Codex Desktop (Intel macOS)

Run OpenAI Codex Desktop on Intel macOS by converting the official macOS DMG into an x86_64 Electron app bundle.

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

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

What this does

The installer:

1. 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 Codex.app
7. Applies a small patch so it doesn’t try to connect to a Vite dev server

Prerequisites

• 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

Installation

Option A: Provide your own DMG

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

Option B: Auto‑download DMG

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

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

Usage

The installer creates:

./codex-app/Codex.app

Launch it from Finder or:

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

Or use the helper script:

./start.sh

Notes

• 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.

Troubleshooting

App opens a blank window

• Make sure the patch applied (installer output should say “patched main.js”).

Native module load error

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

Gatekeeper warning

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

Disclaimer

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

License

MIT