Make DevBox / SSH remote repositories first-class in the Codex Mac app

What problem are you trying to solve?

I am a heavy Codex user and my main development workflow is DevBox-first. My larger repositories do not live locally on my Mac; they live in managed remote development environments because of repo size, dependencies, credentials, and compute requirements.

What I want is simple: I want to open the Codex Mac app and work on a remote repository as if it were local.

Today, I can SSH into my DevBox and run Codex CLI manually. That works, but it means the remote-repo workflow feels separate from the richer Codex app experience: project browsing, persistent threads, diffs, approvals, browser/computer-use integration where applicable, and the smoother multi-agent workflow.

I understand Remote SSH support exists, and that the app can start a remote Codex app server through SSH. This request is for that workflow to become a first-class, obvious, reliable product path for large-repo / DevBox users.

Ideal experience

Codex Mac App
   |
   | SSH
   v
DevBox / remote repository
   |
   v
Codex reads files, edits code, runs commands, manages threads, and shows diffs there

From the user's point of view, remote projects should appear alongside local projects and feel like normal Codex app projects, with the filesystem and shell operations happening on the remote host.

What would make this feel first-class?

• A clear "Add Remote Repository / DevBox" flow in the Codex app.
• Remote projects shown alongside local projects without requiring users to think in terms of CLI plumbing or app-server details.
• Codex app sessions that run directly against the DevBox filesystem and shell.
• Strong support for API-key-authenticated Codex users, not only ChatGPT workspace/login-centered workflows.
• Reliable handling of remote PATH, login shell setup, credentials, MCP servers, plugins, repo-specific config, and long-running sessions.
• Clear diagnostics when the app cannot start or reach the remote Codex server.

Why this matters

For many power users and enterprise engineers, "local development" effectively means "a managed DevBox over SSH." Large monorepos, internal credentials, heavyweight build systems, and compute-heavy tests often cannot practically run on a laptop.

Codex CLI is already useful in those environments, but the Codex Mac app would be much more valuable if remote DevBox repositories felt like native projects rather than a special-case setup.

Out of scope for this request

This is not primarily about mobile remote control. The main ask is to make remote repositories / DevBoxes first-class inside the Codex Mac app.

Components / versions

• Component: Codex App, Remote SSH, app-server, CLI bridge
• Codex App: 26.513.31313
• Codex CLI: 0.132.0