Discover, download, import, switch, create, and restore custom themes for Codex App / Codex Desktop.
Codex themes · Codex App themes · Codex theme manager · Codex Dream Skin
CodexThemes.app · Browse Codex themes · Download Codex Themes Desktop · Installation guide · Codex CLI themes · Download · Quick start
Codex Themes Desktop is an independent open-source community project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or approved by OpenAI. Codex and related trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Codex Themes Desktop is an open-source theme manager for Codex App / Codex Desktop. It helps developers discover Codex themes, download theme packages, import local themes, switch saved themes, create custom Codex Dream Skin-style themes, edit a live Codex emulator, and restore the official appearance when needed. It works with the CodexThemes.app theme gallery for users who want a more personal Codex desktop workspace.
The app loads themes through Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) on the local loopback address only. It does not modify the official Codex app bundle, app.asar, WindowsApps, or code signature.
This fork is an English-first expansion of NBchitu/CodexThemes-App. It preserves the upstream project history and MIT attribution while adding:
- An interactive Codex emulator for editing the shell, sidebar, composer, project picker, chat bubbles, tool results, code blocks, labels, artwork, spacing, opacity, blur, and density.
- 86 individually art-directed Signature themes, 20 selected procedural Studio themes, and a small classic collection—112 bundled themes with a deliberately curated gallery.
- Hover any Signature preview to reveal a restrained cursor-following parallax layer with a reduced-motion fallback.
- Searchable, filterable local theme browsing with the new Studio collection shown before compatibility themes.
- A managed macOS recovery service that restores the last verified theme after normal Dock, DockDoor, Finder, or post-update Codex launches without keeping Codex open after you quit it.
- Safe in-place gallery upgrades, English display aliases for legacy themes, stricter package validation, and verified native theme application.
| Goal | Recommended page |
|---|---|
| Find ready-made Codex App themes | Browse Codex themes |
| Download the Codex desktop theme manager | Codex Themes Desktop download page |
| Learn how to install a Codex theme | Codex theme installation guide |
| Customize Codex CLI colors | Codex CLI themes |
| Read common answers | Codex Themes FAQ |
This repository targets: Codex themes, Codex App themes, Codex Desktop themes, Codex theme manager, custom Codex themes, Codex Dream Skin, Codex CLI themes, Codex skin, and OpenAI Codex themes.
The Theme Studio fork is currently distributed as source plus a locally reproducible macOS DMG build. Upstream v0.1.5 downloads do not contain the curated Signature gallery, emulator editor, or retained-theme service described here. Follow Local development to build the app. A public fork release should be published only after signing, notarization, and release-artifact checks are complete.
Codex Themes Desktop uses a unified sidebar for theme discovery, theme management, theme creation, and Theme Studio. Application settings live in a native macOS settings window opened from the app menu. It can open the online Codex themes gallery in one click.
“My Themes” shows bundled themes and imported local themes. You can open the managed theme directory, import an extracted theme folder, and apply a theme to Codex.
The “Create” page turns theme creation into three steps: prepare an image and guide, send them to Codex, then import and apply the generated theme package.
- Browse themes from the CodexThemes.app theme gallery.
- Browse, search, and filter a curated 112-theme library led by 86 individually art-directed Signature themes.
- Import extracted local theme folders and validate their basic structure.
- View bundled and imported themes in “My Themes”.
- Apply a theme and verify that it actually takes effect in the native environment.
- Restore the official Codex appearance while keeping downloaded and imported themes.
- Export a theme creation guide and use Codex to create a new theme from an image.
- Edit every supported Codex surface in the interactive Theme Studio emulator.
- Keep the last verified theme active across ordinary Codex relaunches and app updates.
- Switch the app itself between light, dark, and system appearance modes.
