Add the ability to remote control codex from ChatGPT app #9200

sluongng · 2026-01-14T09:43:01Z

sluongng
Jan 14, 2026

It would be nice if I could run Codex on my laptop/desktop machine in a headless/daemon mode.
Then, remote control it from my ChatGPT -> Codex app.

I'm basically doing this already today with a combination of Tailscale (VPN) + Terminus (SSH client).
Being able to use a proper mobile app UI would be much better for me than having to access the sessions through ssh + tmux.

I don't like the current Codex cloud option because:

I cannot set up the environment from the mobile app. I need to use your web ui, which codex won't help me configure it automatically
I prefer using my desktop environment, where I already have all the tools available
Using my own should save me a bit in terms of usage cost(?)

So something like codex teleport command would be much desirable.

etraut-openai · 2026-01-14T16:17:14Z

etraut-openai
Jan 14, 2026
Maintainer

Thanks for posting to the discussion forum. If you'd like to submit a feature request, I recommend doing so in our issue tracker. That will allow other Codex users to respond and upvote if they support it. We use upvotes on feature requests to prioritize feature work in Codex.

When you say "run Codex on my laptop", are you referring to the Codex CLI? The Codex IDE Extension running in your IDE?

2 replies

sluongng Jan 14, 2026
Author

Most likely the cli. I will follow up with an issue when im back to my desk

sluongng Jan 14, 2026
Author

created #9224

solomatov · 2026-02-25T15:32:56Z

solomatov
Feb 25, 2026

I use tmux for such things. It's not getting terminated when the ssh connection is broken, and I could reconnect to it later in another ssh session.

0 replies

yongzx · 2026-03-01T23:52:57Z

yongzx
Mar 1, 2026

Would really like to have this feature, similar to https://code.claude.com/docs/en/remote-control which I can access codex session from ChatGPT mobile app interface.

1 reply

ocano-diego Mar 3, 2026

for now you can use Happy CLI (happy codex command) https://happy.engineering/

stanislavkozlovski · 2026-04-11T13:36:20Z

stanislavkozlovski
Apr 11, 2026

Folks, OpenAI is really behind with the coding harness. Please implement this feature

0 replies

jianshuod · 2026-04-12T13:38:29Z

jianshuod
Apr 12, 2026

This feature is rewarding and wanted!

0 replies

RoyalWares · 2026-04-12T20:55:26Z

RoyalWares
Apr 12, 2026

The omission of this feature is enough that I’m actively choosing competitors over Codex for this feature alone

1 reply

code-x-coffee May 14, 2026

Exactly my thoughts!

hendryyeh · 2026-04-16T00:27:33Z

hendryyeh
Apr 16, 2026

(Maintainer of CodeVibe here — apologies for the self-mention.)

Exactly the pattern this thread is about. CodeVibe automates the tmux + mobile bridge that people here are hacking together with SSH — you keep the codex binary running on your own machine, and a sidecar plugin streams the session to iOS / Android. Also works with Claude Code and Gemini CLI.

For this use case specifically:

It's a plugin, not a wrapper — it plugs in alongside codex, doesn't replace the binary
Desktop and mobile can both be active at the same time (no "remote mode," no "press any key to take control back")
When Codex hits a file edit, the prompt shows up on your phone with the diff and the numbered options (1, 2, 3) you'd see in the terminal
End-to-end encrypted — our backend only relays encrypted events

macOS / Linux / WSL install:

curl -fsSL https://quantiya.ai/codevibe/install.sh | bash

More here: https://quantiya.ai/codevibe

Free to use. Happy to answer questions about how the sidecar/plugin model works.

0 replies

cmyui · 2026-04-26T15:39:03Z

cmyui
Apr 26, 2026

This would be fantastic; I've been experimenting with Codex after being a major Claude Code user as of recently, and this is one of my major remaining pain points. I'm really hoping this can be added!

0 replies

johnnytshi · 2026-04-27T00:58:52Z

johnnytshi
Apr 27, 2026

This is MUST! I am on Claude Max 20. I want to switch to codex, but I use remote control all the time.

0 replies

slawekmarczak · 2026-05-01T15:00:12Z

slawekmarczak
May 1, 2026

Isn't this it? https://developers.openai.com/codex/remote-connections

3 replies

solbirn May 3, 2026

Not at all. In the Claude mobile app there Code remote control, is like a regular AI chat. It's extremely convenient for busy devs on the go. No hacky ssh dev tunnels and mobile ssh viewer need. I use it all the time. Even Copilot's new remote feature is nearly useless in comparison.

mattbidinger May 3, 2026

Not at all. In the Claude mobile app there Code remote control, is like a regular AI chat. It's extremely convenient for busy devs on the go. No hacky ssh dev tunnels and mobile ssh viewer need. I use it all the time. Even Copilot's new remote feature is nearly useless in comparison.

