ChatGPT Codex is OpenAI’s coding agent across the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS and Windows, CLI, IDE integrations, mobile Remote Control, and Cloud. Existing standalone Codex app projects and settings carry into ChatGPT desktop. Local OpenAI clients can share CODEX_HOME configuration, instructions, skills, plugins, and MCP setup; Codex Cloud keeps its own environment and workspace configuration.
This guide takes you from zero to productive across all four surfaces, then into the workflows that actually ship code.
Quick Start
Install every surface, authenticate, configure approval modes, write your first AGENTS.md, connect MCP servers, hook up GitHub, run your first real task, review the output, and recover when things break. Everything you need to be dangerous in an afternoon.
ChatGPT Desktop (Codex)
Codex mode in the ChatGPT desktop app gives you parallel threads, worktrees, built-in Git tools, automations, skills, and an integrated terminal — all in a focused window separate from your editor.
CLI
The Codex CLI is open-source, built in Rust, and runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Interactive TUI sessions, non-interactive scripting, approval modes, image input, web search, and local code review — all from your terminal.
IDE Extension
The OpenAI extension supports VS Code, Cursor, and Windsurf. JetBrains AI and Xcode 26.3+ provide separate native Codex integrations rather than builds of that extension.
Most coding agents lock you into a single interface. ChatGPT Codex instead offers desktop, CLI, IDE, Cloud, and mobile Remote Control entry points. Local clients can share local state, while cloud tasks use separately configured environments. The GPT-5.6 family spans Sol (frontier), Terra (balanced), and Luna (efficient), but there is no universal Sol default: Free and Go use Terra, while Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise can choose all three, subject to rollout and managed-workspace policy. In the API, the alias gpt-5.6 resolves to gpt-5.6-sol.
codex exec for scripting, piping output, CI/CD integration, and headless automation on remote machines@file references, cloud delegation, and auto-context syncing with the App@codex mentions, environment configuration, and long-running background tasks| Need | Go to |
|---|---|
| Install all surfaces | Installation |
| Set up authentication | Authentication |
| Configure models and approvals | Configuration |
| Write project instructions | AGENTS.md Setup |
| Connect MCP servers | MCP Setup |
| Integrate with GitHub | GitHub Integration |
| Run your first task | First Task |
| Review agent output | Review Workflow |
| Recover from failures | Error Recovery |