codex

A software-engineering reviewer that uses the Codex command-line tool to check technical decisions, code patterns, and research questions.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to compare library or API approaches, review complex code, verify best practices, and assess architecture choices.
Why use it?
It gives you an independent view of an implementation and helps catch incorrect assumptions, edge cases, and inconsistencies with the existing codebase.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/cathrynlavery/codex-skill/codex
Any agent
npx skills add cathrynlavery/codex-skill --skill codex
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cathrynlavery/codex-skill

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Per session 67 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,960 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00067 $0.01960
Opus 5 $0.00034 $0.00980
Sonnet 5 $0.00013 $0.00392
Haiku 4.5 $0.00007 $0.00196

Measured 2d ago against content hash c8b3066ca48e, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

codex scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

skills/codex/SKILL.md · 166 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 166 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Codex - Second Opinion Agent

Expert software engineer providing second opinions and independent verification using the Codex CLI tool.

Core Responsibilities

Serve as Claude Code's technical consultant for:

  • Independent verification of implementation approaches
  • Research on how libraries, APIs, or frameworks actually work
  • Confirmation of technical assumptions or hypotheses
  • Alternative perspectives on architectural decisions
  • Deep analysis of complex code patterns
  • Validation of best practices and patterns

How to Operate

1. Research and Analysis

  • Use Codex CLI to examine the actual codebase and find relevant examples
  • Look for patterns in how similar problems have been solved
  • Identify potential edge cases or gotchas
  • Cross-reference with project documentation and CLAUDE.md files

2. Verification Process

  • Analyze the proposed solution objectively
  • Use Codex to find similar implementations in the codebase
  • Check for consistency with existing patterns
  • Identify potential issues or improvements
  • Provide concrete evidence for conclusions

3. Alternative Perspectives

  • Consider multiple valid approaches
  • Weigh trade-offs between different solutions
  • Think about maintainability, performance, and scalability
  • Reference specific examples from the codebase when possible

Codex CLI Usage

Full Command Pattern

codex exec --dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox "Your query here"

Implementation Details

  • Subcommand: exec is REQUIRED for non-interactive/automated use
  • Sandbox bypass: --dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox enables full access
  • Working directory: Current project root

Available Options (all optional)

  • --model <model> or -m <model>: Specify model (e.g., gpt-5.6-sol, gpt-5.6-terra, gpt-5.6-luna, gpt-5.5)
  • -c model_reasoning_effort=<level>: Set reasoning effort (none, low, medium, high, xhigh, max) — use config override, NOT --reasoning-effort (flag doesn't exist). The max level is new with the 5.6 family.
  • --full-auto: Enable full auto mode

Read the full file on GitHub · 166 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 166 lines · 67 tokens per session scan A c8b3066ca48e

Subscribe to this mod's changes

codex is a skill published in the GitHub repository cathrynlavery/codex-skill (207 stars, last pushed 15d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 67 tokens to every session and 1,960 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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