The Codex IDE extension gives you access to Codex directly from within Visual Studio Code, Cursor, Windsurf or other Visual Studio Code compatible editors. It is powered by the same agent as the Codex CLI and shares the same configuration.
Delegate to the cloud agent
You can offload larger jobs to Codex in the cloud, then track progress and review results without leaving your IDE.
First, you’ll need to set up a cloud environment for Codex to work in.
Then pick your environment and select Run in the cloud.
You can have Codex run off main—which is useful for starting new ideas—or instead you can have Codex work from your local changes—useful for finishing off a task.
When you start a cloud task from a local conversation, Codex remembers the conversation context so it can pick up where you left off.
Follow up on cloud tasks
The Codex extension makes previewing cloud changes straightforward. You can ask for follow-ups to run in the cloud, but often you’ll want to apply the changes locally to test and finish up. When you continue the conversation locally, Codex also retains context to save you time.
You can also view the cloud tasks in the Codex interface.
Next steps
To learn more about how to use Codex in the cloud, refer to the dedicated guide.
You can experiment to find your preferred workflow: you can stay in the IDE with the Codex extension for tasks you’re currently focusing on, and delegate everything else to the cloud agent. You can then follow progress in the Codex interface or in the IDE depending on your preferences.