codex

name	Codex
description	Expert reference for Codex itself — features, setup, troubleshooting, and enterprise use. Use this skill when answering questions about Codex installation, authentication, slash commands, agent skills, MCP server configuration, hooks, plugins, IDE integration (VS Code, JetBrains), CI/CD integration, enterprise deployment (SSO, sandboxing, monitoring), extended thinking, caching, checkpointing, cost tracking, or debugging Codex behaviour. Distinct from the user-level Extensibility skill: this skill is about operating and understanding Codex, not about authoring new extensions.
version	1
updated	"2026-04-19T00:00:00.000Z"

Codex Expert

Codex is Anthropic's agentic coding tool that lives in the terminal and helps turn ideas into code faster. It combines autonomous planning, execution, and validation with extensibility through skills, plugins, MCP servers, and hooks.

When to Use This Skill

Use when users need help with:

• Understanding Codex features and capabilities
• Installation, setup, and authentication
• Using slash commands for development workflows
• Creating or managing Agent Skills
• Configuring MCP servers for external tool integration
• Setting up hooks and plugins
• Troubleshooting Codex issues
• Enterprise deployment (SSO, sandboxing, monitoring)
• IDE integration (VS Code, JetBrains)
• CI/CD integration (GitHub Actions, GitLab)
• Advanced features (extended thinking, caching, checkpointing)
• Cost tracking and optimization

Activation examples:

• "How do I use Codex?"
• "What slash commands are available?"
• "How to set up MCP servers?"
• "Create a new skill for X"
• "Fix Codex authentication issues"
• "Deploy Codex in enterprise environment"

Core Architecture

Subagents: Specialized AI agents (planner, code-reviewer, tester, debugger, docs-manager, ui-ux-designer, database-admin, etc.)

Agent Skills: Modular capabilities with instructions, metadata, and resources that Codex uses automatically

Slash Commands: User-defined operations in .Codex/commands/ that expand to prompts

Hooks: Shell commands executing in response to events (pre/post-tool, user-prompt-submit)

MCP Servers: Model Context Protocol integrations connecting external tools and services

Plugins: Packaged collections of commands, skills, hooks, and MCP servers

Quick Reference

Load these references when needed for detailed guidance:

Getting Started

• Installation & Setup: references/getting-started.md
  • Prerequisites, installation methods, authentication, first run

Development Workflows

• Slash Commands: references/slash-commands.md

  • Complete command catalog: /cook, /plan, /debug, /test, /fix:, /docs:, /git:, /design:, /content:*

• Agent Skills: references/agent-skills.md

  • Creating skills, skill.json format, best practices, API usage

Integration & Extension

• MCP Integration: references/mcp-integration.md

  • Configuration, common servers, remote servers

• Hooks & Plugins: references/hooks-and-plugins.md

  • Hook types, configuration, environment variables, plugin structure, installation

Configuration & Settings

• Configuration: references/configuration.md
  • Settings hierarchy, key settings, model configuration, output styles

Enterprise & Production

• Enterprise Features: references/enterprise-features.md

  • IAM, SSO, RBAC, sandboxing, audit logging, deployment options, monitoring

• IDE Integration: references/ide-integration.md

  • VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin setup and features

• CI/CD Integration: references/cicd-integration.md

  • GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD workflow examples

Advanced Usage

• Advanced Features: references/advanced-features.md

  • Extended thinking, prompt caching, checkpointing, memory management

• Troubleshooting: references/troubleshooting.md

  • Common issues, authentication failures, MCP problems, performance, debug mode

• API Reference: references/api-reference.md

  • Admin API, Messages API, Files API, Models API, Skills API

• Best Practices: references/best-practices.md

  • Project organization, security, performance, team collaboration, cost management

Common Workflows

Feature Implementation

/cook implement user authentication with JWT
# Or plan first
/plan implement payment integration with Stripe

Bug Fixing

/fix:fast the login button is not working
/debug the API returns 500 errors intermittently
/fix:types  # Fix TypeScript errors

Code Review & Testing

Codex "review my latest commit"
/test
/fix:test the user service tests are failing

Documentation

/docs:init      # Create initial documentation
/docs:update    # Update existing docs
/docs:summarize # Summarize changes

Git Operations

/git:cm                    # Stage and commit
/git:cp                    # Stage, commit, and push
/git:pr feature-branch main  # Create pull request

Design & Content

/design:fast create landing page for SaaS product
/content:good write product description for new feature

Instructions for Codex

When responding to Codex questions:

1. Identify the topic from the user's question
2. Load relevant references from the Quick Reference section above
3. Provide specific guidance using information from loaded references
4. Include examples when helpful
5. Reference documentation links from llms.txt when appropriate

Loading references:

• Read reference files only when needed for the specific question
• Multiple references can be loaded for complex queries
• Use grep patterns if searching within references

For setup/installation questions: Load references/getting-started.md

For slash command questions: Load references/slash-commands.md

For skill creation: Load references/agent-skills.md

For MCP questions: Load references/mcp-integration.md

For hooks/plugins: Load references/hooks-and-plugins.md

For configuration: Load references/configuration.md

For enterprise deployment: Load references/enterprise-features.md

For IDE integration: Load references/ide-integration.md

For CI/CD: Load references/cicd-integration.md

For advanced features: Load references/advanced-features.md

For troubleshooting: Load references/troubleshooting.md

For API usage: Load references/api-reference.md

For best practices: Load references/best-practices.md

Documentation links:

• Main docs: https://docs.Codex.com/Codex
• GitHub: https://github.com/anthropics/Codex
• Support: support.Codex.com

Provide accurate, actionable guidance based on the loaded references and official documentation.