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Use the Codex app on Windows with native sandbox and PowerShell support

The Codex app for Windows gives you one interface for working across projects, running parallel agent threads, and reviewing results. It runs natively on Windows using PowerShell and the Windows sandbox, or you can configure it to run in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Download and update the Codex app

Download the Codex app from the Microsoft Store.

Then follow the quickstart to get started.

To update the app, open the Microsoft Store, go to Downloads, and click Check for updates. The Store installs the latest version afterward.

For enterprises, administrators can deploy the app with Microsoft Store app distribution through enterprise management tools.

Customize for your dev setup

Preferred editor

Choose a default app for Open, such as Visual Studio, VS Code, or another editor. You can override that choice per project. If you already picked a different app from the Open menu for a project, that project-specific choice takes precedence.

Integrated terminal

You can also choose the default integrated terminal. Depending on what you have installed, options include:

  • PowerShell
  • Command Prompt
  • Git Bash
  • WSL

This change applies only to new terminal sessions. If you already have an integrated terminal open, restart the app or start a new thread before expecting the new default terminal to appear.

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

By default, the Codex app uses the Windows-native agent. That means the agent runs commands in PowerShell. The app can still work with projects that live in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) by using the wsl CLI when needed.

If you want to add a project from the WSL filesystem, click Add new project or press Ctrl+O, then type \\wsl$\ into the File Explorer window. From there, choose your Linux distribution and the folder you want to open.

If you plan to keep using the Windows-native agent, prefer storing projects on your Windows filesystem and accessing them from WSL through /mnt/<drive>/.... This setup is more reliable than opening projects directly from the WSL filesystem.

If you want the agent itself to run in WSL, open Settings, switch the agent from Windows native to WSL, and restart the app. The change doesn’t take effect until you restart. Your projects should remain in place after restart.

You configure the integrated terminal independently from the agent. See Customize for your dev setup for the terminal options. You can keep the agent in WSL and still use PowerShell in the terminal, or use WSL for both, depending on your workflow.

Useful developer tools

Codex works best when a few common developer tools are already installed:

  • Git: Powers the review panel in the Codex app and lets you inspect or revert changes.
  • Node.js: A common tool that the agent uses to perform tasks more efficiently.
  • Python: A common tool that the agent uses to perform tasks more efficiently.
  • .NET SDK: Useful when you want to build native Windows apps.
  • GitHub CLI: Powers GitHub-specific functionality in the Codex app.

Install them with the default Windows package manager winget by pasting this into the integrated terminal or asking Codex to install them:

winget install --id Git.Git
winget install --id OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS
winget install --id Python.Python.3.14
winget install --id Microsoft.DotNet.SDK.10
winget install --id GitHub.cli

After installing GitHub CLI, run gh auth login to enable GitHub features in the app.

If you need a different Python or .NET version, change the package IDs to the version you want.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Run commands with elevated permissions

If you need Codex to run commands with elevated permissions, start the Codex app itself as an administrator. After installation, open the Start menu, find Codex, and choose Run as administrator. The Codex agent inherits that permission level.

PowerShell execution policy blocks commands

If you have never used tools such as Node.js or npm in PowerShell before, the Codex agent or integrated terminal may hit execution policy errors.

This can also happen if Codex creates PowerShell scripts for you. In that case, you may need a less restrictive execution policy before PowerShell will run them.

An error may look something like this:

npm.ps1 cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system.

A common fix is to set the execution policy to RemoteSigned:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

For details and other options, check Microsoft’s execution policy guide before changing the policy.

Local environment scripts on Windows

If your local environment uses cross-platform commands such as npm scripts, you can keep one shared setup script or set of actions for every platform.

If you need Windows-specific behavior, create Windows-specific setup scripts or Windows-specific actions.

Actions run in the environment used by your integrated terminal. See Customize for your dev setup.

Local setup scripts run in the agent environment: WSL if the agent uses WSL, and PowerShell otherwise.

Git features are unavailable

If you don’t have Git installed natively on Windows, the app can’t use some features. Install it with winget install Git.Git from PowerShell or cmd.exe.