I am almost exclusively claude due to remote control in the app - for itops it keeps me working when I'm away from my desk, which makes getting more done easier. OAI on Twitter says its coming soon, and I look forward to using codex more as a result. I use claude more on the desktop as well, as I know if I don't finish I can keep going while I'm out.

solbirn May 6, 2026

Another use case on mine is across multiple OS targets for platform specific bits- building, testing and debugging. I access all the Claude sessions in remote control and keep things moving along.

axelsnoski · 2026-05-05T02:54:35Z

axelsnoski
May 5, 2026

This really needs to be added by OAI...

0 replies

zaffus · 2026-05-05T15:09:57Z

zaffus
May 5, 2026

+1 yes please

0 replies

itsstevenliu · 2026-05-06T10:29:49Z

itsstevenliu
May 6, 2026

+1 would be lovely

0 replies

solbirn · 2026-05-06T15:33:15Z

solbirn
May 6, 2026

+1

0 replies

Emanuele-web04 · 2026-05-06T16:44:46Z

Emanuele-web04
May 6, 2026

You guys should see this :)

https://x.com/emanueledpt/status/2052025982182154572?s=46

This is Remodex: a Remote Control for using Codex on your iPhone!

1 reply

mattbidinger May 6, 2026

No shortage of 3rd party options

Boilerplate4u · 2026-05-15T07:26:47Z

Boilerplate4u
May 15, 2026

Marketing hype, or is this actually real?

If it’s real, I’m curious how it works e.g through a bunch of Docker stacks, native support in Codex, etc.

Where does OA hide this kind of info?

** EDIT **
Sadly, this seems like pure marketing BS: there’s no native support in Codex CLI. :-(

3 replies

neuwcodebox May 16, 2026

Upgrade Codex CLI
Turn on features.remote_control = true
Run codex remote-control
Connect with Codex Mobile

It works for me.

Boilerplate4u May 18, 2026

I managed to connect to Codex CLI (version 0.130), which seems to run as an exclusive session with codex remote-control (which has to be authorized from the smartphone every time I need to use it). That command, in turn, appears to act as a dedicated “remote control server,” meaning you can’t start remote-control and share an existing session. So it’s either remote control from the phone, or Codex CLI from the terminal.

And as I asked before: seriously, where has OpenAI hidden all the info/docs on how this is actually supposed to be used???

Maybe I’m completely off base here, but unfortunately it still feels like a quick hack so they can market it as: “Look, we have remote control too!”

I really hope someone at OpenAI with a bit of drive and some actual understanding of what developers working in enterprise environments really need gets started on a proper solution instead of a quick hack just to keep the marketing department happy.

Just my 10 cents!

neuwcodebox May 19, 2026

Totally agree

Boilerplate4u · 2026-05-15T08:05:09Z

Boilerplate4u
May 15, 2026

This is what the reality looks like, taken from:
https://openai.com/index/work-with-codex-from-anywhere/

“Availability

Codex in the ChatGPT mobile app is rolling out in preview on iOS and Android across all plans, including Free and Go, in all supported regions. Update the ChatGPT mobile app and the Codex app on macOS to try it out. Support for connecting your phone to the Codex app on Windows is coming soon.”

Please tell me I’m wrong, but this looks like a poor man’s version of remote control using SSH terminal login (which you can already do today), rather than actual native web-based remote control like Claude Code’s claude remote-control or /remote-control.

I’m utterly disappointed!☹️

0 replies

sluongng · 2026-05-18T14:07:30Z

sluongng
May 18, 2026
Author

Ima close this as what I requested was shipped. If you have feedback on the current feature, please create a new discussion/issue.

0 replies

Boilerplate4u · 2026-05-18T15:53:08Z

Boilerplate4u
May 18, 2026

Please don’t. The current beta feels like a marketing ploy. Here’s why:

I managed to connect to Codex CLI (version 0.130), which seems to run as an exclusive session with codex remote-control (which has to be authorized from the smartphone every time I need to use it). That command, in turn, appears to act as a dedicated “remote control server,” meaning you can’t start remote-control and share an existing session. So it’s either remote control from the phone, or Codex CLI from the terminal.

And as I asked before: seriously, where has OpenAI hidden all the info/docs on how this is actually supposed to be used???

