Codex Navigator

Your Codex chats, at a glance.

An independent extension. Not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI.

Explore more of my work at keenanselbee.com.

Codex Navigator automatically brings your Codex conversations together in a compact VS Code sidebar. With automatic labels enabled, repository labels and colours follow your conversations, so you can find the right chat at a glance. Let it handle the organisation, or make it yours with custom names, labels, colours and favourites.

It was built to make development in a multi-repository workspace more enjoyable, with less time spent hunting for conversations and more time focused on your work.

Animated demonstration of Codex Navigator's project labels and switching between saved conversations

Recognise your projects and switch between saved chats.
Recent chat highlights fade over time, showing which conversations you visited most recently.

Features

Recognise each project: Give chats repository labels or custom labels. Projects get distinct, repeatable automatic colours, and you can choose your own.
Switch conversations quickly: Browse and search saved chats from a sidebar that adapts to your available space. The order stays steady while you interact with the list.
Keep favourites close: Star chats to filter favourites. Pin a chat to hold its position and keep it visible beyond the default 24-hour recency filter.
Make the list yours: Rename chats while keeping the original Codex name available. Hide conversations you no longer need and restore them without deleting anything.
See activity and goals: See working, ready, waiting and error states where Codex supplies them. Pause or resume goals from Navigator, where supported.
Spot recent visits: Chats opened through Navigator briefly glow in their label colour. Adjust the fade, highlight only the last visited chat, or turn highlights off.

Get started

Install Navigator and open its view. Choose Try for free or Activate Licence. On macOS/Linux, follow the storage check first: fully quit and reopen VS Code when prompted.
Choose Set Up Codex Navigator, then Install Hooks.
Choose Open Hook Review, type /hooks in the Codex terminal, and review and trust all Navigator hooks.

Navigator shows your chats once hooks are installed, enabled and trusted. If setup needs attention later, it explains the next step.

Tip: Drag the Navigator heading above the Codex heading to move it to the top.

Settings

Right-click a chat for naming and label options. Open the ... menu for Repository Colours, Restore Hidden Chats and Extension Settings.

Automatic labels: Enable this option in setup, then start a new Codex chat. Labels follow the repositories the agent reports; you can always choose a repository yourself.
Chat history: Turn off Recent Chats Only to include older chats.
Visit highlights: Choose which visited chats glow and how long the highlight lasts.
Project instructions: Optionally help Codex find your repository's AGENTS.md and shared rules.

Trial and licence

Try Codex Navigator free for 7 days, then pay $5 CAD once. No card is required for the trial.

One active installation, transferable between devices. Includes all future updates.

Open License from Navigator's menu to activate or transfer your licence. Paid access checks daily and allows up to 30 days offline after successful validation. If access expires, Navigator preserves your data. Codex chats and tasks continue independently.

Requirements and support

Desktop VS Code 1.137 or newer, the OpenAI Codex extension, and Node.js available on PATH.
Windows x64 is tested. macOS and Linux on x64 or ARM64 have best-effort support; native testing is pending. Windows ARM64 is unverified.
Remote SSH, WSL, containers and browser VS Code are outside the current support scope.

Activity and goal controls depend on the Codex runtime. A ready indicator means a turn finished, not necessarily that it succeeded. Visit highlights track chats opened through Navigator.

Setup and troubleshooting · Privacy and local data · Report an issue

Selected source code and component tests are available for inspection. Commercial licensing components remain private. Source reuse, modification and redistribution require written permission. Licence terms.

Made by Keenan Selbee.