--- summary: "Configure native Codex plugins for Codex-mode OpenClaw agents" title: "Native Codex plugins" read_when: - You want Codex-mode OpenClaw agents to use native Codex plugins - You are migrating source-installed openai-curated Codex plugins - You are discovering or installing a Codex marketplace plugin - You are troubleshooting codexPlugins, app inventory, destructive actions, or plugin app diagnostics --- Native Codex plugin support lets a Codex-mode OpenClaw agent use Codex app-server's own app and plugin capabilities inside the same Codex thread that handles the OpenClaw turn. Plugin calls stay in the native Codex transcript; Codex app-server owns app-backed MCP execution. OpenClaw does not translate Codex plugins into synthetic `codex_plugin_*` OpenClaw dynamic tools. Use this page after the base [Codex harness](/plugins/codex-harness) is working. ## Requirements - The agent runtime must be the native Codex harness. - `plugins.entries.codex.enabled` is `true`. - `plugins.entries.codex.config.codexPlugins.enabled` is `true`. - Codex app-server reports exactly stable `0.147.0`. The official plugin ships `@openai/codex` `0.147.0`; custom, remote, and macOS desktop-owned binaries must use the same exact version. - The target Codex app-server can see the expected marketplace, plugin, and app inventory. - Migration supports only `openai-curated` plugins that it observed as source-installed in the source Codex home. Codex serves the same catalog to API-key and Bedrock accounts under the `openai-api-curated` wire name; OpenClaw treats both names as the one curated catalog, so configured `openai-curated` plugins resolve from either. - Native runtime support also includes other marketplaces already available to Codex, such as `openai-bundled`, `openai-primary-runtime`, `workspace-directory`, and marketplace manifests in the current repository. Plugins remain unavailable until an owner or `operator.admin` explicitly installs or enables their marketplace-qualified identity. `codexPlugins` has no effect on OpenClaw-provider runs, ACP conversation bindings, or other harnesses, because those paths never create Codex app-server threads with native `apps` config. OpenAI-side Codex account, app availability, and workspace app/plugin controls come from the signed-in Codex account. See [Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11369540-using-codex-with-your-chatgpt-plan) for the OpenAI account and admin model. ## Quickstart Preview migration from the source Codex home: ```bash openclaw migrate codex --dry-run ``` Add `--verify-plugin-apps` to make migration read the source installed app snapshot and app metadata, requiring every owned app to be present, enabled, and accessible before planning native activation: ```bash openclaw migrate codex --dry-run --verify-plugin-apps ``` Apply the migration when the plan looks right: ```bash openclaw migrate apply codex --yes ``` Migration writes explicit `codexPlugins` entries for eligible plugins and calls Codex app-server `plugin/install` for selected plugins. A migrated config looks like this: ```json5 { plugins: { entries: { codex: { enabled: true, config: { codexPlugins: { enabled: true, allow_destructive_actions: true, plugins: { "google-calendar": { enabled: true, marketplaceName: "openai-curated", pluginName: "google-calendar", }, }, }, }, }, }, }, } ``` Migration remains limited to `openai-curated`. To find another plugin that Codex can already see, list the available marketplace catalog and install the exact marketplace-qualified identity: ```text /codex plugins available /codex plugins install security-review@company-tools ``` Codex discovers repository marketplaces from `.agents/plugins/marketplace.json` in the current conversation workspace. An owner does not need to add that marketplace to OpenClaw configuration before listing or installing its plugins. Official bundled, primary-runtime, curated, workspace, shared, and personal marketplaces depend on the signed-in Codex account and upstream feature or administrator policies. When Codex requires marketplace sources to be explicitly configured or allowlisted, those requirements still apply; OpenClaw does not bypass them. Installation writes an explicit configuration entry such as: ```json5 { plugins: { entries: { codex: { enabled: true, config: { codexPlugins: { enabled: true, plugins: { "security-review@company-tools": { enabled: true, marketplaceName: "company-tools", pluginName: "security-review", }, }, }, }, }, }, }, } ``` The install command checks the authenticated owner or administrator before it calls Codex `plugin/install`. Codex continues to enforce marketplace source, workspace administrator, account, and connector-authentication policies. Remote plugins that require a Codex installation interstitial, or do not report whether one is required, must be installed in Codex first; rerun the OpenClaw install command afterward to authorize the already-installed plugin. OpenClaw keeps apps hidden