# Afk Codex Review > afk-codex-review: Part of the afk pipeline. Runs Codex (OpenAI Codex CLI) as the default outer independent, read-only external review role, then triages and fixes findings before later ordered roles. Subject to .afk/config.md gates and fallback priority. Triggers include "/afk-codex-review", "run codex review", "codex gate". - Skill: `alvinshenssw/afk-codex-review` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add alvinshenssw/afk-codex-review` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/alvinshenssw/afk-codex-review/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: DevOps & Infra - Author: AlvinShenSSW (https://skillmd.com/u/alvinshenssw) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/alvinshenssw/afk-codex-review --- # afk-codex-review An independent second-opinion review by Codex (a *different* model), used as the default **outer** role before later configured roles (Kimi is the default final when a final role is configured; the built-in default is a single Codex gate). Run the ordered `gates` profile from `.afk/config.md`, never use a reviewer whose model matches the implementer or another role, and run `afk-internal-review` before outer. Codex reviews the diff read-only; you triage and fix. The helper `codex-gate.mjs` ships with this skill and travels with the plugin. ## Metering Codex calls are metered — keep invocations to a minimum. Batch minimal admitted P1 fixes into one content pass, self-review, then re-run once. Record every other disposition together at the end without editing a clean revision. Never spend a round-trip on a small or doc-only observation. ## Review receipts To retain canonical inputs and explicit outcomes, use the optional `--review-receipt ` flag under the [shared receipt contract](../afk/SKILL.md#canonical-review-receipts). Preserve unknown identity explicitly; skipped or incomplete attempts and previews never supply approval. ## Review context Use the [shared context contract](../afk/SKILL.md#supported-review-context) to carry frozen acceptance scope and named prior findings with accessible proof. `--review-phase re-review --review-context ` preserves the selected review target while supplying closure context; `--print-args` reports its digest. Native diff review cannot accept this input or a focus prompt; it reports the limitation without changing modes. Only `--design` delivers custom context on stdin and supports `--print-prompt`. Keep native diff history triage in the driver. ## Run it The bundled helper `codex-gate.mjs` sits beside this SKILL.md. Locate its directory as `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/afk-codex-review` if the env var is set, else `/skills/afk-codex-review` from `.afk/config.md`, else this skill's own directory (the helper is its sibling). Resolve `.afk/` from the repository's main working tree — the first non-bare `worktree` record of `git worktree list --porcelain` — never the current directory, or a run from a linked worktree reads a different `.afk/` than the one `afk-init` wrote. If `.afk/` is absent, the `afk-init` bootstrap runs automatically first: ```text node "/codex-gate.mjs" ``` Run it in the **background** with a generous timeout (the review traces code paths and may run tests); redirect stdout to a file and read it when it completes. Pass through any target flag (`--base ` / `--commit ` / `--uncommitted`; default = current branch vs the default branch). Do not poll in a sleep loop — wait for completion. Pass `--implementer ` when another model wrote the change. In design mode (`--design`) the flag instead names the design's **author**, never the eventual code implementer — see `../afk/SKILL.md` ("Design-stage external gate"): declaring the code implementer there can hand a driver-authored design to the driver's own model for review. A persistent `implementer:` line in `.afk/config.md` also names the code implementer, and in design mode it can wrongly block that family's independent review of a driver-authored design — declare the design's author explicitly then: the per-run flag outranks the config line. **Design mode** (`--design `) reviews a design document's reasoning instead of a diff — the opt-in design-stage gate (see `../afk/SKILL.md`, "Design-stage external gate"). Codex runs it with `exec -s read-only` and the brief + doc piped on stdin — never the `review` subcommand or the sandbox bypass, so it stays read-only on every OS. A missing or unreadable `--design` path fails loudly (`ERROR`, non-zero), never a skip. **The review is bounded** by `CODEX_REVIEW_TIMEOUT_MS` (default 15 min), with `AFK_REVIEW_TIMEOUT_MS` as the shared fallback. A timeout is a non-zero `ERROR`, never a partial verdict; it follows the role's transient retry rule. **The reviewer's model defaults to `gpt-5.6-sol`**, pinned independently of `~/.codex/config.toml`: an interactive session tuned for speed or cost would otherwise decide the gate's model, and a downgraded reviewer reads exactly like a thorough one. `CODEX_REVIEW_MODEL=` pins an explicitly assigned model for the call, including `gpt-6-astra` when requested; `CODEX_REVIEW_MODEL=inherit` restores inheritance — the escape hatch when the installed CLI is too old for the pinned id and rejects it outright. `--print-args` reports the resolved model without spending a call. Per-run `--model ` and `--effort ` override their environment values independently. Model aliases `sol`, `terra`, and `astra` resolve through `../../lib/gate/model-select.mjs`; the default remains Sol at medium effort. Efforts are `low`, `medium`, `high`, `xhigh`, and `max`; legacy `minimal` is rejected for GPT-5.6 and GPT-6. Explicit Codex `-c model=...` and `-c model_reasoning_effort=...` retain last-wins precedence, with the effective values shown by `--print-args`. Invalid selections fail before a paid call. Read the verdict between the `===== CODEX REVIEW (final message) =====` markers. Treat only column-0 marker lines as markers; the last END marker wins. `SKIPPED: …` (Codex absent, logged out, or disabled via `CODEX_REVIEW_GATE=off`) is not a failure — report it and continue. `ERROR: …` means the review itself failed — read the transcript it names; never report an errored run as clean. ## Handle findings (batch — minimise calls) 1. **Triage before editing.** Map each hypothesis to the frozen contract, apply the P1 admission standard below, and identify duplicates or scope proposals. 2. **Verify before trusting.** Push back with evidence on anything disproved or unverified; severity proposed by the reviewer is not authority to edit. 3. **Fix admitted P1 findings in one batch**, include only inseparable corrections with recorded causal necessity. 4. **Self-review once** over your fixes. 5. **Re-run the gate once.** Continue only within the issue allowance. 6. **Record remaining dispositions once, at the end.** Do not edit the clean revision or re-run the gate for lower-severity-only observations. Treat every reported finding as `UNTRIAGED`. Admit P1 only after mapping it to the frozen issue contract or an invariant, demonstrating a reachable trigger and wrong consequence, explaining why the current artifact cannot safely advance, and naming the minimal causal fix. Do not edit for an untriaged claim; record structural P2 for the operator-owned merge boundary, and defer minor or out-of-scope items without expanding the PR. Record P2/minor observations without implementation; a lower-severity-only verdict never reopens a clean revision. An inseparable correction may accompany the minimal P1 fix only with recorded causal necessity, not merely a shared file or an available review cycle. Use the issue-wide allowance and finding record in `../afk/SKILL.md` ("Review-cycle allowance"). Initial review is comprehensive; re-review checks accepted findings, the intervening diff, and affected regression paths. Broader investigation requires specific evidence of an affected area. New evidenced in-scope blockers remain reportable. Supply prior findings and verification through supported context; missing context is unavailable, never invented. Reviewer identity alone does not reopen a closed finding. Exhaustion leaves unresolved work `OUTSTANDING`; finish the current cycle's validation without starting another repair or requesting another round automatically. Apply any invariant in `.afk/config.md` as an extra must-check lens. ## Stop rule Stop when the loop-termination rule in `../afk/SKILL.md` ("External gate") holds: triage leaves no `UNTRIAGED`, `Contested`, or open admitted P1, and every lower-severity item has a recorded disposition that does not block the role stamp (a structural P2 may still bar auto-merge). That same verdict earns the role stamp only if it requires no content change; a content fix invalidates it and the role re-reviews the fixed revision. Report honestly: `CLEAN`, or `OUTSTANDING` with what remains. A clean pass is not authority to merge — hand back to the operator. ## Setup (per machine, once) Optional and self-skipping. `npm i -g @openai/codex && codex login`; needs Node + git on PATH. Disable with `CODEX_REVIEW_GATE=off`.