Local Codex

Local Codex

Delegate coding tasks to the local OpenAI Codex CLI agent using your ChatGPT Pro subscription (OAuth, no API charges).

When to Use

• User wants to generate, refactor, or review code via Codex
• User wants to run codex exec for non-interactive tasks
• User wants to use Codex's GPT-5.5 agent capabilities
• User mentions "codex", "run codex", "delegate to codex"

Authentication (OAuth / ChatGPT Pro)

CRITICAL: This skill uses OAuth authentication from ~/.codex/auth.json (ChatGPT Pro flat-rate subscription). Do NOT set OPENAI_API_KEY or pass API keys — that would switch to pay-per-use billing.

• Codex desktop app and CLI share the same auth cache
• If auth fails, run codex login in terminal (browser OAuth flow)
• For auth issues, see references/oauth-guide.md

Codex CLI Path

The skill auto-detects Codex CLI in this order:

• /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/codex (desktop app)
• /usr/local/bin/codex (npm global)
• /opt/homebrew/bin/codex (Homebrew)
• ~/.npm-global/bin/codex
• which codex fallback

Usage Patterns

1. Basic exec (single task)

python3 scripts/codex_wrapper.py exec "<prompt>" [<workdir>] [<model>] [<sandbox>] [<timeout>]

Example:

python3 scripts/codex_wrapper.py exec \
  "Write a Python function to calculate fibonacci" \
  /tmp \
  gpt-5.5 \
  workspace-write \
  300

2. Code review

python3 scripts/codex_wrapper.py review [<workdir>] [<model>] [uncommitted:true] [<timeout>]

Example:

python3 scripts/codex_wrapper.py review \
  /path/to/repo \
  gpt-5.5 \
  true \
  300

3. Check status

python3 scripts/codex_wrapper.py status

Output Format

The wrapper returns JSON with:

• success: bool
• exit_code: int
• elapsed_seconds: float
• stdout: raw output
• stderr: error stream (truncated)
• parsed_jsonl: parsed JSONL events (if --json)
• final_message: extracted assistant text (if available)

Parameters

| Parameter | Default | Options |

|-----------|---------|---------|

| model | gpt-5.5 | gpt-5.5, gpt-5.5-pro, o4-mini, etc. |

| sandbox | workspace-write | read-only, workspace-write, danger-full-access |

| timeout | 300 | seconds (increase for large tasks) |

| json_output | true | always true (wrapper parses JSONL) |

Safety Notes

• sandbox=read-only for analysis/review tasks (no file writes)
• sandbox=workspace-write for code generation (writes to working dir)
• sandbox=danger-full-access only when explicitly needed (full system access)
• Always use --skip-git-repo-check when running outside git repos
• Use --ephemeral for one-off tasks (no session persistence)

Session Management

For multi-step tasks, Codex supports session resume:

# First step
codex exec --ephemeral "Step 1..."
# Later
codex exec resume --last "Step 2..."

The wrapper currently runs single-shot exec. For multi-step workflows, use raw codex exec commands.

Limitations

• Desktop app must be running for OAuth token refresh (or token must be fresh)
• codex doctor is buggy in current version (alpha), avoid using
• Environment variables are NOT inherited into Codex's sandbox; pass via config or prompt
• Large file operations may need increased timeout