when the response omits the exact marketplace, plugin identity, detail identity, or app-readiness evidence. If a connector requires additional sign-in, complete that authorization before expecting the plugin's tools to become available. After a `codexPlugins` change, new Codex conversations pick up the updated app set automatically. Run `/new` or `/reset` to refresh the current conversation. A gateway restart is not required for plugin enable/disable changes. ## Scheduled automations When an authenticated owner creates an automation from a Codex turn, OpenClaw captures the app IDs and approval limits callable on that exact Codex thread. The stored authority is bound to the creator's prepared Codex profile and account. Scheduled runs intersect that cap with current Codex policy and app availability. They never gain new app IDs or a broader destructive, open-world, or approval ceiling. Tools added later within an already captured app may run only when both the stored ceiling and current policy allow them. Scheduled app calls are unattended. Only actions explicitly allowed both when the job was created and when it runs can proceed without a prompt. An action that still requires approval or elicitation is declined. A changed account, runtime, revoked app, narrower policy, or unavailable inventory stops before app execution and reports how to restore access or reauthorize the automation. Model fallbacks cannot move this authority to another runtime or account. Jobs created before app authority capture may keep their ordinary OpenClaw tool cap and continue non-app work, but cannot recover Codex app access automatically. Recreate or reauthorize only a job that needs app access, from a fresh authenticated owner turn. See [Automations](/automation/cron-jobs#codex-apps-in-scheduled-automations). Ordinary edits preserve captured app authority. Explicitly replacing a job's `toolsAllow` cap without a fresh authenticated Codex authority capture clears that authority; the next run reports that app access requires reauthorization. An update from a fresh authenticated owner turn can instead capture and store a new app ceiling for the updated job. ## Manage plugins from chat `/codex plugins` inspects or changes configured native Codex plugins from the same chat where you operate the Codex harness: ```text /codex plugins /codex plugins list /codex plugins available /codex plugins install security-review@company-tools /codex plugins disable google-calendar /codex plugins enable google-calendar /codex plugins disable security-review@company-tools ``` `/codex plugins` is an alias for `/codex plugins list`. The list shows each configured plugin's key, on/off state, Codex plugin name, and marketplace from `plugins.entries.codex.config.codexPlugins.plugins`. `available` reads Codex's marketplace catalog using the bound workspace, so it can discover repository-local plugins without enabling them. The owner-scoped `codex_plugins` model tool is also read-only: it can recommend an exact install command but cannot install, enable, or add a marketplace. `install`, `enable`, and `disable` require the owner or a gateway client with the `operator.admin` scope. OpenClaw's reserved `/codex` command is dispatched before agent invocation, so a model-generated recommendation does not count as installation approval. For a plugin that Codex has not installed yet, `install` calls the Codex app-server and records the explicit plugin policy only after installation succeeds. If Codex confirms that the plugin is already installed and enabled, the same command records its authorization without installing it again. `enable` and `disable` change OpenClaw's persisted policy; qualified identities and existing configuration keys are both accepted. Installing or enabling a configured plugin also turns on the global `codexPlugins.enabled` switch without enabling `allow_all_plugins`. If a plugin reports `auth_required`, authorize the app in Codex before starting a new conversation. Authorization remains in effect for later conversations until the plugin is disabled or the upstream account or workspace revokes access. Only install plugins you trust. A Codex plugin can contribute skills, apps, MCP servers, and hooks. Some hooks can participate in permission decisions, so explicit installation trusts the selected plugin's code; it is not a security review or an isolation boundary. ## How native plugin setup works The integration tracks three states: | State | Meaning | | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Installed | Codex has the plugin bundle in the target app-server runtime. | | Enabled | Codex reports the plugin enabled, and OpenClaw config allows it for Codex harness turns. | | Accessible | Codex app-server confirms the plugin's app entries are available for the active account and map to the configured plugin identity. | For `openai-curated` plugins, migration is the durable install/eligibility step: - During planning, OpenClaw reads