Settings Scope Declared

A Codex configuration file's scope (project or user) is fixed by which path it lives at, so config.toml must declare real settings rather than ship as an empty placeholder. An empty file leaves the agent unable to tell whether the config is unused, mid-setup, or broken.

This is the TOML form of CORE:S:0021. A config.toml with any top-level key or any table ([table]) counts as declaring settings; the JSON settings files of other agents keep the JSON form of the check.

Antipatterns

• Empty file: Committing a config.toml with no content. The file exists but declares nothing.
• Comments only: A config.toml that holds only # comment lines. Comments set nothing, so the file is still empty.
• Placeholder left after scaffolding: Generating the file from a template and never filling in model, approval_policy, sandbox_mode, an [mcp_servers.<id>] table, or another real setting.

Pass / Fail

Pass

model = "your-model"
approval_policy = "on-request"

Fail

# project settings go here

Limitations

Checks that the file declares at least one key or table. Does not verify that the key names a setting Codex recognizes.