OpenAI releases Codex macOS app for agent-based software development
OpenAI has launched the new Codex app for macOS, a dedicated workspace for managing multiple AI coding agents in parallel. The app is designed to help developers reduce repetitive work and focus on higher-level engineering tasks.
Codex can write features, fix bugs, answer questions about a codebase, and propose pull requests for review. Each task runs in its own isolated environment that is preloaded with a user’s repository, giving Codex direct context from the start.
What the Codex app does
The Codex app lets developers run multiple AI agents simultaneously, each in its own thread arranged by project, so context isn’t lost when switching between tasks. It provides an interface to review and comment on code changes, and supports native Git workflows so that agent work doesn’t conflict with local or branch state.
“The Codex app changes how software gets built and who can build it—from pairing with a single coding agent on targeted edits to supervising coordinated teams of agents across the full lifecycle of designing, building, shipping, and maintaining software,” the company said.
Automate recurring tasks with background workflows
The app includes tools to create and manage skills, bundles of instructions, resources, and scripts that agents can reuse to complete tasks. These skills let Codex interact with developer tools, run workflows, and perform tasks according to team conventions.
OpenAI also provides a library of built-in skills tied to common workflows, such as converting UI designs into code, managing bugs, deploying to cloud platforms, generating assets, and working with documentation.
Developers can configure Automations so the app works in the background on a schedule. These can run tasks like summarising CI failures or triaging issues and show results in a review queue for human approval.
Security and sandboxing
The Codex app relies on native, open-source, configurable system-level sandboxing, the same approach used in the Codex CLI. Codex agents can edit files only within the folder or branch they are working in and use cached web search.
Commands that require higher privileges, such as network access, require user approval. Teams can also set project-level rules that allow specific commands to run automatically with elevated permissions.
Codex macOS app availability and pricing
The Codex app is available on macOS and included with ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans. For a limited time, ChatGPT Free and Go users also have access, and paid users benefit from temporarily increased rate limits.