Codex Companion
OpenAI's official Codex plugin for Claude Code, adapted for the Agentbox container. Delegates code review, adversarial review, and rescue tasks to GPT-6 Astra via the Codex CLI.
When to Use This Skill
- Code review: Get a Codex review of your git changes (working tree or branch)
- Adversarial review: Challenge your implementation approach and design choices
- Rescue: When Claude is stuck, hand the task to Codex for a second opinion
- GPT-6 Astra delegation: Offload substantial coding, debugging, or research tasks
- Cross-model validation: Use Codex as a check on Claude's work
When Not to Use
- For simple tasks Claude can finish quickly — don't add Codex overhead
- For non-code tasks (research, content, design) — use dedicated skills instead
- For DeepSeek reasoning — use
deepseek-reasoningskill instead - If OPENAI_API_KEY is not configured — run
/codex:setupfirst
Container Integration
Codex runs under the current tmux profile — there is no separate pseudo-user (the
openai-user/as-openai/UID-1002 model is retired). The baked Codex CLI reads its
credentials from CODEX_HOME (~/.codex), where the entrypoint wires
[consultants.codex] auth and the agentbox-memory MCP server on first boot. Set
OPENAI_API_KEY in the environment only if you are overriding that baked auth.
# Codex commands run in-place; no user switch needed
/codex:review # Review working tree changes
/codex:adversarial-review # Challenge the implementation approach
/codex:rescue [task] # Hand a stuck task to Codex
/codex:status # Check Codex job status
/codex:result # Get last Codex result
/codex:cancel # Cancel running Codex job
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/codex:review |
Code review of git changes (working tree or branch) |
/codex:adversarial-review |
Challenge implementation, design choices, tradeoffs |
/codex:rescue [task] |
Delegate investigation or fix to Codex when stuck |
/codex:status |
Check Codex job progress |
/codex:result |
Retrieve last Codex output |
/codex:cancel |
Cancel running Codex job |
/codex:setup |
Configure Codex CLI and API key |
Rescue Agent
The codex-rescue subagent activates proactively when:
- Claude Code is stuck on a debugging task
- A second implementation pass would help
- Deeper root-cause investigation is needed
- A substantial coding task should be delegated
The rescue agent uses this skill's bundled prompting reference library (references/codex-prompting/ — prompt blocks, recipes, and antipatterns) to compose tight, structured Codex prompts with XML tags, output contracts, and verification loops.
Codex Prompting Patterns
The skill includes a reference library for composing effective Codex prompts:
| Pattern | Use Case |
|---|---|
<task> + <completeness_contract> + <verification_loop> |
Coding / debugging |
<task> + <grounding_rules> + <structured_output_contract> |
Review tasks |
<task> + <research_mode> + <citation_rules> |
Research / recommendations |
<task> + <action_safety> |
Write-capable tasks (prevents unrelated refactors) |
Review Output Schema
Reviews follow a structured JSON schema (review-output.schema.json) with:
- Severity levels (critical, major, minor, suggestion)
- Category classification (bug, security, performance, design, style)
- File + line references
- Confidence scores
Hooks
- SessionStart/SessionEnd: Lifecycle management for Codex companion state
- Stop: Review gate — optionally triggers a Codex review before session ends
Environment Variables
| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
OPENAI_API_KEY |
No | Optional override; auth normally resolves from ~/.codex ([consultants.codex]) wired by the entrypoint |
CODEX_MODEL |
No | Override model (default: GPT-6 Astra; spark maps to gpt-5.3-codex-spark, the literal alias baked into the plugin's MODEL_ALIASES — verified against /opt/agentbox/plugins/codex-plugin-cc/plugins/codex/scripts/codex-companion.mjs on 2026-09-09, not an editorial claim about the current flagship model) |
Setup
# Auth is wired by the entrypoint (~/.codex / [consultants.codex]); no setup
# is normally needed. To (re)configure the Codex CLI or supply your own key:
/codex:setup
# Verify:
/codex:status
Two consultation paths (addendum 2026-09-08)
The consultant model is gpt-6-astra. Path 1 (MCP consultant-codex → consult) takes
a pasted excerpt; Path 2 (direct codex exec) reads a whole repository or document bundle
itself. Full comparison table, the verified Path 2 recipe, and the gotchas that cost a run
each (read-only sandbox, approval policy, stdin hang, "Context I still need"):
references/codex-exec-recipe.md.
Runtime note
The /codex:* commands run from the baked plugin at /opt/agentbox/plugins/codex-plugin-cc;
behavioural fixes go through the flake overlay, not this skill.
Integration with Other Skills
| Skill | Relationship |
|---|---|
openai-codex |
Legacy MCP bridge — codex-companion is the full-featured replacement |
build-with-quality |
BWQ can delegate review phases to Codex for cross-model validation |
github-code-review |
Codex reviews complement Claude reviews for multi-perspective analysis |
vanity-engineering-review |
Run adversarial review first, then vanity check for over-engineering |
Attribution
Codex Plugin for Claude Code by OpenAI. Apache 2.0 License.