# OpenAI Codex CLI v0.120 — Realtime V2 background streaming

> OpenAI's terminal coding agent can now stream a background agent's progress live while it is still working.

- Org: OpenAI
- Date: 2026-04-11
- Category: tool
- Source: https://github.com/openai/codex/releases/tag/rust-v0.120.0
- Canonical page: https://ai-tldr.dev/releases/openai-codex-cli-0-120/

## In short

OpenAI's terminal coding agent gains Realtime V2 streaming that surfaces background agent progress while work is still running, plus MCP structured tool results and sharper TUI hook displays in a 30-PR release.

## What it is

OpenAI Codex CLI is OpenAI's official terminal-native coding agent — a Rust binary with 75.1k stars on GitHub that lives in your shell, reads and edits files, runs commands, and drives longer tasks through the Codex model family. v0.120.0 is a 30-PR point release layered on top of v0.119, which last week switched realtime voice sessions to WebRTC by default.

## How it works

The headline change is Realtime V2 streaming: the background-agent pipeline now surfaces incremental progress while work is still in flight, and queues any follow-up user turns until the active response completes — no more 'running…' dead-time on a long task. Code-mode tools now consume MCP output schema details directly, so typed tool results flow end-to-end without shape guessing. The TUI splits hook activity into 'running' vs. 'finished output' rows, thread titles become addressable inside custom status-line templates, and SessionStart hooks can distinguish a /clear from a fresh start or a resumed session. The release also fixes Windows sandbox permission handling, symlink resolution, and remote websocket tool ordering.

## Why it matters

Background streaming is what makes long-running agent work tolerable in a terminal: you can see progress instead of staring at a spinner, and you can already type the next instruction while the model is finishing. Combined with the v0.119 WebRTC voice stack, Codex CLI is catching up structurally with managed-agent harnesses from other labs for developers who want that experience in their own shell — without giving up local control.

## Who it's for

Devs who run coding agents from the terminal and want live background progress plus queued follow-ups.

## Try it

npm install -g @openai/codex@0.120.0

## Links

- [Release notes](https://github.com/openai/codex/releases/tag/rust-v0.120.0)
- [Repo](https://github.com/openai/codex)
- [All releases](https://github.com/openai/codex/releases)