Feature request: support isolated local Codex Desktop dev builds / backend override on macOS
Resolved 💬 2 comments Opened Jun 18, 2026 by vozer Closed Jun 18, 2026
I'm trying to validate Codex fixes in the GUI on macOS without touching my installed Codex.app.
Right now I can build the open-source source tree for the CLI/TUI and app-server path, but I couldn't find a supported way to do either of these cleanly:
- build a separate local Codex Desktop GUI app from source, or
- point the installed GUI at a source-built backend/app-server in an isolated, reversible way.
I'd like a documented developer workflow for this.
What would help:
- a supported way to run a separate local Codex Desktop dev instance on macOS
- or a supported backend/app-server override for the GUI
- a way to use separate app data /
CODEX_HOME/ support directories - no mutation of
/Applications/Codex.appor my default support directories - explicit rollback / cleanup steps
Context:
- I prototyped the backend side of #21019 in my fork here: https://github.com/vozer/codex/commit/6d76668f032cd9823d0184f32a3a1e2dc4e84ab6
- I'm also leaving a note on #21019 with the prototype link instead of opening an unsolicited PR.
Even if a full local GUI build is not meant to be public, a documented "use the installed GUI with a separate local backend in dev mode" path would already help a lot.
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