OpenAI Codex CLI

FeaturedAgent

OpenAI's AI coding agent for the terminal

Copy the install, test the workflow, then decide if it earns a permanent slot.

64,516

Why nowMoving now

Fresh repo activity plus visible builder pull. This is the kind of tool people test before it turns obvious.

DecisionHigh-conviction move

Copy the install, test the workflow, then decide if it earns a permanent slot.

Trial costMedium lift

Reasonable to try, but it will take more than a quick skim to get real signal.

Risk47/100

GitHub health 75/100. no security policy. 3,350 open issues make this testable, but not something to trust blind.

What You Are Adopting

AI Agent

Codex

Model

o4-mini

Build Time

N/A

Tech Stack

Rust CLI

Test This In Your Stack

One command inClean rollbackLow commitment

SandboxedInstalls to ~/.claude — isolated from your projects. One command to remove.

Fastest way to find out if OpenAI Codex CLI belongs in your setup.

Copy the install command, run a real test, and back it out cleanly if it slows you down.

Try now

git clone https://github.com/openai/codex ~/.claude/agents/openai-codex

Run this first. You will know quickly if the workflow earns a permanent slot.

Back out

rm -rf ~/.claude/agents/openai-codex

No messy cleanup loop. If it misses, remove it and keep moving.

Install Location

~/  └─ .claude/      ├─ commands/      ├─ agents/      │   └─ openai-codex/ ← installs here      └─ settings.json

About

Lightweight coding agent that runs in your terminal. Reads your codebase, suggests edits, runs commands, and iterates on code. Designed as OpenAI's answer to Claude Code.

README

npm i -g @openai/codex
or brew install --cask codex

Codex CLI is a coding agent from OpenAI that runs locally on your computer.

If you want Codex in your code editor (VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf), install in your IDE.
If you want the desktop app experience, run codex app or visit the Codex App page.
If you are looking for the cloud-based agent from OpenAI, Codex Web, go to chatgpt.com/codex.

Quickstart

Installing and running Codex CLI

Install globally with your preferred package manager:

# Install using npm
npm install -g @openai/codex

# Install using Homebrew
brew install --cask codex

Then simply run codex to get started.

You can also go to the latest GitHub Release and download the appropriate binary for your platform.

Each GitHub Release contains many executables, but in practice, you likely want one of these:

macOS
- Apple Silicon/arm64: codex-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz
- x86_64 (older Mac hardware): codex-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz
Linux
- x86_64: codex-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz
- arm64: codex-aarch64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz

Each archive contains a single entry with the platform baked into the name (e.g., codex-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl), so you likely want to rename it to codex after extracting it.

Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan

Run codex and select Sign in with ChatGPT. We recommend signing into your ChatGPT account to use Codex as part of your Plus, Pro, Team, Edu, or Enterprise plan. Learn more about what's included in your ChatGPT plan.

You can also use Codex with an API key, but this requires additional setup.

Docs

This repository is licensed under the Apache-2.0 License.

Tech Stack

RustOpenAI APITerminal UI

Installation

bash

npm install -g @openai/codex
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
codex

Or with Homebrew: