OpenAI Launches Codex App for macOS

TLDR:

OpenAI released the Codex app for macOS on February 2, 2026, providing developers with a tool to manage multiple AI agents simultaneously for coding tasks, available to subscribers of ChatGPT Plus and higher plans, and temporarily included for Free and Go users.

Credit: OpenAI

OpenAI announced the release of its Codex app for macOS on February 2, 2026, in San Francisco.

The application allows developers to oversee multiple AI agents working in parallel on coding projects, handle long-running tasks, and integrate with existing tools like command-line interfaces and IDE extensions.

Users can delegate tasks to agents that operate in isolated threads, review code diffs, and make manual edits without conflicts through worktrees. 

The app builds on the GPT-5.2-Codex model, which OpenAI introduced in mid-December 2025, and has seen usage double since then, with over a million developers engaging in the past month.

Features include Skills for extending agent capabilities beyond code generation, such as translating Figma designs to UI code, managing projects in Linear, deploying to cloud platforms like Vercel, and generating images with GPT Image.

Automations enable scheduled background tasks, with results queued for review, and users can select agent personalities, such as pragmatic or empathetic, via commands.

Security measures incorporate open-source sandboxing to restrict agents to designated folders and branches, requiring permissions for elevated actions.

The app is accessible to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu subscribers, with doubled rate limits for a limited time across all platforms.

Free and Go plan users gain temporary access.

A Windows version is planned for future release. 

"Today, we’re introducing the Codex app for macOS—a powerful new interface designed to effortlessly manage multiple agents at once, run work in parallel, and collaborate with agents over long-running tasks," OpenAI stated in its announcement. 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said:

“You can use this from a clean sheet of paper, brand new, to make a really quite sophisticated piece of software in a few hours."

The launch positions Codex against competitors like Anthropic's Claude Code, with integrations for agentic coding practices that have gained traction in the past year.