Codex Reverse is a macOS desktop client for local agent CLIs. It can run with a user's own Codex CLI, and it also includes an experimental Claude Code mode that reads Claude Code history and starts Claude CLI sessions from the app.

The app does not bundle an account, token, or fixed CLI binary. Each user should install and configure their own CLI first.

Claude Code mode	Slash commands

Codex mode commands	Chat + diff review + terminal

• macOS
• Node.js 22 or newer
• pnpm
• Codex CLI with app-server support for Codex mode
• Claude Code CLI for Claude Code mode

Check the CLIs before starting the desktop app:

codex --version
codex app-server --help
claude --version

You do not need to run codex app-server manually. The app starts and manages the subprocess.

git clone <repo-url>
cd codex-reverse
pnpm install

If you keep this project inside another workspace, use the app/ directory as the repository root when publishing to GitHub.

Use the CLIs from PATH:

pnpm dev

Use a specific Codex binary:

CODEX_BIN=/absolute/path/to/codex pnpm dev

Use a separate Codex home:

CODEX_HOME="$HOME/.codex-desktop" pnpm dev

Use a specific Claude Code binary:

CLAUDE_BIN=/absolute/path/to/claude pnpm dev

Use a separate Claude home:

CLAUDE_HOME="$HOME/.claude-desktop" pnpm dev

Open a specific project on startup:

CODEX_PROJECT_CWD=/path/to/project pnpm dev

Start in a specific backend:

AGENT_BACKEND=codex pnpm dev
AGENT_BACKEND=claude pnpm dev

Codex mode resolves the CLI in this order:

1. CODEX_BIN
2. Packaged app resource: Resources/codex
3. CODEX_RS_TARGET
4. CODEX_DEV_WORKSPACE/codex-rs/target/*/codex
5. A sibling development checkout at ../codex/codex-rs/target/*/codex
6. /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/codex
7. codex from PATH

Claude Code mode resolves the CLI in this order:

1. CLAUDE_BIN
2. claude from PATH

Codex mode uses the same files as the Codex CLI unless overridden:

~/.codex/config.toml
~/.codex/desktop-state.json

Claude Code mode uses the same files as Claude Code unless overridden:

~/.claude/

Use separate homes if you want to test without touching your normal CLI setup:

CODEX_HOME="$HOME/.codex-desktop" CLAUDE_HOME="$HOME/.claude-desktop" pnpm dev

pnpm package

Create distributable artifacts:

pnpm make

Codex mode opens but cannot chat:

codex app-server --help

If this command is missing, update your Codex CLI or point CODEX_BIN to a build that supports app-server.

Claude Code mode cannot send messages:

claude --version
CLAUDE_BIN="$(which claude)" pnpm dev

The app loads stale frontend code during development:

rm -rf .vite node_modules/.vite
pnpm dev -- --force

Use a clean temporary Codex config:

CODEX_HOME="$(mktemp -d)" CODEX_BIN="$(which codex)" pnpm dev

Claude Code support is implemented as a separate backend mode. It should not reuse Codex-only settings such as Codex reasoning effort or Codex permission labels.

The compatibility goal is:

• read local Claude Code project history from the user's Claude home
• start new Claude CLI sessions in the selected project directory
• keep Git and diff views scoped to the selected project
• expose slash commands from Claude Code built-ins plus installed local skills/plugins
• keep Codex slash commands and Claude slash commands separate

More details are in docs/claude-code-compat.md.