OpenAI launched the Codex desktop app for macOS on February 2, 2026. The practical question now is not whether the app exists, but which build you should install.
The durable answer is OpenAI’s update feeds. Direct ZIP links are useful when you need the file immediately, but they age. The feed tells you what is current.
If you are looking for Windows instead, use this companion post:
Codex on Windows: Store Links, Beta Channel, and Winget
For Linux, the desktop app path is currently unofficial:
How to Install Codex Desktop on Linux
Current Snapshot
Checked on May 11, 2026:
| Channel | Current feed entry | Published | Minimum macOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stable | 26.506.31421 | Fri, 08 May 2026 22:49:55 +0000 | 12.0 |
| Beta | 26.506.31421 | Fri, 08 May 2026 22:50:40 +0000 | 12.0 |
The stable and beta feeds currently point at the same public version, but they are separate channels and should be treated that way.
Use the Feed, Not a Screenshot
The stable macOS feed is:
https://persistent.oaistatic.com/codex-app-prod/appcast.xml
The beta macOS feed is:
https://persistent.oaistatic.com/codex-app-beta/appcast.xml
Open the feed and read the first <item>. That top item is the latest build for that channel.
The fields that matter are:
<title>for the public version<pubDate>for when the feed entry was published<sparkle:minimumSystemVersion>for the minimum macOS versionenclosure urlfor the direct ZIP download
As of this update, the current Apple Silicon links are:
Use those links if you need this exact build. Share the feed if you want the link to stay useful after the next release.
Stable vs Beta
The stable channel is the normal Codex app. The beta channel is useful when you are deliberately testing the beta app or checking whether a reported beta-only change has shipped.
Do not mix the two when documenting a bug, release, or install path. A stable build and a beta build can share a version number while still installing as different apps.
The official Codex quickstart now points users to the Codex app on macOS and Windows, with separate macOS downloads for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. If you are installing for daily use, start there first:
GitHub Releases Are a Different Stream
The openai/codex GitHub releases page is not the desktop app update feed.
GitHub releases track the open-source Codex project and CLI release stream. The macOS desktop app is distributed through OpenAI’s appcast feeds. If the GitHub version and the desktop version look unrelated, that is expected.
How to Install on macOS
- Choose the stable or beta feed.
- Open the feed and use the first item.
- Download the ZIP from the
enclosure url. - Extract
Codex.apporCodex (Beta).app. - Move the app into
/Applications. - Open it and sign in with your ChatGPT account or OpenAI API key.
If macOS shows the normal downloaded-from-the-internet prompt, review it and continue only if the file came from the OpenAI feed.
Terminal Check
To print the current stable ZIP:
curl -fsSL https://persistent.oaistatic.com/codex-app-prod/appcast.xml | grep -m1 -o 'https://[^"]*\.zip'To print the current beta ZIP:
curl -fsSL https://persistent.oaistatic.com/codex-app-beta/appcast.xml | grep -m1 -o 'https://[^"]*\.zip'That command does not prove the app is right for your machine. It only extracts the newest direct URL from the relevant feed.
How to Spot a Stale Link
An older beta link that circulated in March was:
Codex (Beta)-darwin-arm64-26.311.30926.zip
That file may still resolve, but it is not the current beta build. Compare the version in any shared filename with the first item in the relevant appcast before reposting it.