Keep Codex Fast

When Codex starts feeling heavy after weeks of chats, terminals, logs, worktrees, and project history, this gives you a calm way to inspect what is going on and reduce local drag.

This skill helps you organize local state without losing context.

The rule is simple:

Make handoffs first. Archive, don't delete. Apply changes only when you are ready.

Who This Is For

Use this if Codex has started feeling slower after heavy use, especially if you:

• keep long chats around
• resume old threads often
• work across many repos
• run multiple terminals or dev servers
• want maintenance to feel safe, not scary

What It Does

By default, this skill only reports. It does not write files, create backups, move folders, or change local Codex state until you explicitly ask it to.

It helps Codex:

• see which local state has grown over time
• create handoff docs before archiving old chats
• back up important state before applying changes
• archive old chats instead of deleting them
• move stale worktrees out of the hot path
• rotate large logs
• prune dead project references
• report heavy Node/dev processes without killing them

Install

Ask Codex:

Install the keep-codex-fast skill from 

Or clone/copy this folder into your Codex skills directory as keep-codex-fast.

Quick Start

After installing, ask Codex:

Use $keep-codex-fast to inspect my Codex local state and recommend a safe maintenance plan.

Codex should show you what it found first. Then you decide what to hand off, what to keep active, and what can be archived.

Handoffs First

Before archiving old active chats, create handoff documents for any repo/session you may want to continue.

A handoff is a small continuity note. It captures:

• what you were doing
• what changed
• what files matter
• what commands or checks already ran
• what is still broken or undecided
• what to do next

That lets you archive the heavy chat and start a fresh Codex thread from the handoff.

Copy this into each active repo chat you care about:

Create a comprehensive handoff document for this repo/session before I archive Codex history.

Include:
- repo/path and branch
- current goal
- what we already completed
- files touched or investigated
- commands/tests already run
- known errors, warnings, or failing checks
- open decisions
- constraints, user preferences, and do-not-touch areas
- the next 3-7 concrete steps

Also include a reactivation prompt I can paste into a fresh Codex chat so it can continue from this handoff without relying on the old chat context.

Save the handoff in a sensible repo-local place like docs/codex-handoffs/YYYY-MM-DD-topic.md unless this repo already has a better handoff location.

Safe Apply

After handoffs exist for the chats you care about, use this:

Use $keep-codex-fast to apply safe Codex maintenance.

Before changing anything, confirm that important active repo chats have handoff docs or do not need t