🚀OpenAI Codex CLI: Your Terminal’s New AI Assistant (Windows, macOS & Server Guide

HI! OpenAI Codex

Lightweight coding agent that runs in your terminal
npm i -g @openai/codex

OpenAI just open-sourced Codex CLI — a lightweight coding agent that lives in your terminal and can:
✨ Understand natural language requests
💻 Execute commands safely
📁 Manipulate files under version control
🔍 Analyze your entire codebase

Here’s how to unleash its power on Windows (WSL2), macOS, and Linux servers:

🌟 Installation (All Platforms)
bash
npm install -g @openai/codex
Set your OpenAI API key (get one here):

bash
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-your-key-here" # Temporary session
echo 'export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-your-key-here"' >> ~/.zshrc # Permanent (macOS/Linux)
🍎 macOS Setup (Recommended)
Sandbox Security
macOS 12+ uses Apple Seatbelt to:
🔒 Block all network access (except OpenAI API)
📂 Restrict file writes to $PWD and temp folders

Try these recipes:

bash

🛠️ Refactor code interactively

codex "Convert this class component to React Hooks"

🔍 Audit your repo

codex "Find 3 high-impact improvements for this codebase"
🪟 Windows Setup (via WSL2)
Install WSL2 (Admin PowerShell):
powershell
wsl --install -d Ubuntu
Launch Ubuntu terminal and:
bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash - sudo apt install -y nodejs git
Run Codex securely:
bash
codex --approval-mode suggest "Explain this Python script"
💡 Pro Tip: Use codex.md files in your repo to give Codex project-specific context!

🐧 Linux Server Deployment
Docker Sandboxing (Recommended)
bash
docker run -it --rm \
-e OPENAI_API_KEY=$OPENAI_API_KEY \
-v $(pwd):/workspace \
ubuntu:22.04 bash -c "npm i -g @openai/codex && codex"
CI/CD Pipeline Example (GitHub Actions):

yaml

name: Auto-fix security issues run: | npm install -g @openai/codex codex -a auto-edit --quiet "audit for CWE-79 vulnerabilities" 🔥 Pro Tips Memory Context: Codex remembers: ~/.codex/instructions.md (global rules) ./codex.md (project-specific docs) Safety First: bash # 🛡️ Default safe mode (asks before executing) codex "update all dependencies" # ⚠️ Full-auto (network-disabled sandbox) codex -a full-auto "rename all .js files to .ts" Multimodal Magic: bash # 📸 Analyze screenshots! codex "Implement this UI from screenshot.png" 🚨 Important Security Notes ✅ Always runs in Git-tracked directories ✅ Network disabled in Full-Auto mode ✅ Containerized on Linux via Docker

Report concerns to: security@openai.com

💬 Final Thoughts
Codex CLI turns your terminal into an AI pair programmer that:
🤖 Understands your codebase
🛠️ Executes tasks safely
📈 Learns from project docs

Try it today and tweet your coolest workflows to #CodexCLI!

🔗 GitHub: github.com/openai/codex