Windows

The easiest way to use Codex on Windows is to set up the IDE extension or install the CLI and run it from PowerShell.

When you run Codex natively on Windows, agent mode uses a Windows sandbox to block filesystem writes outside the working folder and prevent network access without your explicit approval. Learn more below.

If you prefer to have Codex use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2), read the instructions below.

Windows sandbox

Native Windows sandbox support includes two modes that you can configure in config.toml:

[windows]
sandbox = "unelevated" # or "elevated"

How elevated mode works:

• Uses a Restricted Token approach with filesystem ACLs to limit which files the sandbox can write to.
• Runs commands as a dedicated Windows Sandbox User.
• Limits network access by installing Windows Firewall rules.

Grant sandbox read access

When a command fails because the Windows sandbox can’t read a directory, use:

/sandbox-add-read-dir C:\absolute\directory\path

The path must be an existing absolute directory. After the command succeeds, later commands that run in the sandbox can read that directory during the current session.

Windows Subsystem for Linux

Launch VS Code from inside WSL

For step-by-step instructions, see the official VS Code WSL tutorial.

Prerequisites

• Windows with WSL installed. To install WSL, open PowerShell as an administrator, then run wsl --install (Ubuntu is a common choice).
• VS Code with the WSL extension installed.

Open VS Code from a WSL terminal

# From your WSL shell
cd ~/code/your-project
code .

This opens a WSL remote window, installs the VS Code Server if needed, and ensures integrated terminals run in Linux.

Confirm you’re connected to WSL

• Look for the green status bar that shows WSL: <distro>.

• Integrated terminals should display Linux paths (such as /home/...) instead of C:\.

• You can verify with:

  echo $WSL_DISTRO_NAME

  This prints your distribution name.

Use Codex CLI with WSL

Run these commands from an elevated PowerShell or Windows Terminal:

# Install default Linux distribution (like Ubuntu)
wsl --install

# Start a shell inside Windows Subsystem for Linux
wsl

Then run these commands from your WSL shell:

# https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dev-environment/javascript/nodejs-on-wsl
# Install Node.js in WSL (via nvm)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/master/install.sh | bash

# In a new tab or after exiting and running `wsl` again to install Node.js
nvm install 22

# Install and run Codex in WSL
npm i -g @openai/codex
codex

Working on code inside WSL

• Working in Windows-mounted paths like /mnt/c/… can be slower than working in Windows-native paths. Keep your repositories under your Linux home directory (like ~/code/my-app) for faster I/O and fewer symlink and permission issues:

  mkdir -p ~/code && cd ~/code
  git clone https://github.com/your/repo.git
  cd repo

• If you need Windows access to files, they’re under \wsl$\Ubuntu\home<user> in Explorer.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Installed extension, but it’s unresponsive

Your system may be missing C++ development tools, which some native dependencies require:

• Visual Studio Build Tools (C++ workload)
• Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (x64)
• With winget, run winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools -e

Then fully restart VS Code after installation.

If it feels slow on large repositories

• Make sure you’re not working under /mnt/c. Move the repository to WSL (for example, ~/code/…).
• Increase memory and CPU for WSL if needed; update WSL to the latest version:

  wsl --update
  wsl --shutdown

VS Code in WSL can’t find codex

Verify the binary exists and is on PATH inside WSL:

which codex || echo "codex not found"

If the binary isn’t found, install it by following the instructions above.