xdlawless2/codex-desktop-linux

This project repackages OpenAI's Codex Desktop app, an AI coding assistant that OpenAI only officially ships for macOS and Windows, so it can run natively on Linux. It is an unofficial, source-only build tool: it does not include or distribute OpenAI's actual app. Instead, you download OpenAI's official Mac installer yourself, and this project's build scripts take that file apart, rebuild the parts that only work on one operating system, and package the result as a Debian package or an AppImage that runs on most Linux distributions. Codex Desktop is built with Electron, a framework that lets apps written mostly in JavaScript run as normal desktop programs. Since most of the app's code already works on any operating system, the main job here is fixing the small number of pieces that are tied to macOS, such as two native modules that need to be recompiled for Linux, and a couple of features, like an in-app browser preview and a system for letting the AI control your mouse and keyboard, that originally only existed on macOS and had to be rebuilt for Linux. The project pays particular attention to the newer Wayland display system used by many Linux desktops, rather than only supporting the older X11 system. It includes a diagnostics command that reports on your display server, graphics setup, and sandbox status, which is meant to be the first thing you run if something is not working correctly. The AI's ability to click, type, and interact with other windows on a KDE Plasma Wayland desktop is implemented through several Linux accessibility technologies, with the code deliberately failing clearly rather than guessing when those technologies are not available. Building it requires Node.js, a Rust toolchain, several other developer tools, and OpenAI's own Codex command line tool already installed. It supports both regular PC processors and ARM based ones. This is an unofficial, unaffiliated project, and using it means running an unofficial repackaging of OpenAI's proprietary software.