source Codex `plugin/read` details and checks the source Codex app-server account. `codex_subscription_required` means `account/read` positively identified an API-key or other non-ChatGPT account; a missing account is not evidence that a subscription is absent. - By default, migration skips source app inventory calls: app-backed source plugins that pass the account gate are planned without source app accessibility verification. A missing account or failed `account/read` skips them with `codex_account_unavailable`. - With `--verify-plugin-apps`, migration takes a fresh source `app/installed` snapshot, fetches authenticated metadata with `app/read`, and requires every owned app to be present, enabled, and accessible in the source Codex account before planning native activation. If `account/read` is missing or fails, strict verification can still prove access through the source app-server's configured bearer or header authentication. A positively identified non-ChatGPT account remains ineligible. For explicitly approved plugins from any discovered marketplace, OpenClaw uses its `plugin/installed` snapshot and `plugin/read` details to establish the exact marketplace-qualified identity and app ownership. The installed-only check during ordinary thread setup is read-only; apps from disabled or unapproved plugins stay denied. Owner-issued installation is the explicit mutation path. Missing or ambiguous ownership fails closed instead of granting account-wide access. Runtime app inventory is the target-session accessibility check for both migrated curated plugins and manually configured workspace plugins. Codex harness session setup computes a restrictive thread app config from the enabled and accessible plugin apps; it is not recomputed on every turn, so `/codex plugins enable`/`disable` only affect new Codex conversations. Use `/new` or `/reset` to pick up the change in the current conversation. ## Support boundary - Only `openai-curated` plugins already installed in the source Codex app-server inventory are migration-eligible. - Runtime supports explicitly approved plugins from Codex-discovered official, workspace, personal, shared, and repository-local marketplaces. A missing marketplace, plugin, ownership detail, or app readiness evidence exposes no plugin app. - Positively identified non-ChatGPT source accounts fail the subscription gate. Missing or unreadable source accounts are unavailable by default. `--verify-plugin-apps` can instead establish access through authenticated source app inventory, including bearer- or header-authenticated app-servers. Inaccessible, disabled, or missing source apps and inventory refresh failures remain skipped manual items. Unreadable plugin details are skipped before the app-inventory gate. - Migration writes explicit plugin identities (`marketplaceName` and `pluginName`); it does not write local `marketplacePath` cache paths. - `codexPlugins.enabled` is the only global enablement switch; there is no `plugins["*"]` wildcard or config key that grants arbitrary install authority. - Migration does not automatically import non-curated marketplaces, cached plugin bundles, hooks, or Codex config files. Use `/codex plugins available` and an owner-issued `/codex plugins install @` command to opt into an additional discovered plugin. - OpenClaw does not add new Git or local marketplace sources in this flow. Additional sources must already be configured in Codex or be discoverable from the bound repository. ## App inventory and ownership OpenClaw first reads and caches one `plugin/installed` snapshot scoped to the target Codex app-server and configured workspace. That snapshot covers plugins from the marketplaces visible in that scope, including disabled plugin identities; failed or incomplete snapshots are never cached. `plugin/read` is limited to exact configured plugin details required to establish ownership. Explicit discovery queries `plugin/list` with the conversation workspace to find repository marketplaces. Routine setup retains its existing curated recovery behavior; additional marketplace installation requires the explicit owner or administrator command. OpenClaw reads installed app runtime state through `app/installed` and fetches canonical app metadata with `app/read` in batches of at most 100 app IDs. The first read force-refreshes a cold installed runtime snapshot. When multiple configured curated plugins are installed, OpenClaw combines their cache invalidations into a single app-inventory refresh. Ordinary cached reads do not force a connector refresh for every new thread. OpenClaw caches the combined inventory in memory for one hour and refreshes stale or missing entries asynchronously. The cache is process-local; restarting the CLI or gateway drops it. Missing inventory methods, authentication errors, transport failures, and connector refresh failures fail closed. Migration and runtime use separate cache keys: - Source migration verification uses the source Codex home