Codex: Commands and Examples

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Posted on | by Rajesh Kumar

How to “not miss anything” (authoritative for your exact install)

1) List every CLI command + flag

codex --help
codex <subcommand> --help

This prints the exact set of subcommands/flags your installed build supports. (Docs can lag.)

2) List every in-app slash command (inside Codex TUI)

In the Codex terminal UI, type:

  • / → shows available slash commands (like in your screenshot)
  • then run any command to see its prompt/usage

Codex’s documented slash-command set is here. (OpenAI Developers)

Part A — Codex Terminal UI “Slash Commands” (inside the Codex chat)

These commands are typed inside Codex after you see the > prompt.

Tip: Many of these are “stateful”—they change the current session settings.

Help / status / troubleshooting

/help

Shows available commands and how to use them. (OpenAI Developers)

/status

Shows current session state (model, environment, auth, etc.). (OpenAI Developers)

/debug-config

Shows the effective config Codex is using (useful when behavior surprises you). (OpenAI Developers)

/statusline

Toggles the status line display. (OpenAI Developers)

/feedback

Send feedback about Codex. (OpenAI Developers)

Model + behavior controls

/model

Choose the model and reasoning effort. (Matches what your UI shows.) (OpenAI Developers)
Example:

/model

/personality

Switch the assistant behavior/personality preset. (OpenAI Developers)

/mention

Controls how Codex mentions/labels things (useful in multi-agent / structured flows). (OpenAI Developers)

Permissions / approvals / safety controls

/permissions

Sets what Codex is allowed to do (e.g., running commands, editing files). (OpenAI Developers)

/approvals

Controls approval policy (when Codex must ask before acting). (OpenAI Developers)

Workflow helpers

/plan

Ask Codex to produce a plan first (often before edits). (OpenAI Developers)

/diff

Show the diff of proposed/applied changes. (OpenAI Developers)

/review

Ask Codex to review current changes and find issues. (OpenAI Developers)

/compact

Summarize/compact context (helpful when context is large). (OpenAI Developers)

/init

Initialize a workspace flow (often creates/updates Codex metadata/config for the repo). (OpenAI Developers)

Sessions / threads

/new

Start a new chat within the terminal UI. (OpenAI Developers)

/resume

Resume a saved chat/session. (OpenAI Developers)

/fork

Fork the current/previous thread (branch the conversation). (OpenAI Developers)

✅ Also visible in your screenshot:

/rename

Renames the current thread. (This appears in some builds even if it’s not always shown in the docs list—your UI clearly has it.)

Example:

/rename Fix login redirect bug

Connectors / MCP / apps

/apps

Manage “apps”/integrations from inside the UI. (OpenAI Developers)

/mcp

Manage MCP tools/servers available to Codex. (OpenAI Developers)

Exit / logout

/logout

Log out of the Codex session. (OpenAI Developers)

/exit (and /quit)

Exit the Codex TUI. (OpenAI Developers)

Part B — Codex CLI Commands (run in your OS shell)

These are typed in your terminal outside the Codex chat UI.

Master list of CLI subcommands (from Codex CLI reference)

Codex CLI includes these subcommands (and some have aliases). (OpenAI Developers)

1) codex (Interactive Terminal UI)

Starts the interactive agent UI. (OpenAI Developers)

cd /path/to/your/repo
codex

2) codex exec (alias: codex e) — Non-interactive / CI usage

Used for scripted runs that finish without a human. (OpenAI Developers)

Common examples:

# Ask for a quick change and print the result
codex exec "Explain this repo’s architecture in 10 bullets"

# Run with a specific model
codex exec -m gpt-5.3-codex "Find and fix the failing test"

# Output last message to a file (useful in automation)
codex exec -o out.txt "Summarize git diff"

Notable flags include (selection): --cd/-C, --json, --model/-m, --output-last-message/-o,
sandbox controls, and a dangerous bypass option. (OpenAI Developers)

3) codex login / codex login status / codex logout

Examples:

codex login
codex login status
codex logout

4) codex cloud / codex cloud list / codex apply

  • codex cloud lets you browse/execute Codex Cloud tasks. Alias: codex cloud-tasks. (OpenAI Developers)
  • codex cloud list lists tasks and supports JSON output for automation. (OpenAI Developers)
  • codex apply applies the latest diff produced by a cloud task. Alias: codex a. (OpenAI Developers)

Examples:

codex cloud
codex cloud list --json
codex apply TASK_ID
# or
codex a TASK_ID

5) codex features — feature flags

Manage feature flags stored in ~/.codex/config.toml. (OpenAI Developers)

Examples:

codex features list
codex features enable <feature>
codex features disable <feature>

6) codex execpolicy check — test rules before saving

Validates “execpolicy” rule files and checks whether a command would be allowed/prompted/blocked. (OpenAI Developers)

Example:

codex execpolicy check --rules ~/.codex/rules/my.rules --pretty -- rm -rf /

7) codex mcp — manage MCP servers

Stores MCP server entries in ~/.codex/config.toml. Subcommands include:
add, get, list, login, logout, remove. (OpenAI Developers)

Examples:

codex mcp list
codex mcp add myserver --url https://example.com/mcp
codex mcp get myserver --json
codex mcp remove myserver

8) codex mcp-server — run Codex as an MCP server

Runs Codex over stdio so other tools can connect. (OpenAI Developers)

Example:

codex mcp-server

9) codex sandbox — run commands under Codex sandbox rules

Runs a command under the same sandbox policies Codex uses internally. (OpenAI Developers)

Example:

codex sandbox -- ls -la

10) codex completion — shell completions

Generate completions for bash | zsh | fish | power-shell | elvish. (OpenAI Developers)

Example:

codex completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_codex"

11) Desktop / app server tools (mostly dev/debug)

codex app (macOS only)

Launch/install the desktop app and optionally open a workspace path. (OpenAI Developers)

codex app ~/workspace/chatgpt

codex app-server

Local dev server; supports --listen stdio:// or experimental ws://IP:PORT. (OpenAI Developers)

codex debug app-server send-message-v2

Send one test message through app-server’s flow (debugging). (OpenAI Developers)

Quick “Command Map” (copy/paste cheat sheet)

Inside Codex (slash)

/help /status /debug-config /statusline /model /personality /permissions /approvals /plan /review /diff /compact /init /apps /mcp /new /resume /fork /rename /logout /exit /quit (OpenAI Developers)

In your OS terminal (CLI)

codex, app, app-server, debug app-server send-message-v2, exec(e), execpolicy check, features, login(+status), logout, mcp, mcp-server, resume, fork, cloud(+list), apply(a), completion, sandbox (OpenAI Developers)

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