OpenAI’s Codex app: When your IDE gets a brain

OpenAI has given software developers a new desktop toy, and judging by the early reactions, it might feel like someone finally handed coders the Swiss Army knife they’ve been dreaming about or the kind of gadget that makes them wonder if they’re working with a robot coworker now. 

The company rolled out the Codex app for macOS, a focused interface for managing AI coding agents, designed to let developers do more than just “generate a few lines of code.” Instead, Codex can juggle multiple tasks in parallel, run background workflows, and act on instructions that span hours or even days. 

Image: My personal archive

At its core, the new app is a response to a shift that’s been quietly happening for the past year: AI isn’t just helping write short snippets anymore. It’s taking on whole coding projects, running tests, dealing with ...