OpenAI launched a Codex desktop app for macOS (February 2, 2026), and it’s positioned as a command center for agent-based coding (multiple assistants you can direct and review). Models can already handle meaningful chunks of production work, but the bigger bottleneck is coordination: how you direct, supervise, and review multiple agents reliably across projects.
That’s the problem Codex is trying to solve.
OpenAI Codex Features
The Codex app is designed to let you:
- Run multiple agent threads in parallel, organized by project, so you can switch tasks without losing context.
- Review changes as diffs inside the thread, comment inline, and open the work in your editor when you want to take over.
- Use built-in Git worktrees so multiple agents can work in the same repo without stepping on each other.
- Use Skills (reusable bundles of instructions, resources, and scripts) so Codex can run repeatable workflows that match your team’s conventions. For example, a standard bug-triage routine, a deployment flow, or a CI-failure summary format.
- Set up Automations so Codex can handle routine work on a schedule, like issue triage and summarizing CI failures, then drop results into a review queue.
Codex is Becoming a Serious Product
Codex launched in 2025 as a cloud-based software engineering agent (a research preview) that runs tasks in isolated cloud environments and proposes changes for review.
What’s new here is the packaging and workflow. OpenAI is moving agentic coding out of a research-preview feel and into a dedicated desktop experience built around the messy realities of real engineering work (multiple projects, parallel tasks, reviews, merges, and ongoing maintenance).
OpenAI positions Codex as a cross-surface tool: the macOS app, the CLI, an IDE extension, and cloud-based tasks.
Is OpenAI Codex Secure?
OpenAI frames Codex as “secure by default, configurable by design.”
For local use (the macOS app, plus the CLI/IDE extension), Codex runs inside an OS-enforced sandbox. By default, it has no network access, and write permissions are limited to the active workspace (for example, the folder or branch you’ve given it).
When something needs elevated permissions, like enabling network access for command execution, Codex can pause and ask for approval first. OpenAI describes this as two controls working together: sandbox mode (what the agent can technically do) and approval policy (when it has to ask you first).
Codex also uses cached web search by default. In cached mode, results come from a pre-indexed OpenAI-maintained search cache rather than fetching live pages. OpenAI says this helps reduce exposure to prompt injection from arbitrary live content, while still noting you should treat any web results as untrusted input.
For Codex Cloud, tasks run in isolated OpenAI-managed containers. Runtime internet access is off by default, and org admins can allow internet access using domain allowlists and restricted HTTP methods.
Availability and Access
The Codex app is available now on macOS (Apple Silicon). OpenAI’s developer docs also include a “get notified” option for Windows and Linux.
On plan access, OpenAI Codex is included with ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Edu, and Enterprise. They also note a limited-time window where ChatGPT Free and Go can try Codex. Rate limits are doubled for paid plans during the limited-time period.
For sign-in, OpenAI supports two modes: ChatGPT sign-in (subscription-based access) or API key sign-in (usage-based access). Codex Cloud requires ChatGPT sign-in, and if you sign in with an API key, some features (like cloud threads) may not be available.
The Competitive Subtext: Why This Launch Matters
Reuters framed the launch as part of OpenAI’s push in a fast-moving code-gen market, with Anthropic’s tooling as a key point of comparison.
That context explains the timing and the product emphasis: this isn’t just about model quality anymore. It’s about the interface and workflow that make agentic coding usable every day.
FAQ
The Codex app is built to be a home base for supervising multiple tasks at once. It keeps agent work organized by project, puts review (diffs + comments) right in the same place the work happens, and adds built-in worktrees and automations so you can run recurring tasks without turning your terminal into a wall of sessions. It also picks up your history/config from the CLI and IDE extension, so it’s meant to complement them, not replace them.
A thread is basically one ongoing work session: your prompt, the agent’s outputs, and any tool actions that follow. You can continue the same thread with follow-up prompts, or run multiple threads in parallel when you have separate tasks, so you can switch contexts without losing the story of each task.
You don’t need Git to use Codex locally. But Git is what unlocks the “parallel work without stepping on yourself” setup. A Git worktree is a separate working folder tied to the same repo, so Codex can work on changes in an isolated copy while your main checkout stays untouched. That’s the feature that makes multiple tasks feel safer and less chaotic.
Yes. The app organizes work by project and is designed for juggling parallel tasks. The key idea is to keep separate tasks in separate threads (and ideally separate worktrees) so changes don’t collide. If you point Codex at multiple projects, you can move between them without losing context.
It depends on the thread mode you choose:
Local runs on your Mac in your current project folder.
Worktree also runs on your Mac, but in an isolated Git worktree.
Cloud runs remotely in a configured environment, using a cloned copy of your repo.
Automations run locally in the Codex app, so the app needs to be open and the project needs to be available on disk. When an automation finishes, it drops findings into an inbox-style triage area inside the app (and may auto-archive runs that have nothing to report). In Git repos, each automation run typically uses its own background worktree so it doesn’t interfere with your main checkout.
Sources:
- https://openai.com/index/introducing-the-codex-app/
- https://openai.com/codex/
- https://openai.com/index/introducing-codex/
- https://developers.openai.com/codex/app/
- https://developers.openai.com/codex/security/
- https://developers.openai.com/codex/auth/
- https://developers.openai.com/codex/pricing/
- https://developers.openai.com/codex/enterprise/admin-setup
- https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11369540-using-codex-with-your-chatgpt-plan
- https://openai.com/form/codex-app/
- https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/openai-launches-codex-app-gain-ground-ai-coding-race-2026-02-02/
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