OpenAI's Codex Can Now Control Your Mac, Schedule Its Own Work, and Generate Images
OpenAI shipped a major Codex desktop update on April 16. The headline feature is computer use: Codex can now see, click, and type on your Mac while you keep working. It also added memory, image generation, 90+ new plugins, and self-scheduling.
OpenAI dropped a large Codex desktop update on April 16, targeting the roughly 3 million weekly active developers using the app. The announcement, framed as “Codex for almost everything,” adds computer use, memory, image generation, self-scheduling, and 90 new plugins.
Here’s what changed.
Computer Use
The most significant addition is desktop control. Codex can now see what’s on your Mac screen, click interface elements, and type in applications. Multiple agents can run in parallel this way without interfering with each other or with your own cursor.
This is the same category of capability that Anthropic’s Computer Use API and Google’s Project Mariner have been building toward. The difference with Codex is the integration context: it’s built directly into the coding workflow, so an agent that writes code can also open a browser to test it, check a design reference, or interact with an internal tool.
Computer use is currently only available in the US. The EU and UK are excluded for now.
Memory
Codex now persists context across sessions. It can remember your preferred tech stack, recurring workflows, past edits, and project-specific preferences. If a long task gets interrupted, you can resume via an existing conversation thread rather than starting over with a fresh context.
This is distinct from the in-context memory that coding agents have always had within a session. This is stored memory that carries across separate sessions.
Self-Scheduling
Codex can now schedule its own future tasks. You can describe work that should happen tomorrow or next week, and Codex will follow through without requiring you to re-prompt it. The system can also resume interrupted work automatically when conditions are met.
Combined with memory, this moves Codex closer to an asynchronous workflow where you hand off a task, close your laptop, and come back to completed work.
Image Generation
Codex now integrates gpt-image-1.5 directly. You can ask it to generate product mockups, interface concepts, game assets, or other visuals as part of a coding session, without leaving the app.
Plugins
The update adds 90+ new plugin integrations. The list includes Atlassian Rovo, GitLab Issues, CircleCI, Microsoft Suite, CodeRabbit, Render, and Neon by Databricks. This brings the total plugin catalog significantly above what was available at launch.
Other Changes
- In-app browser with the ability to comment directly on web pages, giving agents precise context about specific interface elements
- Multiple terminal tabs for managing separate shell sessions
- GitHub review comment support, so Codex can read and respond to PR review feedback inline
- Rich previews for PDFs, spreadsheets, and slide decks
- Remote devboxes over SSH (in alpha), connecting to remote development environments
What’s Not Available Yet
Several features have regional or tier restrictions. Computer use and personalization (memory) are not available in the EU or UK. Some enterprise-tier users may see different rollout timelines for specific features.
The update is available to all paid Codex users in supported regions starting April 16.
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