Turned on Codex's zsh fork flags? On 0.163.0 they're ignored, so watch for the migration notice

#What changed

Codex CLI 0.163.0, announced by @CodexReleases on X, stops bundling the patched zsh build it used for one of its shell execution paths. Commands now go through Codex's standard shell executor for everyone.

Merged pull request #52160 spells out what that means for config: the shell_zsh_fork and unified_exec_zsh_fork flags are ignored, legacy configurations trigger a migration notice at startup, and Codex warns when it ignores a managed requirement that sets one of these flags. Pull request #52213 removes the patched zsh from the release packages and macOS signing, which is part of why the Linux and macOS packages got smaller in this release.

#Who is affected

Anyone on Codex CLI 0.163.0 or later whose config.toml, profile, or admin-managed requirements still turn on shell_zsh_fork or unified_exec_zsh_fork. If you never set those flags, nothing changes for you. Teams that pushed those flags through managed requirements will see a warning rather than the old behavior.

#What to do now

• Update to Codex CLI 0.163.0 or later, then read the startup notices once instead of dismissing them.
• If you see the migration notice, remove shell_zsh_fork and unified_exec_zsh_fork from your config and profiles so the warning stops.
• If you manage Codex for a team, drop those flags from managed requirements and tell users that commands now run through the standard shell executor.
• If a command that relied on the zsh fork behaves differently, re-test it under the standard executor before rolling 0.163.0 out widely.

#What is not confirmed

This is based on the official release notes and the two merged pull requests; DotsFeed has not run its own before-and-after test. The release does not say whether any specific commands behave differently without the zsh fork, and it does not say whether the Codex app and IDE extension carry the same change.

#Sources

• @CodexReleases on X: https://x.com/CodexReleases/status/2110847076934328501 (shell executor reply https://x.com/CodexReleases/status/2110847084416880901)
• GitHub release rust-v0.163.0: https://github.com/openai/codex/releases/tag/rust-v0.163.0
• PR #52160: https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/52160
• PR #52213: https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/52213