Codex For Copilot
Use your Codex models directly inside VS Code Chat and Agent mode.
Codex For Copilot is a lightweight VS Code Language Model Provider that connects VS Code Chat to the ChatGPT Codex Responses backend. Select Codex from the model picker and keep the native VS Code experience for chat, tools, confirmations, workspace trust, and extensions.
Highlights
- Native VS Code integration — works in Chat and Agent mode through the standard model picker.
- Automatic model discovery — exposes available upstream Codex models with configurable fallbacks.
- Fast streaming transport — supports reusable WebSocket sessions with HTTP fallback.
- VS Code tool support — forwards built-in, extension, and MCP tool calls through the Responses API.
- Hosted Web Search — optionally gives Codex live web access through OpenAI's native Responses tool, with clickable sources. The same
#webSearch tool also works with other tool-capable VS Code models.
- Optional Native Tool Search — lets compatible Codex models search selected Agent tools on demand when you explicitly enable it.
- Conversation continuity — reuses compatible response branches for efficient follow-up turns.
- Usage visibility — shows available account limits or Credits in the status bar when supplied by the backend.
Get started
1. Install
Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
2. Add credentials
Open the Command Palette and choose one of the following:
Codex for Copilot: Sign in with ChatGPT for the normal browser-based login flow.Codex for Copilot: Sign in with Device Code when a loopback browser callback is unavailable.Codex for Copilot: Import Codex auth.json to import existing Codex CLI ChatGPT credentials.Codex: Set API Key to store an API key in VS Code SecretStorage.
The extension stores imported and signed-in ChatGPT credentials in VS Code SecretStorage and refreshes them automatically, including refresh-token rotation. Importing copies the credentials and never writes to the original ~/.codex/auth.json file; signing out of an imported credential only removes the extension's copy. The direct ~/.codex/auth.json fallback remains read-only.
3. Select Codex
Open VS Code Chat, choose Codex from the model picker, and start chatting or using Agent mode.
To give a request live web access, enable Web Search in the Chat tools picker or reference #webSearch in the prompt. With a Codex model the Codex backend executes the search directly through OpenAI's hosted web_search tool. With any other tool-capable VS Code model, the same #webSearch tool runs one isolated Responses request that also uses OpenAI's hosted web_search tool and returns the synthesized answer plus sources.
Web Search settings under Settings → Extensions → Codex let you choose live or cached access, search context size, and an optional domain allowlist. You can also choose whether Chat shows compact statuses, search/open/find actions, or actions with clickable source pages.
The extension uses VS Code Virtual Tool Groups by default. VS Code organizes selected Agent tools into groups and reveals a group when the model needs it.
Native Tool Search is optional. When enabled, it temporarily disables VS Code Virtual Tool Groups and instead lets the Codex backend search the selected tool catalog and load matching tools on demand. Both methods solve the same problem—avoiding loading every tool into the model at once—but VS Code performs the grouping in the default mode, while Codex performs the search in Native Tool Search mode.
Use Codex: Enable Native Tool Search to opt in. The extension saves the previous VS Code grouping setting. Use Codex: Use VS Code Virtual Tool Groups to disable Native Tool Search and restore that setting. Tool execution, confirmation, workspace trust, and permissions remain handled by VS Code in both modes.
Hosted Web Search is independent from Native Tool Search. It remains available when Native Tool Search is disabled and is only combined with selected client tools in the final Responses API tools array.
Requirements
- VS Code 1.104.0 or newer.
- A ChatGPT sign-in, imported Codex CLI
auth.json, or API key.
Common commands
Codex: ManageCodex: Open SettingsCodex: Open LogsCodex: Refresh Account LimitsCodex: Enable Native Tool SearchCodex: Use VS Code Virtual Tool GroupsCodex: Show Native Tool Search StatusCodex for Copilot: Sign in with ChatGPTCodex for Copilot: Add Codex AccountCodex for Copilot: Switch Codex AccountCodex for Copilot: Remove Codex AccountCodex for Copilot: Sign in with Device CodeCodex for Copilot: Import Codex auth.jsonCodex for Copilot: Show Auth StatusCodex for Copilot: Sign Out (All Accounts)
Diagnostics and privacy
Use Codex: Open Logs to view the extension's structured VS Code log channel. Each model request, authentication flow, model discovery operation, and account-limit refresh receives an operationId; search for that value to follow one operation through retries, WebSocket fallback, and completion.
The channel follows VS Code's native log level. Use Developer: Set Log Level... and select the Codex channel to enable Debug or Trace detail when investigating a problem.
Logs never include prompt or instruction text, reasoning, tool arguments/results, credentials, cookies, or Turn State. They retain only safe counts, sizes, hashes, identifiers hashed for correlation, transport decisions, and redacted error metadata.
Configuration
Most users can keep the defaults. Advanced settings are available under Settings → Extensions → Codex, including:
- credential source
- backend URL
- model catalog
client_version override (defaults to 999.0.0 for discovery only; does not change Codex protocol headers)
- HTTP or WebSocket transport
- fallback model and model visibility
- reasoning effort and service tier
- request compression and WebSocket prewarming
- Web Search access, context, domains, and status detail
For a proxy-required network, set VS Code's http.proxy setting or the Extension Host's HTTPS_PROXY/HTTP_PROXY environment variable. The provider applies that proxy consistently to model discovery, account usage, HTTP Responses requests, token counting, and WebSocket requests; NO_PROXY remains honored.
Develop locally
npm install
npm run compile
Press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host.
Useful checks:
npm run check
npm run test:smoke
npm run test:extension-host
npm run package:vsix
Release and Marketplace publishing details are documented in docs/releasing.md.
Remote-SSH
The extension runs in the local UI extension host so it can use credentials stored on your computer. When working over Remote-SSH, keep the extension installed locally rather than installing a second copy on the remote host.
License
MIT
