Support headless remote Linux hosts for Codex mobile without requiring the desktop app to stay online

When I saw Codex in the Android app this is what I thought I'd be able to do: command a headless Linux box to do my coding from my phone. I'm surprised that's not the default.

Yeah I also think this would be the best use case for Codex Mobile.

When my Desktop is running why would I use my phone? I can just use the Desktop.

Codex on my phone makes sense when I'm on the move and need to fix something on my server. I'm surprised the most obvious use case is not implemented.

@Scindix I came here to say the exact thing. Thank you!

I think yes, that is required, this thing is possible in claude

Exactly, or at least let the CLI connect with channels like telegram so we can use it in a headless VPS.

I can use Claude code 24/7 with telegram and a vps.

My use case is an always-on Ubuntu server as the real Codex host, monitored and controlled from the ChatGPT iPhone app. I want a cron/systemd or Codex automation wakeup to resume or append to a selected existing Codex thread, without requiring a macOS/Windows desktop app to remain awake as the bridge.

I have the same need. My main development environment is an always-on Linux devbox, and requiring a Mac or Windows machine to remain awake just to act as a bridge makes mobile Codex much less useful.

Direct Android-to-Linux support would be a major improvement for this workflow. Is this on the roadmap, and is there any ETA?

Came to say exactly this. I want the mobile app to directly access my remote Linux server. Requiring a mac bridge feels unnecessary

That's really the single feature that keeps me from using ChatGPT more over Claude - I often work on the go and over unstable internet connection and it really frustrates me

Need this in my life. Currently using terminus mobile with codex CLI but it has limitations

This already seems largely supported on the iOS app with ssh connections based off what I see today. The main missing feature is the ability to have some sort of scheduled tasks/re-prompts. The osx desktop app currently supports schedule tasks, however direct ssh to linux over the phone does not seem to.

is this implemented yet

Saw this on reddit and it worked.

On the terminal do codex remote-control start and then codex remote-control país so you get the pairing code for the mobile app. If you're on Linux mint or have the cinnamon DE you can use this applet image to track limits, see sessions and manage the remote server: https://github.com/breixopd/codex-monitor-cinnamon

Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1uw6p75/comment/oz63hkm/?context=1&screen_view_count=2&ext-referrer=DIRECT

+1 I currently use the remote feature in 2 ways. Remote connection to Mac, and then also codex cli in docker running on the Mac, and the Mac codex app connects to this, and in turn allows the mobile app to connect to either the Mac host, or codex cli docker via Mac host. I would like to be able to remove the need for the Mac host, as I sometimes need to take the laptop with me, which means stopping tasks, and while travelling it would be great if tasks could continue to run, but that's only possible if it's on an always on server. I would prefer this to be Linux as it's more cost effective and accessible than buying a Mac server just for this.

I would like to add a real-world use case that combines several existing requests.

My goal is to use Codex as an always-running development agent hosted on my own Linux VM (soon on a Proxmox server), while using the ChatGPT mobile app as the primary remote interface whenever I'm away from my desk.

My current workflow is:

• ChatGPT/Codex desktop app on Windows
• Linux development VM connected through an SSH project
• Codex CLI installed inside the VM
• Sessions are started from the desktop app and resumed in the VM using codex resume

This already proves that multiple clients can attach to the same session.

However:

• Mobile Remote only shows standalone tasks.
• SSH project sessions do not appear.
• If an approval gets stuck in the desktop app, I often have to approve it from the CLI instead.

What I would love to see is a direct connection between the ChatGPT mobile app and a trusted Linux Codex host.

The ideal architecture would be:

• Codex runs permanently on a Linux VM (or server).
• The VM is registered as a trusted Remote host.
• The mobile app can connect directly to it.
• I can review diffs, approve commands, answer questions and continue the conversation using voice while I'm away from my computer.
• Later I continue exactly the same session from the desktop or the CLI.

This would remove the requirement for a Windows/macOS desktop app to act as an intermediary and would make Codex much more useful for self-hosted development environments.

I think this would be an excellent fit for developers running dedicated Linux workstations, home labs or Proxmox servers.

The Linux host should become the primary execution environment, while Desktop, CLI and Mobile are simply different clients attaching to the same Codex session.

As a side note, it seems related to the current limitation that SSH project sessions are not exposed through Mobile Remote (see #23527).

@weathon's codex remote-control start + codex remote-control pair is the official headless path, and it works — but it's only documented in codex-rs/app-server-daemon/README.md, not the user docs. Three limits worth knowing: the daemon is Unix-only; the bootstrap updater loop isn't reboot-persistent, and nothing in the repo seems to install a systemd unit, so an always-on box still needs a manual restart after a reboot; and remote_control/auth.rs hard-fails without ChatGPT auth — API key setups aren't supported at all.

Worth knowing there's also an app called Mobaide that takes a different approach: instead of the ChatGPT app UI, an agent runs as a systemd service on the Linux box, connects out over WSS, and the phone drives a real PTY. @marcbosserhoff, the codex resume you run in the VM could run from your phone, with no SSH key stored on it. It's Android only right now (no iPhone build yet), free, and closed source. The relay is TLS per hop, not end-to-end encrypted. mobaide.com

Pleaseee do this, I really need it. It feels like such an obvious use case.

I have an always-on Linux dev server where all my repos, containers, and services live. Right now I can connect Codex on my Mac to it via SSH and control it from my phone, but the Mac still needs to stay online. As soon as I close my MacBook, I lose the remote session even though the server is still running.

What I want instead: Codex mobile → headless Codex host on Linux

The host should keep running independently when I close my laptop or phone, and I should be able to come back from my phone at any time, check the status, respond to questions/approvals, and continue the session.

I am running this now and it works fantastically on my Hetzner VPS as a headless remote connection with the mobile app.

I wrote something to help with this https://github.com/sjtrny/codex-web

@lukas-weigand thanks, without that $HOME/.codex/packages/standalone/current/codex app-server daemon bootstrap --remote-control it seems like there is a few bugs i will try with it. But that doc also only talks about start the daemon but not the pair command so idk if the pair is offically supported