OpenAI's Codex gets strict instructions: no goblins allowed
OpenAI embedded a quirky rule in Codex's system prompt: the coding agent is told to avoid mentioning goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, and other creatures unless directly relevant to the task.
The constraint hints at real-world issues with LLM outputs drifting off-task—or reflects lessons learned from models generating irrelevant or playful tangents during code generation.