OpenAI has made a groundbreaking move in AI-powered software development by introducing the Codex app for macOS. Announced on February 2, 2026, this new platform serves as a powerful command center that allows developers to manage multiple AI agents simultaneously, execute parallel tasks, and collaborate with agents on long-running projects. The company revealed that for a limited time, Codex will be available to ChatGPT Free and Go users, while doubling the rate limits for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plan subscribers. These enhanced limits will apply across all platforms where Codex is used - in the app, command-line interface (CLI), IDE, and cloud environments.
Since Codex launched in April 2025, the way developers work with AI agents has undergone a fundamental transformation. Models are now capable of handling complex, long-running tasks end to end, while developers orchestrate multiple agents across projects: delegating work, running tasks in parallel, and trusting agents to take on substantial projects that can span hours, days, or weeks. As existing IDEs and terminal-based tools weren't designed to support this new way of working, OpenAI developed the Codex desktop app to meet this need. The app organizes agents in separate threads by project, allowing users to seamlessly switch between tasks without losing context and review agent changes, comment on diffs, and make manual edits in their editor.
Codex has evolved from an agent that writes code into one that uses code to get work done on your computer. Through the "Skills" feature, developers can extend Codex beyond code generation to tasks requiring information gathering, synthesis, problem-solving, and writing. Skills bundle instructions, resources, and scripts so Codex can reliably connect to tools, run workflows, and complete tasks according to team preferences. OpenAI has built hundreds of skills internally, enabling multiple teams to confidently delegate work to Codex across various domains - from running evaluations and monitoring training runs to drafting documentation and reporting on growth experiments. The app includes a comprehensive skill library covering tasks from implementing Figma designs into production-ready code to managing projects in Linear, deploying to cloud hosts like Cloudflare, Netlify, and Vercel, and generating images.
The Codex app also features "Automations" that enable developers to set up background tasks running on automatic schedules. OpenAI teams report using Automations to handle repetitive but important tasks like daily issue triage, finding and summarizing CI failures, and generating daily release briefs. The app provides built-in Git worktree support, allowing multiple agents to work on the same repository without conflicts. Each agent works on an isolated copy of the code, enabling users to check out changes locally or let agents continue making progress without touching their local git state. Designed with security as a core principle, the app uses native, open-source, and configurable system-level sandboxing similar to the Codex CLI. By default, Codex agents are limited to editing files in their working folder or branch and use cached web search, requesting permission before running commands requiring elevated permissions like network access. The app is available starting today on macOS, with Windows support coming soon, and integrates seamlessly with existing Codex workflows across CLI and IDE extensions..