Spec for Codex

A VS Code extension that brings spec-driven development to Codex CLI. Manage your specs, steering documents, and custom prompts visually while leveraging Codex CLI's powerful AI capabilities.

Not affiliated with Amazon, AWS, or OpenAI. Spec for Codex is an independent project. It is compatible with Kiro but is not sponsored by, affiliated with, or endorsed by Amazon.com, Inc. or Amazon Web Services, Inc. "Kiro" is a trademark of Amazon Technologies, Inc.; it is used here only to describe compatibility. "Codex" and "OpenAI" are trademarks of OpenAI. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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💡 Announcement:
In the original spec-for-codex, interacting with Codex required sending prompts through the terminal, which unfortunately reduced usability. To address this, I’ve been developing spec-for-codex-ide, which passes the necessary prompts (such as those for spec creation) directly into the context of Codex - OpenAI’s coding agent.

This approach makes working with Codex much smoother, so moving forward I plan to focus development on spec-for-codex-ide as the main project.

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Features

⚙️ Configuration

• Approval Modes: The specCodex.codex.defaultApprovalMode setting now supports two modes:
  • full-auto: (Default) Executes non-destructive commands automatically and asks for approval on failure.
  • yolo: Executes all commands without approval. Use with caution.

📝 SPEC Management

• Create Specs: generate requirements, design, and task documents with Codex CLI
• Visual Explorer: browse and manage specs in the sidebar
• Spec Workflow: Requirements -> Design -> Tasks with a review at each step
• CodeLens for Tasks: execute an individual task from tasks.md via Codex and auto-check it off

🎯 STEERING Management

• Steering Documents: browse and edit global/project-specific guidelines
• Generated Docs: product, tech, and structure steering documents

🧩 PROMPTS

• Create Prompts: scaffold .codex/prompts/<name>.md from the Prompts view
• Click to Open: clicking a prompt opens the Markdown for review
• Inline Run Button: use the ▶ action on the right to execute with Codex CLI
• Organize & Refresh: manage a workspace prompt library with quick refresh
• Markdown Simplicity: no front-matter required; write plain Markdown instructions

💬 CHAT

• Sidebar Chat (webview): start quick conversations with Codex inside VS Code
• Run once or stream: send a one-off message or stream via a dedicated Codex terminal session
• Stop anytime: terminate the active session from the Chat view

🚫 Temporarily Disabled Views/Flows

• AGENTS, HOOKS, MCP views: hidden in this build
• "New Spec with Agents" flow: disabled

Screenshot

The extension provides an organized sidebar for OVERVIEW, SPEC, STEERING, PROMPTS, and CHAT. Other views are hidden in this build.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Codex CLI v0.28.0 or later installed and available on PATH
• VS Code 1.84.0 or later

Compatibility: