codex-review

name	codex-review
description	Have OpenAI Codex review the current branch with documentation research. Use for second-opinion code reviews or when you want cross-AI verification.
argument-hint	[focus] [--upstream FILE] [--research TOPICS] [--base BRANCH] [--model MODEL] [--mode code|research]
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Glob, Grep

Codex Review

Invoke OpenAI's Codex CLI to review the current branch, with instructions to research relevant documentation before reviewing.

When to Use

• You want a second opinion on your implementation
• You want cross-verification between different AI models
• The implementation uses tools/libraries where current docs would help
• You've completed a feature and want thorough review before merging
• /phase-checkpoint invokes this for cross-model review (Step 4)

Prerequisites

• Codex CLI installed (codex --version works)
• Valid OpenAI authentication (codex login completed)
• On a feature branch with commits to review

Arguments

Argument	Example	Description
focus	security	Focus review on specific area
--upstream FILE	--upstream PRODUCT_SPEC.md	Check that code preserves requirements from upstream doc
--research TOPICS	--research "Supabase, NextAuth"	Explicit technologies for Codex to research
--base BRANCH	--base develop	Compare against different base branch
--model MODEL	--model gpt-5.2-codex	Use specific Codex model (overrides --mode)
--mode MODE	--mode research	Select model by task type: code (default) or research. When omitted, auto-detected from changed files.

Workflow

Copy this checklist and track progress:

Codex Review Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Verify Codex CLI available
- [ ] Step 2: Gather branch context
- [ ] Step 3: Generate review prompt
- [ ] Step 4: Invoke Codex
- [ ] Step 5: Present results

Step 1: Verify Codex CLI

Check if Running Inside Codex

# Codex sets CODEX_SANDBOX when running
if [ -n "$CODEX_SANDBOX" ]; then
  echo "RUNNING_IN_CODEX"
fi

If running inside Codex CLI:

CODEX REVIEW: SKIPPED
=====================
Reason: Already running inside Codex CLI.

Cross-model verification requires a different model.
Continuing without cross-model verification.

Return early. Do NOT block the parent workflow.

Check Codex CLI Installed

codex --version

If not installed:

Codex CLI is not installed or not in PATH.

Install: https://github.com/openai/codex
Then run: codex login

Check Authentication

codex login status

If not authenticated:

Codex authentication failed. Run:
  codex login

Read Configuration

Read .claude/settings.local.json for settings:

# Read models from config
CODE_MODEL=$(jq -r '.codexReview.codeModel // "gpt-5.2-codex"' .claude/settings.local.json 2>/dev/null || echo "gpt-5.2-codex")
RESEARCH_MODEL=$(jq -r '.codexReview.researchModel // "gpt-5.2"' .claude/settings.local.json 2>/dev/null || echo "gpt-5.2")
TIMEOUT_MINS=$(jq -r '.codexReview.reviewTimeoutMinutes // 10' .claude/settings.local.json 2>/dev/null || echo "10")

If codexReview.enabled is explicitly false, skip with message.

Select Model

Priority order: --model flag > --mode flag > auto-detection > default (code)

# 1. Explicit --model flag always wins
if [ -n "$EXPLICIT_MODEL" ]; then
  CODEX_MODEL="$EXPLICIT_MODEL"

# 2. Explicit --mode flag
elif [ "$MODE" = "research" ]; then
  CODEX_MODEL="$RESEARCH_MODEL"
elif [ "$MODE" = "code" ]; then
  CODEX_MODEL="$CODE_MODEL"

# 3. Auto-detect from changed files when --mode not provided
else
  # Get changed file extensions
  CODE_EXTENSIONS="ts|tsx|js|jsx|py|go|rs|java|rb|php|swift|kt|c|cpp|h|css|scss|vue|svelte"
  CHANGED_FILES=$(git diff $BASE_BRANCH...HEAD --name-only 2>/dev/null)

  if [ -z "$CHANGED_FILES" ]; then
    # No git diff available — default to code
    CODEX_MODEL="$CODE_MODEL"
  elif echo "$CHANGED_FILES" | grep -qE "\.($CODE_EXTENSIONS)$"; then
    # Has code files — use code model
    CODEX_MODEL="$CODE_MODEL"
  else
    # Only non-code files (md, txt, json, etc.) — use research model
    CODEX_MODEL="$RESEARCH_MODEL"
  

Auto-Detection Summary:

Changed Files	Inferred Mode	Model
Any .ts, .js, .py, etc.	code	gpt-5.2-codex
Only .md, .txt, .json	research	gpt-5.2
No diff available	code (safe default)	gpt-5.2-codex

Step 2: Gather Branch Context

Collect information about the current branch:

# Current branch name
git branch --show-current

# Commits on this branch (vs main or specified base)
BASE_BRANCH="${BASE:-main}"
git log --oneline $BASE_BRANCH..HEAD 2>/dev/null || git log --oneline -10

# Changed files summary
git diff $BASE_BRANCH...HEAD --stat 2>/dev/null || git diff HEAD~5 --stat

# Get the merge base
git merge-base $BASE_BRANCH HEAD 2>/dev/null

Auto-detect research topics from changed files if --research not provided:

• Check package.json for dependencies
• Look at import statements in changed files
• Identify frameworks (Next.js, React, etc.)

Step 3: Generate Review Prompt

See PROMPT_TEMPLATE.md for the full prompt structure.

Key sections:

1. Pre-Review Research — Technologies Codex should research
2. Review Context — Branch, commits, changed files
3. Upstream Context (if --upstream provided) — Requirements to preserve
4. Review Instructions — What to check, output format

Step 4: Invoke Codex

See CODEX_INVOCATION.md for detailed command building.

OUTPUT_FILE="/tmp/codex-review-output-$(date +%s).txt"

# Build model flag
MODEL_FLAG=""
if [ -n "$CODEX_MODEL" ]; then
  MODEL_FLAG="--model $CODEX_MODEL"
fi

# Execute with timeout
timeout $((TIMEOUT_MINS * 60)) bash -c "cat {prompt_file} | codex exec \
  --sandbox danger-full-access \
  -c 'approval_policy=\"never\"' \
  -c 'features.search=true' \
  $MODEL_FLAG \
  -o $OUTPUT_FILE \
  -"
EXIT_CODE=$?

Flags explained:

• --sandbox danger-full-access: Enables network access for documentation research
• -c 'approval_policy="never"': Non-interactive execution
• -c 'features.search=true': Enable web search for documentation research
• -o $OUTPUT_FILE: Write final response to file for reliable parsing
• -: Read prompt from stdin

Important: Do NOT use 2>&1 — Codex streams progress to stderr and final output to stdout. Merging them corrupts the parseable response.

Step 5: Present Results

Parse and present the Codex output. See EVALUATION_PRACTICES.md for severity classification.

Output Format (User-Facing)

CODEX REVIEW COMPLETE
=====================
Branch: feature/add-auth
Reviewed by: Codex ({model})
Status: PASS WITH NOTES

Critical Issues: None

Recommendations:
1. [src/auth/handler.ts:45] Consider adding rate limiting
   → Suggestion: Use express-rate-limit middleware

2. [src/auth/session.ts:12] Session expiry not explicitly configured
   → Suggestion: Add explicit maxAge to session config

Positive Findings:
- Good separation of concerns in auth module
- Proper error handling for OAuth failures

{If --upstream provided}
Context Preservation: ✓ All 5 items from PRODUCT_SPEC.md preserved
{/If}

Output Format (Programmatic — for /phase-checkpoint)

When invoked by another skill, return structured data:

{
  "status": "pass | pass_with_notes | needs_attention | error | skipped",
  "critical_issues": [],
  "recommendations": [],
  "positive_findings": [],
  "context_preservation": {
    "checked": true,
    "all_preserved": true,
    "missing_items": []
  }
}

Error Handling

Failure	Action
Codex CLI not found	Report and stop
Authentication failed	Suggest codex login
No commits on branch	Report nothing to review
Codex times out	Return partial output if available
Output is malformed	Attempt best-effort parsing

Configuration

Read from .claude/settings.local.json:

{
  "codexReview": {
    "enabled": true,
    "codeModel": "gpt-5.2-codex",
    "researchModel": "gpt-5.2",
    "reviewTimeoutMinutes": 10,
    "taskTimeoutMinutes": 60
  }
}

Setting	Default	Description
enabled	true	Set to false to disable Codex review
codeModel	"gpt-5.2-codex"	Model for code review tasks
researchModel	"gpt-5.2"	Model for research/planning tasks
reviewTimeoutMinutes	10	Max time for review invocations
taskTimeoutMinutes	60	Max time for task execution via Codex

For CI/headless environments: Set CODEX_API_KEY environment variable for authentication without interactive login.

Examples

Basic review:

/codex-review

Focus on security:

/codex-review security

Verify against upstream spec:

/codex-review --upstream PRODUCT_SPEC.md

Explicit research topics:

/codex-review --research "Supabase Auth, Next.js App Router"

Different base branch and model:

/codex-review --base develop --model gpt-5.2-codex