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Getting started

StartUpdated Aug 2026 · 2 min read

Install CodexUse, add your first profile, and open a Codex App window. An OpenAI profile signs in through Codex CLI OAuth, with no API key to enter. A custom-provider profile uses a credential you supply.

Requirements

macOS 13 or later on Apple Silicon.
Intel Mac, Windows, and Linux desktop builds are not shipped in the current release line.
An internet connection for login and Codex CLI usage.

Install

Download the app from the website, or install with Homebrew:

brew install --cask hweihwang/codexuse/codexuse

Check your Mac before a direct download: open Apple menu → About This Mac. If it shows Chip with an Apple M-series name, download the Apple Silicon DMG. If it shows Processor with Intel, the desktop app is unavailable; use the cross-platform CLI instead.

Upgrading from 2.5.8 or older: redownload the current app manually once and replace the old install. Those builds do not move onto the current 3.x updater path in place.

Add your first profile

A profile is either one OpenAI account or one custom model provider. It is never both. Add at least one to start working.

Open CodexUse and click Add profile.
Complete the OAuth login in your browser.
Name the profile so you can recognize it later (Work, Personal, Client).

To run a non-OpenAI model in the Codex App instead, pick Custom provider when you create the profile: give it an OpenAI-compatible base URL and your own credential. See custom model providers.

Open Codex Apps

Codex Apps launches, focuses, stops, restarts, and inspects Codex App windows, each matched to a saved profile. During an account switch, thread handoff can wait for the current turn to finish, resume the captured thread through the next profile’s app-server, and continue the same conversation. CodexUse keeps the account control plane local; the Codex App stays your work surface.

Pick a theme

CodexUse ships Dark and Light themes and follows your system preference by default; lock it to one theme in Settings. The whole app — Codex Apps, Profiles, Settings, cards, and dialogs — follows the active theme. See the themes section in the settings docs.

Install the CLI command

The optional codexuse command manages profiles, Accounts Pool, and sync from the terminal. It ships separately from the app.

Run npm install -g codexuse-cli.
Open a new terminal tab if your shell has not refreshed PATH yet.
Verify the install:

codexuse --version

Where data lives

Everything stays on your device unless you opt into Cloud Sync.

Codex CLI manages its own local config and auth files.
CodexUse keeps its app data locally.
Cloud Sync works during an active trial or with Pro. It pushes profiles, config.toml, and settings from your main machine and pulls them on another machine that has the CLI installed. Go to Connect → Cloud Sync, or run codexuse sync push / codexuse sync pull. See the settings docs or the cloud sync guide.