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September 29, 2026 | agent control / live steering

Interrupt the turn, not the process.

New input can cut off a model response while a code cell keeps running. A steering control must say what happens to both.

Shift the gearboxRead the source log

Live steering is useful because waiting is expensive.

Codex 0.159 adds an opt-in instant_interrupt setting. New input can preempt a model response or a long code-mode call instead of waiting for the current step to return.[1] That shortens the distance between "wrong file" and a corrected plan.

The implementation notes carry the detail that matters. When an exec or wait call yields, the running cell is not stopped. Codex returns the cell identifier and can collect the result with a later wait. When a model stream is preempted, completed commentary stays in history while unfinished assistant text is left out of the replacement request.[2]

A turn can stop speaking while its process keeps working.

One interrupt icon cannot explain two outcomes.

People read a stopped spinner as stopped work. That assumption fails when the conversation and process have separate lifetimes. The interface needs one visible disposition for the model turn and another for the running process.

Use plain verbs. Queue waits for the current step. Steer ends the current model step, preserves completed output, and states whether the process continues. Stop requests process cancellation and must report whether cancellation succeeded. Do not color all three with the same warning red.

Input must not rewrite standing policy.

Claude Code 2.1.284 fixes a related control leak. Typing during an automatic usage-limit wait no longer takes later waits out of the configured "Continue automatically" policy. The same release adds a one-time answer for reads outside working directories, so a person can allow one read without creating a standing grant.[3]

These are separate product behaviors. Together they expose one design rule. A message can steer the current turn without silently changing the process policy or future permission policy.

Preserve identity when the cockpit changes.

VS Code 1.139 lets agent sessions run in Dev Containers on SSH, Tunnel, and WSL hosts. It also lets people switch between multi-chat and single-chat presentation while keeping open chats and conversation state.[4] The view can change while the work remains elsewhere.

A steering receipt should name the session, turn, process or cell, execution host, and chosen disposition. Without those fields, "stopped" may describe the visible reply while a remote process still owns files, ports, or credentials.

Interactive makeover / dual-shaft control

Turn steering gearbox

Traditional purpose replaced: one interrupt button for the whole agent. Better version: select queue, steer, or stop and inspect separate outcomes for the model turn and running process.

Choose the route

The native radios own the mode. The gear and shafts mirror that selection.

Input disposition
Model turnContinue current step
Running processContinue and collect result
Queue route selected. Two receipt fields remain open.The current turn and process continue until the step returns.
Copyable integration contract

Write both dispositions

This bench drafts required fields. It does not control a model stream or operating-system process.

What this bench proves. The template keeps the model-turn outcome separate from the process outcome. A completed template still needs runtime evidence from the real agent and host.

Sources and limits

Open the source log
  1. OpenAI Codex 0.159.0 release notes, read September 29, 2026. The release describes opt-in instant_interrupt for new input during model responses and long code-mode calls.
  2. OpenAI Codex pull request 48135 and pull request 48141, read September 29, 2026. The implementation notes say yielded cells continue running, later waits can collect their results, completed commentary is preserved, and unfinished response text is excluded after preemption.
  3. Anthropic Claude Code 2.1.284 release notes, read September 29, 2026. The release separates a one-time external read from future permission and preserves configured automatic-wait behavior when a person types during a usage-limit wait.
  4. Visual Studio Code 1.139 release notes, read September 29, 2026. Microsoft documents agent sessions in Dev Containers on remote hosts and chat presentation changes that preserve open chats and conversation state.

Source boundary. OpenAI documents the specific preemption behavior. Anthropic and Microsoft document separate controls in their own products. Neither claims this page's dual-shaft control. The gearbox is an editorial integration pattern. Test cancellation, process identity, output retention, and remote-host behavior in the product you run.