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Feature request: Cross-device sync for Codex Projects and Chats #21803
Description
What feature are you requesting?
I would like Codex to support cross-device continuity for Projects and Chats when signed in with the same OpenAI account.
For example, I use Codex across two Mac computers. Ideally, I could start a Codex Project or Chat on one Mac, then open Codex on another Mac with the same account and continue the same Project or Chat from where I left off.
Why is this useful?
Many developers regularly switch between a desktop and a laptop. Today, Codex sessions and project context feel tied to the local machine, which means switching devices requires manually recreating context, syncing notes, or relying on external workarounds.
My ideal experience would be similar to ChatGPT conversation continuity: recent Codex Projects, Chats, task state, and high-level working context would be available across trusted devices.
I understand that local filesystem paths, repositories, terminal state, and approval settings may need to remain device-specific. But it would still be very valuable to sync or restore:
- Conversation history
- Project metadata
- Current task state
- Recent working context
- Associated repository information
- Session summaries or checkpoints
Possible implementation options
A native account-level sync feature would be ideal.
If full native sync is not currently planned, I would also be grateful for any official API, SDK, MCP integration, or supported import/export mechanism that would allow users to build this functionality themselves.
For example, an official way to access, export, restore, or synchronize Codex sessions across trusted devices would make it possible to build a personal “session hub” or workflow manager around Codex.
Related discussions / issues
This request is related to, but more specifically focused on cross-device Codex continuity:
- Sync my chats, conversation history between ChatGPT website, Codex in VScode. #5609
- Feature Request: Synchronization of Codex Threads and Session Context Across Devices #14067
- Sync CLI and app-server sessions #14722
Additional context
Thank you for building Codex. It has been very helpful, and cross-device continuity would make it much smoother for users who regularly move between multiple computers.
Activity
github-actions commentedon May 8, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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ahmojo commentedon Jun 13, 2026
I ran into the same cross-device/local-session portability problem and built a small unofficial workaround:
[codex-sync](https://github.com/ahmojo/Codex_Sync).It does not solve native account-level sync, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI. It is meant as a conservative manual handoff tool for trusted devices while native cross-device continuity is not available.
What it does:
.codexbundle--map-cwd OLD=NEWwhen the project lives at a different path on the destination machineThe safety model is intentionally narrow: normal import is byte-for-byte, existing sessions are never silently overwritten, bundle checksums are verified before import, and
--map-cwdonly rewrites the canonicalcwdfield inside thesession_metaline for matching plain.jsonlsessions.Sharing it here in case it helps others who are moving between a desktop and laptop and need a local-first workaround until there is an official/importable cross-device story.
d-jiao commentedon Jul 22, 2026
I fully support this proposal. It will be an incredibly useful feature.
DigiBeter commentedon Aug 17, 2026
I’m affected by this in a Windows ↔ macOS workflow, and basic chat-history sync is not enough. The current split between account-level chats and device-local Codex projects makes working across multiple PCs effectively unworkable.
The expected behavior is native, bidirectional synchronization across trusted devices, including:
.codex/configuration andAGENTS.mdcontext;When Codex changes a local project on one computer, it should be able to create/push a recoverable checkpoint and let another trusted computer automatically pull/restore it. Changes made from either device should propagate back. Users should not have to combine manual Git operations with copying hidden session files and rebuilding project context.
A safe implementation could use Git-backed checkpoints for repository content, encrypted account sync for session/task metadata, platform-specific path mapping, and automatic exclusion of credentials, environment files, and other secrets.
Without end-to-end local-to-local continuity, switching between Windows and macOS means reconstructing context, manually transporting files and settings, and risking divergent work. Please treat full cross-device continuity for local Codex work as core product functionality, not only as conversation-history sync.
dkwolf1 commentedon Aug 23, 2026
maybe it's an idea to further develop this https://github.com/dkwolf1/Codex-Lifeboat, with network options?
