🚀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)

1. ​​Install WSL2​​ (Admin PowerShell):

• powershell
• wsl --install -d Ubuntu

1. ​​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

1. ​​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

1. ​​Memory Context​​:
   Codex remembers:

• ~/.codex/instructions.md (global rules)
• ./codex.md (project-specific docs)

1. ​​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"

1. ​​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: [email protected]

💬 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

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