Maybe I’m completely off base here, but unfortunately it still feels like a quick hack so they can market it as: “Look, we have remote control too!”

I really hope someone at OpenAI with a bit of drive and some actual understanding of what developers working in enterprise environments really need gets started on a proper solution instead of a quick hack just to keep the marketing department happy.

Just my 10 cents!

0 replies

stanislavkozlovski · 2026-06-15T08:27:53Z

stanislavkozlovski
Jun 15, 2026

Guys, your roadmap is really as simple as just copying Claude Code. How are you still fumbling it? It's been so many months, which in AI is equivalent to years. This is the easiest dunk you can do...

1 reply

Boilerplate4u Jun 15, 2026

Agreed but man, you're a bit late to the party, aren't you? Complain to Sam Altman, like I did! :-D

noobtech777 · 2026-06-18T02:48:55Z

noobtech777
Jun 18, 2026

+1

0 replies

CanRau · 2026-06-18T03:26:37Z

CanRau
Jun 18, 2026

Haven't looked into remote controlling the CLI but it works pretty good with the Codex desktop app, I can control multiple sessions, even create new ones which the ClI couldn't easily do so I feel like the desktop integration is the stronger one anyway

0 replies

zbaibg · 2026-07-03T19:43:21Z

zbaibg
Jul 3, 2026

I cannot connect to the Linux CLI codex remote-control from my phone because it does not provide the pairing code that the mobile app requires. This issue should be reopened.

0 replies

zbaibg · 2026-07-03T22:21:07Z

zbaibg
Jul 3, 2026

Workaround found! Just connect to the headless machine via SSH using the Codex App on any other PC. That PC then acts as a bridge, allowing you to remotely control the headless machine from your phone. Everything still runs entirely on the headless machine, so the experience is essentially identical to running Codex CLI directly on it.

0 replies

Bensonwang-owl · 2026-07-04T07:02:25Z

Bensonwang-owl
Jul 4, 2026

We’ve been building an open-source project around this exact gap: controlling local coding-agent sessions from another device, without assuming the official mobile app is the only client.

Agents Anywhere is not a replacement for Codex. It’s more of a self-hosted control plane for Codex / Claude Code / OpenCode-style agents running on your own machine.

GitHub: https://github.com/anywhere-labs/Agents-Anywhere

The main thing we’re trying to preserve is: local runtime, user-owned machine, remote control surface.

0 replies

jeff-an · 2026-07-05T18:45:33Z

jeff-an
Jul 5, 2026

After connecting remote codex to my Mac, I got Codex to actually generate me a pairing code that worked on my Android phone. Now my Chatgpt app shows both my mac and my remote dev box. I asked Codex to generate reproducible instructions for others, see file attached:

instructions.md

1 reply

PhilipKandyba Jul 7, 2026

Thank you @jeff-an, it worked, I don't have Node on my ubuntu server but I have python, so I rewrite (codex did) your paring script to python, all good.

import base64
import json
import os
import socket
import struct
import time


def main() -> int:
    socket_path = os.path.expanduser("~/.codex/app-server-control/app-server-control.sock")

    s = socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
    s.connect(socket_path)

    key = base64.b64encode(os.urandom(16)).decode()
    request = (
        "GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n"
        "Host: localhost\r\n"
        "Connection: Upgrade\r\n"
        "Upgrade: websocket\r\n"
        "Sec-WebSocket-Version: 13\r\n"
        f"Sec-WebSocket-Key: {key}\r\n\r\n"
    )
    s.sendall(request.encode())

    buf = b""
    next_id = 1
    latest_status = None
    requested_pairing = False

    def send_frame(text: str) -> None:
        payload = text.encode()
        length = len(payload)
        mask = os.urandom(4)
        if length < 126:
            header = struct.pack("!BB", 0x81, 0x80 | length)
        elif length <= 65535:
            header = struct.pack("!BBH", 0x81, 0x80 | 126, length)
        else:
            header = struct.pack("!BBQ", 0x81, 0x80 | 127, length)
        masked = bytes(payload[i] ^ mask[i % 4] for i in range(length))
        s.sendall(header + mask + masked)

    def send(method: str, params=None) -> int:
        nonlocal next_id
        if params is None:
            params = {}
        message_id = next_id
        next_id += 1
        send_frame(json.dumps({"id": message_id, "method": method, "params": params}))
        return message_id

    def maybe_request_pairing() -> None:
        nonlocal requested_pairing
        if requested_pairing or latest_status != "connected":
            return
        requested_pairing = True
        send("remoteControl/pairing/start", {"manualCode": True})

