Native Codex plugins

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 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 for the OpenAI account and admin model.

Quickstart

Preview migration from the source Codex home:

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:

openclaw migrate codex --dry-run --verify-plugin-apps

Apply the migration when the plan looks right:

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:

{  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:

/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:

{  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. 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:

/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:

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 <plugin>@<marketplace> 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:

{  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

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
• Codex harness reference
• Codex harness runtime
• Configuration reference
• Migrate CLI