and start options. It runs only with `--verify-plugin-apps` and forces a fresh source runtime snapshot and metadata read for that planning run. - Target runtime setup uses the target agent's Codex app-server identity when building and verifying the thread app config. Curated plugin activation invalidates that target cache key, then force-refreshes it after `plugin/install`. Explicit marketplace installation refreshes the same target runtime state before subsequent conversations use the plugin. A plugin app is exposed only when OpenClaw can map it back to the configured plugin through stable ownership: an exact app id from plugin detail, a known MCP server name, or unique stable metadata. Display-name-only or ambiguous ownership is excluded until the next inventory refresh proves ownership. ## Connected account apps Owner-operated agents can opt into every app already connected to their Codex account without requiring a matching plugin package: ```json5 { plugins: { entries: { codex: { enabled: true, config: { codexPlugins: { enabled: true, allow_all_plugins: true, allow_destructive_actions: "auto", }, }, }, }, }, } ``` `allow_all_plugins: true` reads the installed app snapshot and authenticated metadata when a new native Codex thread is established. It admits only account-accessible apps. Codex must also confirm each admitted app is enabled and callable for that thread. OpenClaw does not install, authenticate, or enable apps globally. Existing threads keep their persisted app set; use `/new`, `/reset`, or restart the gateway to pick up newly connected or revoked apps. An explicitly disabled configured plugin always overrides account-wide app access. Because Codex `app/read` omits a disabled workspace plugin's display names, OpenClaw uses its `plugin/installed` snapshot and reads only that exact configured plugin's details to reserve its owned app IDs. This narrow, read-only check does not discover unrelated marketplaces, activate the plugin, or grant its apps. If the disabled plugin's ownership cannot be established, the account-wide app selection fails closed. Account apps inherit the global `codexPlugins.allow_destructive_actions` value, which accepts `true`, `false`, `"auto"`, or `"ask"`. Explicit per-plugin policy overrides the global policy for overlapping app ids. Inventory failures fail closed instead of falling back to an unrestricted default. ## Thread app config OpenClaw injects a restrictive `config.apps` patch for the Codex thread: `_default` is disabled, and only apps owned by enabled configured plugins or accessible account apps admitted by `allow_all_plugins` are enabled. An app can be installed and authenticated but non-callable in the account-wide snapshot while `_default` is disabled. OpenClaw provisionally admits only ownership-proven, policy-allowed apps, creates the restrictive thread, and then rereads `app/installed` once with the resulting thread ID and `forceRefresh: false`. Codex must confirm each admitted app is enabled and callable under the thread's effective app, managed, workspace, and tool policies before the turn proceeds. If that attestation fails, the provisional thread is never bound or used. OpenClaw deletes a failed persistent provisional thread, unsubscribes a failed ephemeral thread, and retires the app-server connection if safe cleanup cannot be confirmed. `destructive_enabled` on each app comes from the effective global or per-plugin `allow_destructive_actions` policy; `true`, `"auto"`, and `"ask"` all set `destructive_enabled: true`, and `false` sets it `false`. Codex still enforces destructive tool metadata from its native app tool annotations. `_default` is disabled with `open_world_enabled: false`; enabled plugin apps get `open_world_enabled: true`. OpenClaw does not expose a separate plugin-level open-world policy knob and does not maintain per-plugin destructive tool-name deny lists. Tool approval mode defaults to automatic for admitted apps, so non-destructive read tools run without a same-thread approval prompt. Destructive tools stay controlled by each app's `destructive_enabled` policy. ## Destructive action policy Destructive plugin elicitations are allowed by default for configured Codex plugins, while unsafe schemas and ambiguous ownership fail closed: - Global `allow_destructive_actions` defaults to `true`. - Per-plugin `allow_destructive_actions` overrides the global policy for that plugin. - `false`: OpenClaw returns a deterministic decline. - `true`: OpenClaw auto-accepts only safe schemas it can map to an approval response, such as a boolean approve field. - `"auto"`: OpenClaw exposes destructive plugin actions to Codex, then turns ownership-proven MCP approval elicitations into OpenClaw plugin approvals before returning the Codex approval response. - `"ask"`: OpenClaw uses the same Codex write/destructive gating as `"auto"`, clears durable Codex per-tool approval overrides for the app before the thread starts, and offers only one-shot approval