# Codex for (almost) everything

> OpenAI expanded Codex into a full desktop agent: drives the Mac cursor, runs 90+ plugins, parallel agents, image generation, and scheduled cross-day automations.

Published: 2026-04-16
URL: https://daniliants.com/insights/codex-for-almost-everything/
Tags: openai-codex, coding-agents, computer-use, mcp, developer-tools, automation, memory

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## Summary

OpenAI expanded Codex from a code-writing assistant into a full desktop agent: it now drives the Mac cursor, uses 90+ new plugins (Jira, GitLab, Neon, Remotion, Superpowers), runs multiple agents in parallel, generates images with gpt-image-1.5, and remembers preferences across sessions. Scheduled "automations" let Codex wake itself up to continue work across days, and it can proactively suggest next steps by pulling context from Slack, Notion, Google Docs, and the codebase. 3M+ weekly devs are using it.

## Key Insight

- **Computer use is the shift**: Codex now sees, clicks, and types via its own cursor on macOS, multiple agents running in parallel without blocking the user's own work. This breaks the "needs an API" constraint for automation; anything with a GUI is now agent-addressable.
- **Memory is a big deal, quietly**: previews of persistent memory (preferences, corrections, hard-won context) replace what people were doing manually with custom instruction files and cursor rules. OpenAI framing: "quality previously only possible through extensive custom instructions."
- **Self-scheduling**: Codex can schedule future work for itself and resume long-running tasks across days or weeks. This is the feature that turns "agent" into "coworker", same shift Claude Code got with hooks and cron.
- **90+ plugins** = MCP servers + skills + integrations bundled. Notable ones: Atlassian Rovo, CircleCI, CodeRabbit, GitLab Issues, Microsoft Suite, Neon (Databricks), Remotion, Render, **Superpowers**. That last one is interesting, it means Anthropic's Superpowers framework is being adopted cross-ecosystem.
- **In-app browser with comments on pages**, comment directly on a rendered page to give the agent precise "fix this here" instructions. Solves the "describe the bug in words" friction for frontend work.
- **PR review, multi-terminal, SSH to devboxes, rich file previews**, Codex is aggressively converging on the IDE + terminal + agent workspace niche where Cursor and Claude Code live.
- **Rollout gotcha**: EU/UK users get memory, context-aware suggestions, and computer use **later** (regulatory lag, same pattern as ChatGPT features).
- **Competitive framing**: this is the release where Codex stops being a Claude Code alternative and starts being a direct competitor to the full Claude Code + MCP + skills + hooks stack.