Installation

Codex CLI can be installed using npm, Homebrew, or by downloading pre-built binaries for your platform.

System requirements

Before installing Codex CLI, ensure your system meets these requirements:

Requirement	Details
Operating systems	macOS 12+, Ubuntu 20.04+/Debian 10+, or Windows 11 via WSL2
Node.js	16 or newer (Node 20 LTS recommended for npm installation)
Git (recommended)	2.23+ for built-in PR helpers
RAM	4 GB minimum (8 GB recommended)

Codex CLI does not work directly on Windows. You must use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2). See the WSL installation guide.

Installation methods

npm
Homebrew
Binary download
Build from source

Install globally with npm

Install Codex CLI globally using your preferred package manager:

npm install -g @openai/codex

Never run sudo npm install -g. If you encounter permissions errors, fix your npm permissions instead.

Verify installation

Verify that Codex is installed correctly:

codex --version

You should see the version number printed to your terminal.

Install with Homebrew

Install Codex CLI using Homebrew (macOS and Linux):

brew install --cask codex

Verify installation

Verify that Codex is installed correctly:

codex --version

You should see the version number printed to your terminal.

Download the binary

Go to the latest GitHub Release and download the appropriate binary for your platform:macOS

Apple Silicon/arm64: codex-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz
x86_64 (older Mac hardware): codex-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz

Linux

x86_64: codex-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz
arm64: codex-aarch64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz

Extract and rename

Extract the archive and rename the binary:

# Example for Linux x86_64
tar -xzf codex-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz
mv codex-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl codex

Each archive contains a single entry with the platform name baked in, so you’ll want to rename it to codex.

Make executable and move to PATH

Make the binary executable and move it to a directory in your PATH:

chmod +x codex
sudo mv codex /usr/local/bin/

Verify installation

Verify that Codex is installed correctly:

codex --version

You should see the version number printed to your terminal.

Clone the repository

Clone the Codex repository and navigate to the CLI package:

git clone https://github.com/openai/codex.git
cd codex/codex-cli

Enable corepack and install dependencies

Enable corepack and install dependencies:

corepack enable
pnpm install

Build the CLI

Build the CLI:

pnpm build

Linux only: Download prebuilt sandboxing binaries:

./scripts/install_native_deps.sh

This requires gh (GitHub CLI) and zstd.

Link globally (optional)

Link the command globally for convenience:

pnpm link

Or run directly:

node ./dist/cli.js

Verify your installation

After installation, verify that Codex is working by running:

codex --help

You should see the help output with available commands and options.

Next steps

Authenticate

Now that Codex is installed, set up authentication to start using the CLI.

Complete the quickstart

Follow the quickstart guide to run your first commands.

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Features

Advanced Usage

Installation

Installation

System requirements

Installation methods

Verify your installation

Next steps

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Features

Advanced Usage

​Installation

​System requirements

​Installation methods

​Verify your installation

​Next steps

Installation

System requirements

Installation methods

Verify your installation

Next steps