LaoHandDeveloper Cheatsheet

Codex CLI Cheatsheet - OpenAI Terminal Coding Agent Full Reference

All Codex CLI terminal coding agent commands in one place — from install & login to non-interactive exec, sandbox approval, and MCP — organized by scenario. Copy and go.

AI CLI·54 commands·Last updated 2026-08-05
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Install & Auth 7

npm install -g @openai/codex⧉
Install globally via npm (all platforms)
brew install --cask codex⧉
Install on macOS via Homebrew
codex --version⧉
Verify install and show version
codex login⧉
Browser OAuth sign-in to ChatGPT
codex login --with-api-key⧉
Read API key from stdin to log in
codex login --device-auth⧉
Headless/SSH device-code login
codex logout⧉
Sign out

Interactive Mode 5

codex⧉
Start an interactive TUI session
codex "Explain this codebase"⧉
Start the TUI with an initial prompt
codex --search "Fix the login bug"⧉
Enable live web search
codex -i ./screenshot.png "Implement this UI"⧉
Attach an image (comma-separate multiple)
codex --oss⧉
Use a local open-source model (Ollama, etc.)

Non-interactive (codex exec) 5

codex exec "Fix the failing tests"⧉
Non-interactive automation mode (alias codex e)
echo "Refactor utils" | codex exec --oss⧉
Pipe input + local model
codex exec --json "List all API endpoints"⧉
Output JSONL for scripting
codex exec -o result.txt "Summarize the architecture"⧉
Save the final response to a file
codex exec --output-schema '{...}' "Extract config"⧉
Constrain output with a JSON Schema

Session Management 5

codex resume⧉
Resume the previous session
codex fork⧉
Fork the previous session into a new thread
codex apply⧉
Apply the latest diff as git apply (alias codex a)
codex --restore⧉
Restore the previous session (some versions)
codex --history⧉
Browse past session history

Model & Config 5

codex -m gpt-5.4 "Complex task"⧉
Set the model (e.g. gpt-5.4 / gpt-5.4-mini)
codex -p openai "Generate a component"⧉
Load a named config profile
codex -C /path/to/repo⧉
Set the working root directory (--cd)
codex -c⧉
Override config.toml values
codex completion bash⧉
Generate bash completion script

Sandbox & Approval 8

codex -s read-only⧉
Sandbox read-only (default, safest)
codex -s workspace-write⧉
Sandbox can write the working directory
codex -s danger-full-access⧉
Full access (use cautiously in containers)
codex -a untrusted⧉
Prompt for untrusted actions (default)
codex -a never⧉
Never approve (for read-only exploration)
codex --full-auto "Complete the implementation"⧉
Auto-approve: workspace-write + on-failure
codex --yolo "Emergency fix"⧉
Skip all sandbox and approvals (dangerous)
codex --dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox⧉
Fully bypass sandbox and approvals (in containers)

MCP & Codex Cloud 7

codex mcp list⧉
List configured MCP servers
codex mcp add -- <args...>⧉
Add a stdio MCP server
codex mcp add --url https://example.com/mcp⧉
Add an HTTP MCP server
codex mcp get <name>⧉
Show server configuration
codex mcp remove <name>⧉
Remove a server
codex cloud exec --env "task"⧉
Submit a task to Codex Cloud
codex cloud exec --env --attempts 3 "task"⧉
Submit a task with retry attempts (1-4)

Interactive Slash Commands 12

/clear⧉
Reset UI and conversation
/compact⧉
Summarize conversation to free tokens
/new⧉
Start a fresh conversation in the same session
/fork⧉
Clone current conversation into a new thread
/diff⧉
Show git diff including untracked files
/status⧉
Show session config and token usage
/init⧉
Generate an AGENTS.md project scaffold
/review⧉
Code review of working-tree changes
/plan⧉
Switch to plan (read-only) mode
/model⧉
Choose model and reasoning effort
/permissions⧉
Set what Codex can do without asking
/exit⧉
Quit Codex CLI

💡 Tips

  • For non-interactive automation always use `codex exec` + `--json` with CI pipelines for codegen/review — Codex's signature use.
  • The default `--full-auto` auto-approves inside a network-disabled sandbox: safe and hands-off; it only exits the sandbox to ask when it needs network (e.g. npm install).
  • Put project conventions in AGENTS.md (repo root or ~/.codex/); Codex merges and loads them automatically — more efficient than repeating them in prompts.
  • For read-only exploration use `-a never -s read-only`: no prompts yet full file read access, ideal for audits/research.

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Official References

Commands are compiled from the official docs below. Click to verify the latest usage.

Maintained by LaoHand

Publicly updated on Aug 5, 2026, continuously proofread against official docs.

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