CCCCY-ci commentedon Aug 24, 2026
This is exactly the workflow I wanted too.
I ended up building an open-source workaround called CtxHop. It syncs Codex sessions through your own S3/R2 storage, so I can stop on my desktop and resume the same session on my laptop.
It’s obviously not a replacement for native account-level sync, but it works pretty well as a personal session hub for now:
https://github.com/CCCCY-ci/ctxhop
jsegeren commentedon Sep 10, 2026
Native account-level continuity is still the right product answer here. For people in this thread whose immediate need is the narrower one-time move from an old Mac to a new Mac, I built an independent workaround: Codex Migrate.
It transfers portable local Codex conversations/state and selected workspace folders directly between Macs over SSH. The workspace side includes Git metadata, worktrees, branches, stashes, and unfinished files. It stages and validates the incoming data, verifies a destination rollback backup before replacement, preserves the new Mac's existing Codex authentication and
installation_id, and supports resume/recovery after interruption.Free MIT CLI/source: https://github.com/jsegeren/codex-migrate
Signed and notarized Apple-silicon beta: https://migrate.segeren.com/
Important boundary: this is migration, not continuous two-way sync or merging two simultaneously active workspaces. It does not solve the full request in this issue, and OpenAI should still provide native cross-device continuity. I maintain the project; it is independent and not affiliated with OpenAI.
angelglezbs commentedon Sep 13, 2026
I’d like to add my support for this request. I use ChatGPT Work in the desktop app to create important presentations and documents, so this affects more than coding projects.
I want to be able to replace my Mac or perform a clean macOS installation, then restore my local conversations inside the app—with their associated files—and continue working where I left off.
An official export/import or selective backup/restore feature would be very helpful. This should not require restoring the entire computer or manually manipulating databases. Exporting a text transcript alone would not meet this need.
It would also help if the app clearly indicated which conversations are stored in the cloud and which depend on local data.
Is this functionality on the roadmap? In the meantime, is there an officially supported procedure for backing up and restoring local Work conversations and their files?
d1amondb0t commentedon Sep 18, 2026
I use both claude code and codex frequently, and I can say that codex is a superior product withe their AI models, BUT the fact that sync is not even a thing is crazy. Can't we just let one of these internal models cook it up already?
HezLUO commentedon Sep 19, 2026
cant agree more
d-jiao commentedon Sep 19, 2026
Same gap here. Native account-level sync is still what we want; until then, I forked the Claude Code sync idea into a Codex-specific CLI:
https://github.com/d-jiao/codex-sync
It syncs the local
~/.codexfiles (sessions, thread names, history, optionally config / rules / skills / memories) to a bucket you control. Files are gzip’d and age-encrypted on the machine before upload (R2 / S3 / GCS / S3-compatible / WebDAV). Thread names and prompt history are merged rather than overwritten; first pull offers a backup.Not affiliated with OpenAI. Early (v0.x), macOS-only, build from source. Keep both machines on the same Codex version. The ChatGPT desktop app does not pick up pulled threads by itself — quit the app and run
codex-sync pull --desktop.Different from the
.codexbundlehandoff tool already mentioned in this thread: this one is ongoing encrypted sync, not a one-shot export/import.Happy to take issues if something breaks. Official sync would still be better.
miswl126128-coder commentedon Sep 27, 2026
I use Codex to work with local files. Please let me continue the same chat after changing computers, even if I need to reconnect the local folder.
liubrain39 commentedon Oct 7, 2026
For people here who still lose continuity when moving between computers: would you be interested in a separate service focused on continuing the same Codex conversation and unfinished work across devices?
I'm building an independent project called CodexAnywhere around that workflow: https://codexanywhere.app/ . It's currently a concept/landing page, not a working sync tool or an OpenAI product.
The export/import and bucket-sync tools already shared here cover parts of the problem. What would a service need to do beyond those for you to actually use it: keeping a cloud workspace available when your original computer is off, or letting you continue locally on another computer?