Multi Codex App

Skip the wizard and create three profiles with default names and colors:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/am-will/multi-codex-app/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --count 3

If the installer can't find the Codex app, add --app /absolute/path/to/ChatGPT.app.

"Command not found"? Add ~/.local/bin to your PATH, for example in ~/.zshrc:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Linux needs a compatible desktop app already installed, plus xdg-mime, Python 3, and Tk (python3-tk on Debian and Ubuntu). This tool doesn't download or patch a Linux desktop app.

Windows (experimental): download the script, read it, then run it in PowerShell. Point -App at the desktop app, not the Codex CLI:

Invoke-WebRequest https://raw.githubusercontent.com/am-will/multi-codex-app/main/install.ps1 -OutFile install-multi-codex.ps1
.\install-multi-codex.ps1 -Count 3 -App 'C:\path\to\ChatGPT.exe'

Store-managed installs may need the exact path to the app and a change in Default Apps. Open a new terminal afterwards so the CLI is on your PATH.

Is it safe to run? The installers check each release's SHA-256 checksum before running it. Releases are not notarized or code-signed, so read install.sh or install.ps1 first, or build from source. Don't turn off your system's security settings to run it.

• Where your own chats wait. While an app shares, its own chats and memories wait in a .multi-codex-private folder inside its Codex folder. Turning sharing off moves them back.
• What's linked. Sharing chats links the app's chat storage to the owner's: sessions, archived_sessions, the chat databases, attachments, generated images, and Codex's chat write locks. Codex already handles several apps using one copy, the same way the Codex CLI and desktop app share ~/.codex. If two apps write to the same chat at once, the second is told the chat is busy. Sharing memories links the memories folders.
• What stays separate. Sign-ins, settings, and plugins always stay with each app. So does each app's memory database, so resetting memories in a sharing app can't clear the owner's.
• Chats only. An app that shares chats but keeps its own memories builds them from the shared chats. Those memories are kept for next time when it stops sharing.
• Changing the owner. multi-codex-app share owner 3 works while nothing is shared. The new owner's own chats and memories become the shared ones.
• After Codex updates, run multi-codex-app doctor. If something needs repair, it tells you the command. Choosing an app's current option again, like share 2 all, always repairs it.
• Platforms. Sharing works on macOS and Linux. Windows isn't supported yet, because SQLite there doesn't follow links. Turning chat sharing off uses the sqlite3 command, which macOS includes, or Python 3 on Linux.

• Names. rename 2 Work creates Codex Work. A name that already starts with "Codex" is used as written, so rename 3 "Codex (My Company)" creates Codex (My Company). Names show up in the chooser, the helper menu, and the app launcher. Duplicate names, and names with characters your file system doesn't allow, are rejected.
• Numbers never change. A profile keeps its number, data folder, and sign-in when you rename it or change its color. New profiles never reuse the number or data of a removed one.
• Colors. The first five profiles get white, yellow, blue, purple, and teal, in that order, and later ones repeat. Your choice sticks through renames, setup, and updates. The same artwork is used for launchers, Spotlight and Raycast results, the helper menu, and the chooser.
• Adding. add walks you through the new profiles. add --count 2 adds two with default names and colors.
• Full setup never removes profiles or replaces sign-ins. setup --count 6 makes sure you have six in total, and update keeps all your current choices.
• Removing. remove ID takes away that profile's launcher and Dock icon but keeps its sign-in, chats, settings, and data. It doesn't close a window that's already open. Removing your last profile also removes the helper. restore ID brings a profile back, as long as its name doesn't clash with another launcher. If the profile shares chats or memories, or is the owner of shared ones, turn sharing off first.
• Plain text. Set NO_COLOR=1 or TERM=dumb to turn off the wizard's colors.

Each profile has its own Codex data folder (CODEX_HOME) and its own desktop app data folder. Each launcher opens the official Codex app with that profile's folders, so every instance keeps its own sign-in, chats, settings, and plugins.

When a plugin finishes signing in, your browser opens a Codex login link. Multi Codex registers itself to receive those links, asks which profile should get each one, and passes it on. On macOS it sends the link straight to the exact app you picked. It rechecks every ten seconds, because Codex claims the link again whenever it starts.

If you already use Codex. Your current account becomes profile 1 ("Primary") and keeps using ~/.codex and its normal app data. On macOS, if you already have both ~/.codex-work and ~/Library/Application Support/Codex Second from a two-account setup, profile 2 ("Secondary") takes those over. Every other profile gets new private folders. Sign-ins are never copied between profiles.

Coming from Edi's setup. His Account Switcher stays installed and its shortcuts keep working. If his Primary and Secondary launchers are replaced, the originals are backed up under retired-launchers/ and restored on uninstall if their old locations are free. Other apps are never overwritten just because their names match. The earlier local "Codex Callback Router" login agent is retired, and its app and disabled agent file are kept.

Where your settings live:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Multi Codex/
• Linux: ${XDG_DATA_HOME:-~/.local/share}/multi-codex-app/
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\MultiCodex\

Each holds config.json, the CLI in bin/, and the extra profiles in profiles/. You can change a profile's folders in config.json while that profile is closed. MULTI_CODEX_ROOT points the tool at a different folder for development. Don't use a temporary folder for a real install, because the launchers remember that location.

multi-codex-app uninstall

This restores the login-link handler you had before and removes the helper, the launchers, and their Dock pins. It keeps the CLI, config.json, and all profile data, so you don't lose sign-ins or chats. If any app still shares chats or memories, uninstall asks you to turn that off first, so each app has its own chats back. Run multi-codex-app setup to turn it back on. If you want to delete everything, back up your profile data before removing the folder by hand.

You need Go 1.24 or newer (standard library only). On macOS you also need Apple's Swift tools.

sh scripts/build.sh
go test ./...
go vet ./...

The macOS build embeds a universal native helper. Each release includes binaries for six operating system and architecture combinations. CI runs the Go tests on all three operating systems and checks the Swift, PowerShell, and Python code.