
+        }))
+        self.assertEqual(["api.openai.com", "chatgpt.com"], passthrough)
+
+    def test_no_codex_passthrough_without_forward_host_credentials(self):
+        passthrough = pipelock_effective_tls_passthrough(_bottle({
+            "agent_provider": {"template": "codex"},
+        }))
+        self.assertEqual([], passthrough)
+
 
 class TestSsrfIpAllowlist(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_default_empty(self):

tests/unit/test_smolmachines_bottle.py

@@ -59,10 +59,9 @@ class TestClaudeArgvWrapped(unittest.TestCase):
                 "smolvm", "machine", "exec", "--name",
                 "bot-bottle-dev-abc",
                 "-i", "-t",
-                "-e", "HOME=/home/node",
-                "-e", "USER=node",
                 "--",
                 "runuser", "-u", "node", "--",
+                "env", "HOME=/home/node", "USER=node",
                 "claude",
             ],
             argv,
@@ -107,7 +106,7 @@ class TestClaudeArgvWrapped(unittest.TestCase):
             HTTPS_PROXY="http://127.0.0.1:1234",
             NO_PROXY="localhost",
         ).agent_argv([]))
-        self.assertIn("-e", argv)
+        self.assertIn("env", argv)
         self.assertIn("HTTPS_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:1234", argv)
         self.assertIn("NO_PROXY=localhost", argv)
 
@@ -119,8 +118,8 @@ class TestClaudeArgvWrapped(unittest.TestCase):
         argv = _bottle().agent_argv([])
         agent_idx = argv.index("claude")
         self.assertEqual(
-            ["runuser", "-u", "node", "--"],
+            ["runuser", "-u", "node", "--", "env"],
-            argv[agent_idx - 4:agent_idx],
+            argv[agent_idx - 7:agent_idx - 2],
         )
 
 

tests/unit/test_smolmachines_provision.py

@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ class TestProvisionProviderAuth(unittest.TestCase):
         ) as cp, patch(
             "bot_bottle.backend.smolmachines.provision.provider_auth._smolvm.machine_exec"
         ) as ex:
+            ex.return_value = SmolvmRunResult(0, "Logged in using ChatGPT\n", "")
             _provider_auth.provision_provider_auth(
                 _plan(codex_auth_file=Path("/tmp/codex-auth.json")),
                 "bot-bottle-demo-abc12",
@@ -226,6 +227,29 @@ class TestProvisionProviderAuth(unittest.TestCase):
             argv_seen,
         )
         self.assertIn(["chmod", "600", "/home/node/.codex/auth.json"], argv_seen)
+        self.assertIn(
+            [
+                "runuser", "-u", "node", "--",
+                "env",
+                "HOME=/home/node",
+                "CODEX_HOME=/home/node/.codex",
+                "codex", "login", "status",
+            ],
+            argv_seen,
+        )
+
+    def test_dies_when_codex_rejects_dummy_auth(self):
+        with patch(
+            "bot_bottle.backend.smolmachines.provision.provider_auth._smolvm.machine_cp"
+        ), patch(
+            "bot_bottle.backend.smolmachines.provision.provider_auth._smolvm.machine_exec"
+        ) as ex:
+            ex.return_value = SmolvmRunResult(1, "Not logged in\n", "")
+            with self.assertRaises(SystemExit):
+                _provider_auth.provision_provider_auth(
+                    _plan(codex_auth_file=Path("/tmp/codex-auth.json")),
+                    "bot-bottle-demo-abc12",
+                )
 
 
 class TestProvisionSkills(unittest.TestCase):