How to get started with Codex

Source: OpenAI Date: 2026-04-23 URL: https://openai.com/academy/codex-how-to-start

Summary

OpenAI onboarding guide from April 23, 2026, published alongside the GPT-5.5 launch cluster and the “top 10 uses for Codex at work” editorial. The “how to get started” guide provides developers with a step-by-step introduction to Codex: setting up the CLI, configuring the development environment, running first tasks, and connecting to existing codebases. Part of the coordinated Codex documentation push that accompanied the GPT-5.5 release.

Implications

Documentation as adoption infrastructure. The “how to get started” guide targets developers who have heard about Codex (from the GPT-5.5 announcement or top-10-uses post) but haven’t committed to trying it. Good onboarding documentation directly converts awareness to active use — the gap between “I heard about this” and “I set it up and ran a task” is where most tools lose potential users.

Codex onboarding complexity signals. The need for a dedicated “how to get started” guide implies Codex has enough setup complexity that developers don’t just figure it out from the API docs. CLI configuration, codebase connection, and task specification are all non-trivial for a developer who hasn’t used an autonomous coding agent before. The quality of this guide is directly predictive of adoption success.

Thread: April 23 launch cluster. The fourth piece in the April 23 launch cluster (GPT-5.5 intro, bio bounty, top-10-uses, getting started). The getting started guide is the activation layer — converting announcement interest into actual adoption.

Watch: Whether the Codex onboarding guide produces measurable activation rate improvements in developer signups, and whether subsequent iteration on the guide (based on where developers get stuck) is publicly communicated.