The current fork focuses on macOS and uses English throughout. The signed macOS release candidate embeds Sparkle 2.9.6: choose Codex Themes > Check for Updates… from the macOS menu bar, and open Settings… from that same menu to manage the app in a native settings window. The feed and archive are configured for the fork's GitHub release lane; publishing still requires uploading the signed assets and completing notarization. See the delivery status and Sparkle release notes.
| Problem | How Codex Themes Desktop handles it |
|---|---|
| You want Codex App themes without modifying the official app package | It loads an external theme layer through local-loopback CDP without changing .app, app.asar, or code signature |
| You want to manage several Codex Desktop themes | “My Themes” lets you view, import, switch, and restore themes |
| You want ready-made themes from a website | The Discover page opens the CodexThemes.app theme gallery |
| You want to create a Codex theme from your own image | The Create page exports a guide you can send to Codex with your image |
| You worry about broken themes after a Codex update | Codex Themes > Settings… includes official appearance restore and runtime status guidance |
Build the fork locally using the steps below. Do not run repackaged builds from unknown sources. The local DMG is a drag-to-Applications installer; public distribution still requires a Developer ID signature and notarization.
After the first launch, the sidebar shows four main areas:
- Discover: Open the official CodexThemes.app gallery and import downloaded themes.
- My Themes: Manage local themes.
- Create: Follow a guided flow for creating a theme.
- Studio: Edit the Codex shell, sidebar, composer, project picker, chat bubbles, tool cards, code blocks, artwork, copy, spacing, radii, opacity, blur, and density in an interactive emulator.
Use Codex Themes > Settings… in the macOS menu bar for appearance, startup preferences, diagnostics, and restoring the official Codex look. The sidebar no longer contains an in-app Settings destination.
- Open Discover and click Browse theme gallery.
- Your browser opens https://codexthemes.app/.
- Pick a theme and download its ZIP package.
- Double-click the ZIP in Finder to extract it into a folder.
- Return to the app and click Import extracted theme.
- Select the extracted theme folder.
- After import, open My Themes, open the theme detail, and click Apply.
A theme folder usually looks like this:
my-theme/
├── theme.json # required theme manifest
├── background.jpg # required background image
├── preview.jpg # recommended gallery or library preview
└── README.md # optional author notes
If import fails, make sure you selected the extracted folder, not the ZIP file and not only theme.json.
- Open My Themes.
- Select a theme.
- Click Apply.
- If Codex needs to restart, save any unsent input before continuing.
- Wait for verification. The app only marks the theme as current after verification succeeds.
If switching fails, the app tries to keep the previous working theme. Follow the error message and do not treat browser preview mode as proof that the theme has been applied to Codex.
- Choose Codex Themes > Settings… from the macOS menu bar.
- Find Original appearance.
- Click restore and confirm.
- The app stops the managed theme injection and may restart Codex if needed.
Restoring the official look does not delete your theme files. You can still use them again from My Themes.
The in-app Create page breaks the flow into three steps:
- Prepare a JPG, PNG, or WebP image and click Save creation guide.
- Send the image and guide to Codex, then paste the instruction text provided by the app.
- Download the generated theme ZIP, extract it, and click Import extracted theme.
After a successful import, the app copies the theme into the managed theme directory and tries to apply it. Before sharing a theme publicly, confirm that you have rights to use and redistribute the background image, likeness, fonts, logos, and other assets.
See the theme creation guide for field details and safety requirements.
Theme Studio is the local visual editor added to this fork. It previews Home, Task, and Settings routes in a Codex-like shell. Turn on Inspecting, click a surface, and edit the linked semantic tokens in the inspector. The current editor covers the sidebar, active navigation, home hero, suggestion cards, prompt composer, project picker, user and assistant chat bubbles, tool results, code blocks, settings panels, artwork placement, visible labels, and readability contrast.
Drafts are saved locally and can be exported as .codex-studio.json files and imported again from the Studio header. Apply to Codex is available in the native macOS build; it publishes an isolated managed theme and verifies the active theme through the existing loopback bridge. The official Codex application bundle remains untouched. For native apply, use an absolute local JPG, PNG, or WebP artwork path; preview-only URLs fall back to bundled artwork.
