Codex stops before finishing: what to check

Identify the signal that ended the turn

Compare Codex's last message with .nightshift/punch-list.md and the shift log. A normal completion with open items points to contract or hook setup. A permission prompt requires host permission review. SessionEnd can represent a close, archive, or idle unload and pauses recovery. A crashed process without SessionEnd may be eligible for watchman recovery; a live API wedge is conservatively left alone.

• A usage limit or service error needs host availability; the gate cannot bypass it.
• A compacted conversation is still a running task: reload the on-disk checkpoint.
• STOP and completed shifts are declared endings.

Make Codex keep working until the list is done

Install Nightshift, open the persistent project, ask it to set up the workspace, approve the rules, and write each outcome with Verify and Commit lines. Then ask it to start. A repository shift making commits needs Codex permissions to write Git metadata. Use Status or Doctor to check that the shift is armed and which session owns it.

Set up Nightshift in this project. Add these approved tasks to the punch list with a Verify line for each. Show the rules before starting.
Start the Nightshift shift.

Check what Codex finished

Illustrative example: if a test repair is ticked but the docs item stays open, an ordinary stop should return the docs item. If the host closed with SessionEnd, Start re-arms after you review the state. Same-conversation crash revival requires a recorded resumable Codex task identity; an unrelated ChatGPT handle is not substituted. Review checks and diffs behind every tick.