Krux
April 25, 2026
OpenAI Codex Now Lets You Drag an Avatar Around Your Screen
Published: April 25, 2026 at 12:29 AM
Updated: April 25, 2026 at 12:29 AM
100-word summary
OpenAI just published a setup guide for Codex that boils onboarding down to four settings: personalization, prevent sleep, detail level, and appearance. The standout? You can now give Codex a "friendly avatar" to track background tasks and drag it wherever you want on screen. Prevent sleep stops your computer from dozing mid-task, while detail level toggles between showing specific commands (Coding mode) or a cleaner conversation view. Personalization works like ChatGPT's custom instructions, letting you pick a tone and add guardrails. The guide offers zero performance data, but the message is clear: most people need four toggles, not a settings labyrinth.
What happened
OpenAI just published a setup guide for Codex that boils onboarding down to four settings: personalization, prevent sleep, detail level, and appearance. The standout? You can now give Codex a "friendly avatar" to track background tasks and drag it wherever you want on screen. Prevent sleep stops your computer from dozing mid-task, while detail level toggles between showing specific commands (Coding mode) or a cleaner conversation view. Personalization works like ChatGPT's custom instructions, letting you pick a tone and add guardrails.
Why it matters
The guide offers zero performance data, but the message is clear: most people need four toggles, not a settings labyrinth.