The Studio draft format is intentionally separate from the website's .codextheme v1 marketplace contract. That keeps the richer editor tokens backwards-compatible while leaving marketplace packaging and review as an explicit later export step.
For SEO and backlink publishing, see the Codex Themes Desktop backlink and README SEO playbook.
Codex Themes Desktop is an open-source theme manager for Codex App / Codex Desktop. It helps users discover and download themes from CodexThemes.app, import local theme folders, switch Codex Desktop themes, create custom themes, and restore the official appearance.
No. Codex Themes Desktop is an independent community project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or approved by OpenAI. It does not modify the official app bundle, app.asar, WindowsApps, or code signature.
Codex Themes Desktop is for visual backgrounds, theme packages, theme galleries, and local skin workflows in the Codex desktop app. Codex CLI themes are color themes for the terminal Codex CLI experience. See Codex CLI themes for CLI-specific guidance.
Use a UI-free, text-free 16:9 JPG, PNG, or WebP image. Screenshots, interface mockups, images with logos, and images with baked-in text are not suitable as importable theme backgrounds.
For the overall project, link to CodexThemes.app. For ready-made themes, link to Browse Codex themes. For the app download, link to Codex Themes Desktop. For tutorials, link to the Codex theme installation guide.
- Theme runtime uses the local loopback address and should not listen on a public network address.
- The app does not modify the official Codex installation package or code signature.
- Theme import checks the manifest and file structure and rejects unsupported executable content.
- Download themes only from trusted sources, and remove secrets, private conversations, and local paths before sharing diagnostics.
- Do not run untrusted local programs while CDP is enabled.
- macOS (the native theme bridge currently supports macOS only)
- Node.js 20 or newer
- npm
- Rust stable and Cargo
- Xcode Command Line Tools
- macOS dependencies required by Tauri 2
Install dependencies and start the frontend preview:
npm install
npm run devOpen http://127.0.0.1:1420. Browser mode is for UI development only. It cannot import, apply, or restore real Codex themes.
Start the native Tauri development app:
npm run tauri -- devRun automated checks:
npm test
npm run buildBuild the macOS app:
npm run tauri -- build --bundles appBuild the local drag-install DMG and checksum:
npm run release:dmgThe native bundle now includes the managed theme engine resources generated from this repository, so a standalone clone can build the macOS app without reading the previous parent workspace. The default local build is ad-hoc signed; see Sparkle release notes and script/notarize_release.sh for the separate public-release lane.
- Tauri 2 + Rust: native window and restricted platform commands
- React 19 + TypeScript: app UI
- Vite 6: development and frontend build
- Tailwind CSS 4: styling system
- Zustand: local app state
- Zod: theme manifest validation
- Vitest: unit tests
src/ React app, theme domain model, and platform bridge
src-tauri/ Tauri/Rust native host
resources/ Guide resources used by the app
docs/product/ Product and theme creation specs
docs/development/ Development plan and delivery status
docs/design/ Visual constraints
docs/screenshots/ README screenshots and placeholders
Issues and pull requests are welcome. Before changing the app, read the functional spec and development plan, and keep these principles:
- Do not fake successful theme application; the native bridge must verify the result.
- Do not modify the official Codex app package,
app.asar, or signature. - Do not add images, secrets, conversation content, or private local paths to logs or diagnostics.
- New features should include tests, and
npm testplusnpm run buildshould pass.
Thanks to these open-source projects and maintainers for their exploration of the Codex theme and skin tooling ecosystem:
- NBchitu/CodexThemes-App, the MIT-licensed upstream project this fork extends
- Fei-Away/Codex-Dream-Skin
- Finderchangchang/codex-autoskin
Please respect each project's license, copyright notices, and usage boundaries. This credit is an acknowledgment of open-source contributions and does not imply an official partnership, endorsement, or approval from those projects or OpenAI.
Source code is released under the MIT License. Third-party dependencies and theme assets may have their own licenses. The MIT License does not automatically grant rights to images, likenesses, trademarks, or branded assets.
Theme gallery: https://codexthemes.app/