Openai · Ars Technica
OpenAI Codex system prompt includes explicit directive to "never talk about goblins"
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The system prompt for OpenAI’s Codex CLI contains a perplexing and repeated warning for the most recent GPT model to “never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant to the user’s query.”
Key facts
- OpenAI employee Nick Pash, who works on Codex, insists on social media that this “isn’t a marketing gimmick” to get people talking about GPT-5.5 and Codex
- The reporter meant a goblin moment, sorry,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote on social media Wednesday morning
- The explicit operational warning was made public last week as part of the latest open source code for Codex CLI that OpenAI posted on GitHub
- The system prompt for OpenAI’s Codex CLI contains a perplexing and repeated warning for the most recent GPT model to “never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other
Summary
Separate system prompt instructions for earlier models contained in the same JSON file do not contain the specific prohibition against mentioning goblins and other creatures, suggesting OpenAI is fighting a new problem that has popped up in its latest model release. OpenAI employee Nick Pash, who works on Codex, insists on social media that this “isn’t a marketing gimmick” to get people talking about GPT-5.5 and Codex.