OpenAI’s Codex appears to be moving deeper into agent autonomy, with product lead Tibo Sottiaux writing on X that “Codex can see and set its own /goal” and that “everything we build, we build also as a tool for the agent.” He described the approach as “a generalization of meta prompting,” where an agent sets its own task based on user intent.
The post quickly drew a stream of replies from users describing how they are already using the feature, or trying to push it further. One commenter suggested that a “chief of staff codex” could define goals and coordinate other Codex instances across threads. Another mentioned pairing the flow with the MagicPathAI plugin to create an end-to-end product for multiple platforms from a single prompt.
Others pointed to more routine uses. A user mentioned having Codex monitor and troubleshoot simulation runs that last for days, while another referenced using the tool to generate its own /goal and /spec files. Several replies leaned into the same theme: Codex is apparently being used less as a one-shot assistant and more as a system that can keep its own work moving.
Not every response was celebratory. Some users asked for more control over the feature, including the ability to edit the current goal, set permissions around goal changes, and add limits tied to time or token usage. Others wanted better progress metrics than a simple “goal complete” status, or asked for separate terminals and browser instances at the project level instead of per thread.
Skepticism also surfaced around whether goals add meaningfully to existing workflows. One commenter argued that detailed PRDs plus auto-review may already cover much of the same ground, while another complained that goals can run too long and still stop short of the full task.
Source: X
