Run OpenAI Codex Desktop on Intel macOS by converting the official macOS app bundle or DMG into an x86_64 Electron app bundle. Stable and Beta builds are both supported.

This is an unofficial community project. Codex Desktop is a product of OpenAI.

Learn more about Codex: https://openai.com/codex/

The installer:

1. Takes a local .app bundle or extracts the macOS .dmg
2. Pulls out app.asar (the Electron app)
3. Rebuilds native modules (node-pty, better-sqlite3) for Electron x64
4. Disables macOS‑only Sparkle auto‑update
5. Downloads Electron v40 for darwin‑x64
6. Repackages everything into a runnable app bundle with the same name as the original DMG app, such as Codex.app or Codex (Beta).app
7. Applies a small patch so it doesn’t try to connect to a Vite dev server

• Intel Mac (x86_64)
• Node.js 20+ and npm
• Python 3
• Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install)
• Homebrew (for p7zip and curl)

Install dependencies:

brew install p7zip curl

You also need the Codex CLI installed:

npm i -g @openai/codex

git clone https://github.com/<your-user>/codex-intel.git
cd codex-intel
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh /path/to/Codex*.app

Or:

./install.sh /path/to/Codex*.dmg

Verbose native rebuild output:

./install.sh -v /path/to/Codex.dmg

If you have the DMG URL, you can pass it directly:

./install.sh https://example.com/Codex*.dmg

The current Beta desktop build is listed in the public beta appcast:

https://persistent.oaistatic.com/codex-app-beta/appcast.xml

Current entry:

Codex (Beta) darwin-arm64 26.317.21539

Because this download is a .zip containing Codex (Beta).app, unzip it first, then point install.sh at the extracted app bundle:

unzip 'Codex (Beta)-darwin-arm64-26.317.21539.zip'
./install.sh './Codex (Beta).app'

If you use Codex Automations, you can save the beta refresh workflow as a scheduled task for this repo.

Suggested setup:

• workspace: codex-intel
• schedule: weekdays at 9:00 AM
• model: GPT-5.4
• title: Update Codex Intel Binary

Suggested prompt:

Help me take a look if there's a new beta release for the codex, download, and convert them so we can update our build.

This works well as a recurring repo maintenance task:

• checks whether a newer Codex Beta build exists
• downloads the current Beta app bundle zip
• runs the local conversion flow in this repo
• lets you review the resulting build/logs before committing any repo changes

For manual installs, install.sh remains the source of truth.

The installer creates:

./codex-app/<original app name>.app

Launch it from Finder or:

./codex-app/Codex.app/Contents/MacOS/Electron --no-sandbox

For Beta builds, that path is typically:

./codex-app/Codex\ \(Beta\).app/Contents/MacOS/Electron --no-sandbox

Or use the helper script:

./start.sh

This repo now applies a low-power window patch during install.sh:

• forces opaque windows
• disables liquid-glass effects
• applies an aggressive renderer performance patch:
  • disables renderer Sentry init
  • bypasses Shiki highlight provider wrapper
  • disables non-essential telemetry/notification hooks

This reduces idle GPU load on many Intel Macs.

Tradeoffs in aggressive mode:

• desktop notifications/badge updates may be reduced
• some telemetry diagnostics are disabled
• code highlighting behavior may be simpler in chat output

If you already built an app in codex-app/, patch it in place without reinstalling:

./optimize-power.sh

Optional custom app path:

./optimize-power.sh /path/to/Codex*.app

./start.sh launches the newest app bundle under codex-app/, so a fresh Beta install will be picked automatically even if older stable bundles are still present.

• Auto‑update is disabled (Sparkle is macOS‑only and removed).
• The app may show warnings about url.parse deprecation — safe to ignore.
• The app expects the Codex CLI on your PATH. If you installed it globally, that’s already done.
• During native rebuild, upstream modules can emit compiler warnings; this is expected as long as rebuild finishes with Rebuild OK.
• Native rebuild output is saved under work/logs/ by default (for example work/logs/rebuild-better-sqlite3.log).
• To stream full native rebuild output live, run with ./install.sh -v ... (or set NATIVE_REBUILD_VERBOSE=1).

App opens a blank window

• Make sure the patch applied (installer output should say “patched main.js”).
• If patching fails with a pattern error, use the Codex CLI fallback shown by install.sh to update patch logic in install.sh, then rerun the installer.

Native module load error

• Delete codex-app/ and rerun install.sh.

Compiler warnings during install

• Warnings from better-sqlite3 and node-pty can be normal with newer toolchains.
• Treat the run as successful if installer output shows Rebuild OK: better-sqlite3 and Rebuild OK: node-pty.
• If rebuild fails, inspect work/logs/rebuild-*.log.

Gatekeeper warning

• Right‑click the app → Open (once) to allow it.

This project does not distribute OpenAI software. It automates the same conversion steps a user would perform locally using their own DMG.

MIT