    while b"\r\n\r\n" not in buf:
        chunk = s.recv(4096)
        if not chunk:
            raise EOFError("socket closed during handshake")
        buf += chunk

    headers, buf = buf.split(b"\r\n\r\n", 1)
    if not headers.startswith(b"HTTP/1.1 101"):
        raise SystemExit(headers.decode(errors="replace"))

    send(
        "initialize",
        {
            "clientInfo": {
                "name": "codex_remote_manual_pairing",
                "title": "Codex Remote Manual Pairing",
                "version": "0.0.0",
            },
            "capabilities": {"experimentalApi": True},
        },
    )

    end = time.time() + 15
    while time.time() < end:
        while len(buf) < 2:
            s.settimeout(max(0.1, end - time.time()))
            chunk = s.recv(4096)
            if not chunk:
                raise EOFError("socket closed")
            buf += chunk

        b1, b2 = buf[0], buf[1]
        opcode = b1 & 0x0F
        length = b2 & 0x7F
        offset = 2

        if length == 126:
            while len(buf) < 4:
                buf += s.recv(4096)
            length = struct.unpack("!H", buf[2:4])[0]
            offset = 4
        elif length == 127:
            while len(buf) < 10:
                buf += s.recv(4096)
            length = struct.unpack("!Q", buf[2:10])[0]
            offset = 10

        masked = bool(b2 & 0x80)
        mask = b""
        if masked:
            while len(buf) < offset + 4:
                buf += s.recv(4096)
            mask = buf[offset : offset + 4]
            offset += 4

        while len(buf) < offset + length:
            buf += s.recv(4096)

        payload = buf[offset : offset + length]
        buf = buf[offset + length :]

        if masked:
            payload = bytes(payload[i] ^ mask[i % 4] for i in range(len(payload)))

        if opcode != 1:
            continue

        msg = json.loads(payload.decode())

        if msg.get("id") == 1:
            send_frame(json.dumps({"method": "initialized", "params": {}}))
            send("remoteControl/status/read")
            send("remoteControl/enable", {"ephemeral": False})
            continue

        if msg.get("method") == "remoteControl/status/changed":
            latest_status = msg["params"]["status"]
            maybe_request_pairing()
            continue

        if msg.get("result", {}).get("status"):
            latest_status = msg["result"]["status"]
            maybe_request_pairing()
            continue

        if msg.get("result", {}).get("manualPairingCode"):
            expires_at = time.strftime(
                "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ", time.gmtime(msg["result"]["expiresAt"])
            )
            print(f"Pairing code: {msg['result']['manualPairingCode']}")
            print(f"Host: {msg['result']['environmentId']}")
            print(f"Expires: {expires_at}")
            s.close()
            return 0

        if msg.get("error"):
            print(json.dumps(msg["error"], indent=2))

    print("Timed out waiting for pairing code")
    s.close()
    return 1
    ```

blendaddict · 2026-07-13T13:25:43Z

blendaddict
Jul 13, 2026

Tried switching from claude to codex but this is indefensible

0 replies

shreshthsaini · 2026-07-19T01:07:22Z

shreshthsaini
Jul 19, 2026

@codex remote-control is very essential for power and serious users. Claude just nails it. If codex does not implement it soon, I am going back to Claude. Trying codex nowadays to see if Sol really stand against Fable.

1 reply

RoyalWares Jul 19, 2026

You know what's sad, I genuinely prefer Sol to Fable at the moment, but I'm still choosing to run most of my sessions on Claude Code because I can step away and carry on, Codex is only getting isolated tasks from me when I'm at my machine, and by then it's still more convenient to continue my Claude session.

gabrielfreitash · 2026-07-21T20:23:14Z

gabrielfreitash
Jul 21, 2026

so much for llms replacing devs, huh? very basic feature not implemented for months. oai should point its token cannon at this issue for half an hour if thats all it takes

0 replies

Uh oh!

Add the ability to remote control codex from ChatGPT app #9200

Uh oh!

Replies: 40 comments · 16 replies

Uh oh!

etraut-openai Jan 14, 2026 Maintainer

Uh oh!

sluongng Jan 14, 2026 Author

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sluongng Jan 14, 2026 Author

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sluongng May 18, 2026 Author

Uh oh!

Replies: 40 comments 16 replies

etraut-openai
Jan 14, 2026
Maintainer

sluongng Jan 14, 2026
Author

sluongng Jan 14, 2026
Author

sluongng
May 18, 2026
Author