or denial so durable approvals cannot suppress later write-action prompts. For each admitted app using `"ask"`, OpenClaw selects Codex's human approvals reviewer for that app so Codex sends its approval elicitations to OpenClaw; other apps and non-app thread approvals keep their configured reviewer and policy. - Missing plugin identity, ambiguous ownership, a missing or mismatched turn id, or an unsafe elicitation schema declines instead of prompting. ## Troubleshooting | Code | Meaning | Fix | | ------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `auth_required` | Migration installed the plugin, but one of its apps still needs authentication. The entry is written disabled until you reauthorize. | Reauthorize the app in Codex, then enable the plugin in OpenClaw. | | `app_inaccessible`, `app_disabled`, `app_missing` | With `--verify-plugin-apps`, the source Codex app inventory did not show all owned apps as present, enabled, and accessible. | Reauthorize or enable the app in Codex, then rerun migration with `--verify-plugin-apps`. | | `app_inventory_unavailable` | Strict source app verification was requested but the source Codex app inventory refresh failed. | Fix source Codex app-server access, or retry without `--verify-plugin-apps` to accept the faster account-gated plan. | | `codex_subscription_required` | The source app-server positively identified an API-key or other non-ChatGPT account. | Log in to the Codex app with subscription auth, then rerun migration. | | `codex_account_unavailable` | The source account was missing or `account/read` failed without strict app verification. | Restore source account access, or use `--verify-plugin-apps` when authenticated source app inventory can prove access. | | `marketplace_missing`, `plugin_missing` | The exact marketplace or configured plugin is unavailable in the installed snapshot; plugin apps fail closed. | Verify the target app-server's `plugin/installed` response and exact configured plugin identity. | | `plugin_detail_unavailable` | OpenClaw could not read the exact configured plugin's ownership details. | Inspect the target app-server's `plugin/installed` and `plugin/read` responses. | | `plugin_disabled` | Codex reports the plugin installed but disabled. | Enable the plugin in Codex, or have the owner explicitly install and authorize it again. | | `plugin_activation_failed` | Plugin activation did not complete. | Use the attached diagnostic to distinguish marketplace, auth, refresh, or workspace-readiness failures. | | `app_inventory_missing`, `app_inventory_stale` | App readiness came from an empty or stale cache. | OpenClaw schedules an async refresh automatically; plugin apps stay excluded until ownership and readiness are known. | | `app_ownership_ambiguous` | App inventory only matched by display name. | The app stays hidden from the Codex thread until a later refresh proves ownership. | **Workspace plugin is installed but not visible:** confirm the workspace `plugin/installed` snapshot reports the exact configured ID as installed and enabled, then confirm `app/installed` returns every owned app for the same Codex account and `app/read` returns its metadata. An app disabled only by the account-wide default can become callable after OpenClaw starts and verifies its explicitly configured thread. Revoked auth, missing metadata, disabled workspace plugins, and Codex managed or workspace restrictions still block access. Reauthorize or repair those upstream conditions before starting a new thread. If you changed that state after the gateway cached app inventory, wait for the one-hour cache refresh or restart the gateway, then use `/new` or `/reset`. OpenClaw does not authenticate plugin apps on the owner's behalf. For `plugin_detail_unavailable`, verify that the exact installed marketplace and plugin identity select a matching `plugin/read` result. OpenClaw keeps owned apps hidden when that selector or ownership detail is unavailable. For `plugin_activation_failed`, inspect the marketplace, app authorization, and post-install refresh diagnostics. An explicitly approved plugin must be installed, enabled, and authenticated before its apps can appear in a thread. **Config changed but the agent cannot see the plugin:** run `/codex plugins list` to confirm the configured state, then `/new` or `/reset`. Existing Codex thread bindings keep the app config they started with until OpenClaw establishes a new harness session or replaces a stale binding. **Destructive action is declined:** check the global and per-plugin `allow_destructive_actions` values. Even with `true`, `"auto"`, or `"ask"`, unsafe elicitation schemas and ambiguous plugin identity still fail closed. ## Related - [Codex harness](/plugins/codex-harness) - [Codex harness reference](/plugins/codex-harness-reference) - [Codex harness runtime](/plugins/codex-harness-runtime) - [Configuration reference](/gateway/configuration-reference#codex-harness-plugin-config) - [Migrate CLI](/cli/migrate)