{"record":{"id":"d721c3c95f9d18b6","repo":"affaan-m/ECC","slug":"codex-returned-an-empty-final-response","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"Codex returned an empty final response","messagePattern":"Codex returned an empty final response","errorType":"exception","errorClass":"Error","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"skills/council-multi-model/scripts/review-with-codex.js","lineNumber":228,"sourceCode":"    });\n\n    if (result.error) {\n      if (result.error.code === 'ETIMEDOUT') throw new Error('Codex review timed out');\n      if (result.error.code === 'ENOENT') throw new Error('Codex CLI is not installed');\n      throw new Error(`Codex invocation failed: ${result.error.message}`);\n    }\n    if (result.status !== 0) {\n      const detail = (result.stderr || '').trim().split('\\n').slice(-1)[0];\n      throw new Error(`Codex review failed${detail ? `: ${detail}` : ''}`);\n    }\n\n    let text;\n    try {\n      text = readFile(outputFile, 'utf8').trim();\n    } catch (error) {\n      throw new Error(`Codex returned no final response: ${error.message}`);\n    }\n    if (!text) throw new Error('Codex returned an empty final response');\n    return `${providerLabel(options.hostProvider)}\\n${text}`;\n  } finally {\n    remove(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });\n  }\n}\n\nfunction runStdinReview(options, dependencies = {}) {\n  const stdin = dependencies.stdin || process.stdin;\n  const stdout = dependencies.stdout || process.stdout;\n  const stderr = dependencies.stderr || process.stderr;\n  const review = dependencies.runReview || runReview;\n  const setExitCode = dependencies.setExitCode || ((code) => { process.exitCode = code; });\n  const chunks = [];\n  let promptBytes = 0;\n  let promptOverflow = false;\n  stdin.setEncoding('utf8');\n  stdin.on('data', (chunk) => {\n    if (promptOverflow) return;","sourceCodeStart":210,"sourceCodeEnd":246,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/affaan-m/ECC/blob/8321021c54d670126ce3b2969d5deb880b4b0c2a/skills/council-multi-model/scripts/review-with-codex.js#L210-L246","documentation":"The output file was read successfully but its trimmed contents are empty. The library requires a non-empty final response from Codex to include in the multi-model council, so an empty string is rejected with this error rather than returning blank review text.","triggerScenarios":"Codex exits 0 and writes outputFile, but the file contains only whitespace (or nothing) — the model produced no final message, output was redirected elsewhere, or stdout vs file confusion left the file blank.","commonSituations":"Codex hit a content refusal producing no final text; CLI version writing the response to stdout instead of the file; prompt so large the model returned nothing; a transient model failure reported as silent success.","solutions":["Re-run the review — a transient empty model response often succeeds on retry.","Shrink or restructure the review packet; overly large prompts can yield no output.","Verify the Codex CLI version writes its final response to the expected output file (test with a trivial prompt).","Check whether the response appears on stdout instead — a version-behavior change is a common cause.","If refusals are the cause, adjust the prompt to comply with content policy."],"exampleFix":"// before\nawait runReview({ prompt: 500KBpacket, ... }); // empty response\n// after\nawait runReview({ prompt: compactPacket(sections), ... }); // smaller prompt, non-empty response","handlingStrategy":"retry","validationCode":null,"typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"async function reviewWithRetry(opts, attempts = 2) {\n  try {\n    return runReview(opts);\n  } catch (e) {\n    if (e.message === 'Codex returned an empty final response' && attempts > 1) {\n      return reviewWithRetry(opts, attempts - 1);\n    }\n    throw e;\n  }\n}","preventionTips":["Retry once on empty responses — transient model failures often self-heal.","Keep prompts within reasonable size; enormous packets correlate with empty output.","Confirm the CLI writes final text to the file (not stdout) after version upgrades."],"tags":["empty-response","cli","output","model"],"backgroundTag":"empty-response-body","analyzedSha":"8321021c54d670126ce3b2969d5deb880b4b0c2a","analyzedAt":"2026-09-16T10:08:13.343Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-16T10:08:13.343Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-23T08:17:48.524Z"}