ChatGPT — Codex (cloud agent)
OpenAI's cloud-hosted, asynchronous coding agent surfaced inside ChatGPT — distinct from Codex CLI (terminal) and from the deprecated 2021 Codex API. Released 2025-05. Reads + writes from sandboxed cloud environments; integrates with GitHub. Cross-listing — the coding-agent-memory row remains canonical for memory framing.
At a glance
- Type
- OpenAI's ChatGPT-integrated cloud coding agent
- Tier
- T1
- Section
- Agent IDEs & coding harnesses
- Created
- 2025-05
- Latest release
- not applicable — not OSS
- License
- not applicable — not OSS
- GitHub
- not applicable — no GitHub repo
- Pricing
- Bundled with ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) + Pro ($200/mo)
- Funding
- OpenAI (parent)
Taxonomy
- storage
- kv
- retrieval
- injection
- persistence
- session
- update
- agent-controlled
- unit
- turn
- governance
- opaque
- conflict
- llm-arbitrate
When to use
Optimised for: asynchronous cloud coding tasks from ChatGPT
Anti-fit: no terminal UX (Codex CLI is the separate product); OpenAI-only
Pros & cons
Pros
Massive distribution via the ChatGPT install base; cloud sandbox lets non-power-users run agents without setting up local tooling.
Cons
ChatGPT-only; cloud-only (no local code access); pricing only via ChatGPT subscription, not per-task.
Claims & capabilities
OpenAI; launched 2025-05; bundled with ChatGPT Plus/Pro; SWE-bench-Verified numbers shipped with launch.
Technical surface
- API surface
- ChatGPT web/app + API (Codex tasks)
- Backend storage
- cloud sandbox per task
- Deployment
- Cloud
- Embedding model
- not applicable — not a memory product
- Multi-tenancy
- per-user (ChatGPT account)
- MCP
- searched not found
- A2A
- searched not found
- OpenTelemetry
- searched not found
Similar systems
Other agent ides & coding harnesses in the catalog, ranked by inbound references.
- Bedrock AgentCore (AWS) T2
AWS Bedrock AgentCore — managed runtime to deploy + scale + observe agents. Multi-component: Runtime, Identity, Memory, Gateway, Browser, Code Interpreter, Observability. Distinct from Bedrock Agents (older fixed-config product); AgentCore is the 2025 framework-agnostic runtime for any agent (LangGraph, CrewAI, Strands, OpenAI Agents SDK).
- Claude Code (Anthropic) T1
Anthropic's official agentic coding CLI — runs Claude as a long-running coding agent in the developer's terminal. Memory layer = CLAUDE.md (project + user scoped), agent skills, MCP servers. Released GA October 2024; widely adopted as the reference harness for Claude-as-coder. Plan Mode and Compute Use surfaces extend it from coding to broader desktop automation.
- GitHub Copilot (Agent Mode) T1
The original AI coding assistant (Copilot in editor; 2021). 2025 evolved into a full agentic surface: chat, completions, Agent Mode (multi-step), and Copilot Workspace. Backed by Microsoft. Distinct row from Workspace — this row covers the everyday in-editor + agent mode product, Workspace covers the hosted spec-driven workflow.
- Aider (harness) T2
OSS terminal coding agent by Paul Gauthier — one of the original AI-pair-programmer CLIs (2023). Architect/Editor modes; repo-map for context; uses any LiteLLM-compatible model. Memory via CONVENTIONS.md and .aider.conf.yml — author-edited markdown. Distinct from the separate Aider memory-row in "Coding-agent memory"; this row characterises the harness itself.
- Amazon Q Developer T1
Amazon's developer-focused agent — formerly CodeWhisperer (renamed 2024-Q4). Available as IDE plugins (VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Eclipse), in AWS Console, and CLI. Strong AWS-tooling integration: Q can read CloudWatch, troubleshoot IAM, suggest AWS-SDK code. Companion to Kiro for spec-driven flows.
- Anthropic Computer Use T1
Anthropic's API-surface capability that lets Claude control a virtual desktop — see screenshots, type, click. Launched 2024-10 as a public beta. Not a finished IDE itself; it's the substrate that other harnesses (and Anthropic's own Claude apps) use to operate a computer.
Related systems
References (2)
- GitHub Copilot (Agent Mode) integrates with — cloud environments; integrates with GitHub. Cross-listing — the coding-agent-memory row remains canoni
- OpenAI GPT family (GPT-5 / GPT-4o / o3 / o4) depends on at runtime — adjacent-infrastructure cell: OpenAI Codex (model) + cloud sandbox