What you'll learn

Most developers adopt AI coding tools but never get past one-shot prompting, treating a powerful agent like a faster autocomplete and leaving most of its value on the table. In this course, Introduction to OpenAI Codex, you’ll gain the ability to use Codex deliberately as an agent orchestration tool rather than a simple code assistant. First, you’ll explore what sets Codex apart - how it coordinates subagents to execute whole tasks in parallel, how skills, plugins, and MCP servers extend it, and where it runs across local, worktree, and cloud. Next, you’ll discover how to set up and configure Codex correctly for a real development environment, from installation and authentication to sandbox settings, plugins, and a AGENTS.md file. Finally, you’ll learn how to put Codex to work exploring an unfamiliar codebase while scoping prompts that trace request flows, interpreting what it surfaces, and accelerating contributor onboarding. When you’re finished with this course, you’ll have the skills and knowledge of OpenAI Codex needed to set it up and use it productively on real development work.