OpenAI released a major update to Codex on April 16, 2026, aiming to transform the AI coding assistant from a tool that writes code into a partner that can participate across the entire software development lifecycle. According to OpenAI, more than 3 million developers use Codex every week. The most notable addition is the ability for Codex to operate your computer—not just code in an editor, but interact with the entire desktop environment.
Extending Codex Beyond Coding
Previously, Codex primarily lived in the terminal or editor. With the new background computer use feature, Codex can now use all the apps on your computer by seeing, clicking, and typing with its own cursor. Multiple agents can work on your Mac in parallel without interfering with your own work in other apps. This is particularly useful for developers who need to iterate on frontend changes, test apps, or work with applications that don’t expose an API.
Codex is also beginning to work natively with the web. The app now includes an in-app browser, where you can comment directly on pages to provide precise instructions to the agent. This is useful for frontend and game development today, and OpenAI plans to expand it so Codex can fully command the browser beyond web applications on localhost.
Additionally, Codex can now use gpt-image-1.5 to generate and iterate on images. Combined with screenshots and code, this is helpful for creating visuals for product concepts, frontend designs, mockups, and games within the same workflow.
OpenAI also released more than 90 additional plugins, which combine skills, app integrations, and MCP servers to give Codex more ways to gather context and take action across your tools. Some of the new plugins developers will find most useful include Atlassian Rovo to help manage JIRA, CircleCI, CodeRabbit, GitLab Issues, Microsoft Suite, Neon by Databricks, Remotion, Render, and Superpowers.
Working Across the Software Development Lifecycle
The Codex app now includes deeper support for developer workflows. It can address GitHub review comments, run multiple terminal tabs, and connect to remote devboxes over SSH in alpha. You can also open files directly in the sidebar with rich previews for PDFs, spreadsheets, slides, and docs, and use a new summary pane to track agent plans, sources, and artifacts.
These improvements make it faster to move across all stages of the software development lifecycle—writing code, checking outputs, reviewing changes, and collaborating with the agent in one workspace.
Carrying Work Forward Over Time
OpenAI has expanded automations to allow re-using existing conversation threads, preserving context previously built up. Codex can now schedule future work for itself and wake up automatically to continue on a long-term task, potentially across days or weeks. Teams use automations for everything from landing open pull requests to following up on tasks and staying on top of fast-moving conversations across tools like Slack, Gmail, and Notion.
A preview of memory allows Codex to remember useful context from previous experience, including personal preferences, corrections, and information that took time to gather. This helps future tasks complete faster and to a level of quality previously only possible through extensive custom instructions.
Codex now also proactively proposes useful work to continue where you have left off. Using context from projects, connected plugins, and memory, Codex can suggest how to start your work day or where to pick up on a previous project. For example, Codex can identify open comments in Google Docs that require your attention, pull relevant context from Slack, Notion, and your codebase, then provide you with a prioritized list of actions.
Availability and Limitations
Starting April 16, 2026, these updates are rolling out to Codex desktop app users who are signed in with ChatGPT. Personalization features including context-aware suggestions and memory will roll out to Enterprise, Edu, and EU and UK users soon. Computer use is initially available on macOS, and will roll out to EU and UK users soon.
For product builders, there are practical considerations:
- Security of computer operation: Allowing an agent to control your desktop grants it high privileges. It’s advisable to test in an isolated environment or on a test machine first to ensure it doesn’t modify important files.
- Privacy of memory: Codex remembers your preferences and context, which may raise data compliance concerns for enterprises. Evaluate your organization’s policies before enabling memory features.
- Focus on core use cases: While the feature set is broad, most developers will likely benefit most from code writing and PR handling. Start with these core scenarios and gradually explore other capabilities.
What This Means for Developers
Codex is evolving from a tool into a more proactive partner. The update narrows the gap between what developers can imagine and what they can build by bringing Codex closer to the tools, workflows, and decisions involved in building software. If you’ve been using Codex in the terminal or editor, try it across the rest of your workflow. If you haven’t tried Codex yet, download the app and get started.
Sources
AI-assisted summary compiled from the sources above, reviewed by a human before publishing.