Cloud · October 3, 2026
OpenAI launches reusable cloud environments for Codex agents
OpenAI has introduced reusable cloud environments for its Codex coding agents, enabling developers to maintain continuous workflows across multiple devices. The announcement was made at the company's DevDay conference, emphasizing a setup process that occurs before any code is written. This cloud environment performs initial configuration once, allowing subsequent tasks to start from a saved state with all necessary project components already installed.
The initialization process begins when a developer connects a GitHub repository. Codex reads the code to identify required software versions and drafts installation scripts based on its findings. It also checks service bootstrapping requirements during this same phase. According to OpenAI documentation, any modifications to the environment are made through conversations with Codex. Once the environment is published, each new task launched from it operates on its own virtual machine. These tasks continue running even when the developer's local computer enters sleep mode. Uncommitted changes remain associated with the specific task, allowing developers to resume work later from a phone or browser without data loss. Caches for necessary components persist through background refreshes that keep the repository current.
OpenAI also offers these environments to teams that require all developers to work from an identical configuration set. After an environment is shared to a ChatGPT workspace, colleagues can run their own tasks from that same environment. Access to a shared environment does not include access to other users' tasks or configuration edits. Organization-level administrators separately define permissions for making such changes. For credentials required by projects, the cloud environment supports standard environment variables and a second data type called network secrets. Applications using network secrets see only temporary data, while a proxy inserts the actual values as data traffic heads to domains on an approved list. Individual users in a shared environment may be asked to provide values from their personal accounts. Internet access is set by default to common package registries, though developers can expand this scope.
Codex has managed tasks on the cloud since its preview launch in ChatGPT in May 2025. Codex Security Cloud, another launch at DevDay, uses this same method for security tasks. It scans GitHub repositories on a schedule and prepares fixes while developer machines are off. Access to these cloud environments is rolling out to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers, as well as Business, Enterprise, Edu, and Healthcare workspaces. Plus accounts operate on the smallest virtual machines, which have half the processing power and memory of Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers by default. Task state can be recovered for up to seven days after the last use. However, Codex cannot yet work with repositories on GitLab or self-hosted GitHub Enterprise Server. It also does not support computer and browser usage through the cloud environment.