openai/codex · error · CodexErr

spawn failed: child stdout/stderr not captured

Error message

spawn failed: child stdout/stderr not captured

What it means

Error "spawn failed: child stdout/stderr not captured" thrown in openai/codex.

Source

Thrown at codex-rs/protocol/src/error.rs:111

    Stream(String),
    #[error(
        "Codex ran out of room in the model's context window. Start a new thread or clear earlier history before retrying."
    )]
    ContextWindowExceeded,
    #[error("no thread with id: {0}")]
    ThreadNotFound(ThreadId),
    #[error("agent thread limit reached")]
    AgentLimitReached { max_threads: usize },
    #[error("session configured event was not the first event in the stream")]
    SessionConfiguredNotFirstEvent,
    /// Returned by run_command_stream when the spawned child process timed out (10s).
    #[error("timeout waiting for child process to exit")]
    Timeout,
    #[error("request timed out")]
    RequestTimeout,
    /// Returned by run_command_stream when the child could not be spawned (its stdout/stderr pipes
    /// could not be captured). Analogous to the previous `CodexError::Spawn` variant.
    #[error("spawn failed: child stdout/stderr not captured")]
    Spawn,
    /// Returned by run_command_stream when the user pressed Ctrl-C (SIGINT). Session uses this to
    /// surface a polite FunctionCallOutput back to the model instead of crashing the CLI.
    #[error("interrupted (Ctrl-C). Something went wrong? Hit `/feedback` to report the issue.")]
    Interrupted,
    /// Unexpected HTTP status code.
    #[error("{0}")]
    UnexpectedStatus(UnexpectedResponseError),
    /// Invalid request.
    #[error("{0}")]
    InvalidRequest(String),
    /// Multiple registered tools share the same effective name.
    #[error("duplicate tool: {0}")]
    ToolCollision(String),
    /// Invalid image.
    #[error("Image poisoning")]
    InvalidImageRequest(),
    #[error("{0}")]

View on GitHub (pinned to 339751715c)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at codex-rs/protocol/src/error.rs:111 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of openai/codex@339751715c (2026-08-25). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a6bc3725a1ea9aee. Report an issue: GitHub.