Confirming that it has reached 3 million weekly developers, OpenAI is today extensively updating its Codex developer environment via its Mac and Windows desktop apps to bring it closer to the “super app” the company has confirmed it is pursuing.
Before today, Codex was primarily an environment for using OpenAI’s underlying language models to write, edit, debug, and ship software as directed by the user.
Now, Codex will be able to access all other apps on your computer, present relevant information to you from within them when asked or proactively, perform actions according to instructions provided in said applications, and, in the case of Mac users, do so even while you continue to manually use your computer, along with its agents working in the background.
Andrew Ambrosino, an OpenAI technical staffer on the Codex team, described the change clearly in a restricted press briefing I attended virtually yesterday: “Codex can actually click on apps, launch apps, and type into apps. It works with any app on your machine.”
Codex on desktop is getting its own built-in web browser, allowing users to preview their front-end development, and a directly integrated pipeline to OpenAI’s powerful AI image generation model GPT-Image-1.5, allowing users to generate imagery for their projects – everything from websites to presentations to fully playable PC games with hundreds of assets – all in a single style.
As Thibault "tibo" Sotiaux, head of Codex at OpenAI, said during the briefing: “It’s not just about development. It’s putting a very capable agent in the hands of builders, and now we’re seeing that we’re able to completely expand and do a lot more work on your computer.”"
Asked why OpenAI is doing all this in Codex, and not in its more recognizable flagship app, ChatGPT, Sotiax told VentureBeat: “Codex is our most powerful agent. It already works on your computer, and so we’re expanding the capabilities there. It felt very natural. We’ll make sense of it at some point."
This update comes after rival Anthropic previously introduced similar use cases with the launch of its Cloud Cowork and redesigned Cloud Code desktop app views, all of which were available within the Cloud Desktop app for Mac and Windows. But the cloud doesn’t allow simultaneous use of the background app cursor from the desktop app across all the user’s apps like Codex does.
Multiple agent computers use workflow in the background on macOS
The most significant technological leap forward in this release "computer use," Currently limited to macOS users.
This feature allows Codex to break out of the traditional chatbot container "look, click and type" All applications on one machine.
The important thing is that it happens in the background. "It can use apps on your computer in the background, instead of taking over your entire computer," Caffrey Lynch of OpenAI developer product communications explained.
it enables "multi agent" Workflows where the codex is testing a frontend change or testing a JIRA ticket while the developer continues working in a separate application.
For Windows users, the core Codex desktop app remains available and supported – as does pulling information from those apps into Codex to the user – although it lacks the cursor-level background interaction available on the Mac at launch.
One-stop shop for complete software development
In addition to powering the OS, OpenAI is doubling down on it "software development lifecycle" (SDLC). The Codex app now works like an integrated workspace, supporting everything from GitHub PR reviews to remote infrastructure management.
"The simplest way to think about this release is to teach codecs and apps to work on a much larger surface area," said Andrew Ambrosino, head of Codex app development. This surface area now includes:
- integrated browser: An in-app browser allows developers to iterate on the frontend design by directly commenting on DOM elements, providing precise instructions for the agent to follow.
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visual primitives:By integrating gpt-images-1.5, Codex can now generate and iterate images for mockups and game assets directly within the development workflow.
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extended sidebar: The app now includes a summary pane for tracking agent plans and sources, as well as rich previews for non-code files like PDFs, spreadsheets, and slide decks.
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terminal and ssh:The update adds support for multiple terminal tabs and an alpha feature for connecting to remote devboxes via SSH.
To add these different functions, OpenAI is releasing over 90 new plugins. These connectors—including CircleCI, GitLab, and the Microsoft Suite—allow agents to gather context and take action across the entire toolchain a developer uses daily.
In a demo video shown during the briefing, OpenAI presented an example showing a user typing into the Codex prompt entry field, “Can you check Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Notion and tell me what I need to pay attention to?” This shows how Codex can now scan multiple apps and gather information from all of them in a single prompt, and bring to the fore what is most important to the user.
“If you want Codex to use specific apps you can mention them, or if not, Codex can figure out which app to use,” Ambrosino said.
The ‘heartbeat’ of productivity
One of the more subtle but powerful changes is the introduction of sustainable agency. Through "heartbeat automation," Codex can now schedule future work for itself "wake up" To continue long term operations.
This allows teams to set up agents that monitor Slack channels or Notion docs and proactively update documentation or land PRs.
It is supported by a new "Memory" The feature is currently in preview. Memory allows the codec to remember personal preferences, past corrections, and collected information, reducing the need for extensive custom instructions in each new session.
"As you use the codec, the codec also gets better at activating," Sotiaux noted.
This activity is manifested in a "daily brief" Style feature where the app suggests how to start the day by identifying open Google Doc comments or a relevant Slack reference.
It’s like new in spirit and practice "daily routine" The feature was launched by Anthropic for its Cloud Code product earlier this week.
Licensing, pricing and availability
OpenAI has recently shifted toward a more flexible pricing model for Teams, including a $100 plan and pay-as-you-go options to accommodate the growing use of autonomous agents. For individual users, these updates are being rolled out today to those signed in to the Codex desktop app with ChatGPT.
When The Codex desktop app is available on both macOS and WindowsThe rollout of specific features is tiered:
- background computer use: macOS only at launch.
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Personalization (Memories/Suggestions):Coming soon for Enterprise, Edu, EU and UK users.
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Core Software Development Life Cycle Update: Available to all desktop app users starting today.
Perspective: From developer tools to super apps for everyone
When asked whether these characteristics represent the foundation of AI "super app," Sotiaux confirmed the strategy: "We are creating super app in open source and developing it with Codex app".
The goal is to address the reality that developers spend most of their time coordinating and reference-gathering rather than writing code.
By bringing codecs closer to the operating system and broader ecosystem of developer tools, OpenAI is positioning it as the central nervous system for modern software development.
"Our mission is to ensure that AGI benefits all of humanity," The company said in its official announcement. "This means bridging the gap between what people can imagine and what they can actually create.".
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