Codex desktop gains Mac app control, image work and 90+ plugins

OpenAI's Codex update is material because it expands the product beyond code generation into desktop-level agent work. The April 16 source tweet says Codex can now "use apps on your Mac", connect to more tools, create images, learn from previous actions, remember work preferences, and take on repeatable tasks. It was created at 2026-04-16 17:18:10 UTC, well after the cutoff. See the source tweet.

The thread adds one concrete platform number: Codex now supports 90+ plugins for docs, project management, code review, creative work, deployments, and other tools. Another post in the same thread says the updates are rolling out in the Codex desktop app and links to OpenAI's page at openai.com/index/codex-for-almost-everything/. The official page was blocked by a browser challenge from this environment, so the verified source for this article is the public X thread via FxTwitter plus the linked URL.

The wording also raises the bar for product scrutiny. "Learn from previous actions" and "remember how you like to work" imply persistent user state, not just a one-off terminal session. That can make repeat tasks faster, but it also makes auditability, reset controls, and organization-level policy more important. The 90+ plugin count is a second signal: Codex is being positioned as a coordination surface across tools where code, tickets, docs, design assets, deployments, and generated media may all meet. The value will depend less on novelty and more on whether actions are predictable, permissioned, and easy to inspect after the fact.

OpenAI's account usually posts major model, ChatGPT, API, and platform changes. This Codex thread is notable because the center of gravity shifts from a coding assistant inside a repo to an agent that can cross desktop apps, media generation, plugins, and recurring work. The next thing to watch is permission design: what Codex can do by default, how plugin actions are scoped, and whether enterprise admins get reliable logs and rollback controls as these agents move from terminal tasks into ordinary desktop workflows.