Codex DMG -> Windows

This repository provides a Windows-only runner that extracts the macOS Codex DMG and runs the Electron app on Windows. It unpacks app.asar, swaps mac-only native modules for Windows builds, and launches the app with a compatible Electron runtime. It does not ship OpenAI binaries or assets; you must supply your own DMG and install the Codex CLI.

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• Node.js
• 7-Zip (7z in PATH)
• If 7-Zip is not installed, the runner will try winget or download a portable copy
• Codex CLI installed (npm i -g @openai/codex, using a node package manager (in my case fnm) can cause issues regarding detecting codex-cli)
• git (for codex desktop)

Visual Studio Installer (Required Libs)

If your build fails due to missing Spectre-mitigated libraries, install the option shown below in the Visual Studio Installer.

Quick Start

1. Place your DMG in the repo root (default name Codex.dmg).
2. Run:

.\scripts\run.ps1

Or explicitly:

.\scripts\run.ps1 -DmgPath .\Codex.dmg

Or use the shortcut launcher:

run.cmd

The script will:

• Extract the DMG to work/
• Build a Windows-ready app directory
• Auto-detect codex.exe
• Launch Codex

Screenshots

Build Installer (.exe)

Requirements

• WiX Toolset (for MSI)
• NSIS (for EXE)
• Desktop development with C++ (
• If your build fails due to missing Spectre-mitigated libraries, install the option shown below in the Visual Studio Installer.
• .Net sdk 8

One-shot build (runs run.ps1, then produces installer\out\CodexDesktop-setup.exe):

pwsh -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\build-setup-exe.ps1

Skip re-extraction if work/ is already populated:

pwsh -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\build-setup-exe.ps1 -Reuse

Allow building the installer without a real Codex CLI present (CI-only, uses a placeholder):

pwsh -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\build-setup-exe.ps1 -AllowMissingCodexCli

Output:

• installer\out\CodexDesktop-setup.exe

Notes

• This is not an official OpenAI project.
• Do not redistribute OpenAI app binaries or DMG files.
• The Electron version is read from the app's package.json to keep ABI compatibility.

Cleaning Up

If the project folder becomes too large, you can clear all build artifacts and temporary files with:

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force work, installer\out, codexd-launcher\bin, codexd-launcher\obj -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

License

MIT (For the scripts only)