If you blinked yesterday (Feb 2, 2026), you missed it: OpenAI quietly launched a dedicated Codex app for macOS - their shiny new “command center” for AI coding agents. And to make sure everyone notices, they threw in a promo that feels like a holiday gift you didn’t ask for but kinda needed:
- Free & Go users get temporary access to Codex (trial mode, limits unknown but “included”).
- Paid plans (Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, Edu) get 2× rate limits for a “limited time” - no end date announced, so it could vanish tomorrow.
Check your dashboard or the Codex pricing page - if you see doubled numbers or a banner, congrats, you’re in the window.
What Actually Changed (Quick Numbers, No BS)
Limits are counted in messages/tasks over sliding 5-hour windows (local + cloud share the same pool - mix them and it burns faster). Plus code reviews per week.
Rough current promo numbers (from developers.openai.com table + recent announcements):
Plus ($20/mo)
- Local messages: ~90–450 / 5h (was 45–225)
- Cloud tasks: ~20–120 / 5h (was 10–60)
- Code reviews: ~20–50 / week (was 10–25)
Pro ($200/mo)
- Local: ~600–3000 / 5h (was 300–1500)
- Cloud: ~100–800 / 5h (was 50–400)
- Reviews: ~200–500 / week (was 100–250)
Business usually mirrors Plus, Enterprise scales with credits (no hard caps if flexible pricing).
Pro tip: Switch to GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini for local tasks - gets you up to ~4× more messages in the same window (Plus → ~360–1800 local, Pro → ~2400–12000). Cheap way to stretch the promo.
If you hit the wall anyway - buy credits (local ~5 credits/msg, cloud/review ~25). No upgrade needed.
How to Start
1) Open ChatGPT => hit “Try in your IDE” or go to openai.com/codex
2) Choose VS Code (or wait for native app install)
3) Install the “Codex - OpenAI’s coding agent” extension (openai.chatgpt)
4) Sign in with your ChatGPT account
5) Open your repo - Codex sees files, context, can diff, run tests, delegate to cloud
Sandbox mode keeps it safe (limits folder writes/network). If you’re paranoid - start with small local tasks.
P.S. Why This Launch Feels Like They Read Your Mind
Peak OpenAI move: new powerful app + extra allowance right when usage is exploding (they say Codex doubled since GPT-5.2-Codex in December, >1M devs touched it last month).
It’s like they’re saying: “We know you’ll delegate half your workload to agents this week - here’s double the rope.”
By the way - hurry “limited time” usually means “until we see usage spike and panic about costs.” So, grab the extra limits while they’re hot. May your agents ship code, not excuses. 🚀
Thanks for reading.
I’m building open-source stuff and writing about ML/AI in my Telegram channel: https://t.me/FitHappensML and on X/Twitter: https://x.com/FitHappensML
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