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## Summary
This PR significantly improves the standalone installer experience.
The main changes are:
1. We now install the codex binary and other dependencies in a
subdirectory under CODEX_HOME.
(`CODEX_HOME/packages/standalone/releases/...`)
2. We replace the `codex.js` launcher that npm/bun rely on with logic in
the Rust binary that automatically resolves its dependencies (like
ripgrep)
## Motivation
A few design constraints pushed this work.
1. Currently, the entrypoint to codex is through `codex.js`, which
forces a node dependency to kick off our rust app. We want to move away
from this so that the entrypoint to codex does not rely on node or
external package managers.
2. Right now, the native script adds codex and its dependencies directly
to user PATH. Given that codex is likely to add more binary dependencies
than ripgrep, we want a solution which does not add arbitrary binaries
to user PATH -- the only one we want to add is the `codex` command
itself.
3. We want upgrades to be atomic. We do not want scenarios where
interrupting an upgrade command can move codex into undefined state (for
example, having a new codex binary but an old ripgrep binary). This was
~possible with the old script.
4. Currently, the Rust binary uses heuristics to determine which
installer created it. These heuristics are flaky and are tied to the
`codex.js` launcher. We need a more stable/deterministic way to
determine how the binary was installed for standalone.
5. We do not want conflicting codex installations on PATH. For example,
the user installing via npm, then installing via brew, then installing
via standalone would make it unclear which version of codex is being
launched and make it tough for us to determine the right upgrade
command.
## Design
### Standalone package layout
Standalone installs now live under `CODEX_HOME/packages/standalone`:
```text
$CODEX_HOME/
packages/
standalone/
current -> releases/0.111.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
releases/
0.111.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/
codex
codex-resources/
rg
```
where `standalone/current` is a symlink to a release directory.
On Windows, the release directory has the same shape, with `.exe` names
and Windows helpers in `codex-resources`:
```text
%CODEX_HOME%\
packages\
standalone\
current -> releases\0.111.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
releases\
0.111.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\
codex.exe
codex-resources\
rg.exe
codex-command-runner.exe
codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe
```
This gives us:
- atomic upgrades because we can fully stage a release before switching
`standalone/current`
- a stable way for the binary to recognize a standalone install from its
canonical `current_exe()` path under CODEX_HOME
- a clean place for binary dependencies like `rg`, Windows sandbox
helpers, and, in the future, our custom `zsh` etc
### Command location
On Unix, we add a symlink at `~/.local/bin/codex` which points directly
to the `$CODEX_HOME/packages/standalone/current/codex` binary. This
becomes the main entrypoint for the CLI.
On Windows, we store the link at
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\OpenAI\Codex\bin`.
### PATH persistence
This is a tricky part of the PR, as there's no ~super reliable way to
ensure that we end up on PATH without significant tradeoffs.
Most Unix variants will have `~/.local/bin` on PATH already, which means
we *should* be fine simply registering the command there in most cases.
However, there are cases where this is not the case. In these cases, we
directly edit the profile depending on the shell we're in.
- macOS zsh: `~/.zprofile`
- macOS bash: `~/.bash_profile`
- Linux zsh: `~/.zshrc`
- Linux bash: `~/.bashrc`
- fallback: `~/.profile`
On Windows, we update the User `Path` environment variable directly and
we don't need to worry about shell profiles.
### Standalone runtime detection
This PR adds a new shared crate, `codex-install-context`, which computes
install ownership once per process and caches it in a `OnceLock`.
That context includes:
- install manager (`Standalone`, `Npm`, `Bun`, `Brew`, `Other`)
- the managed standalone release directory, when applicable
- the managed standalone `codex-resources` directory, when present
- the resolved `rg_command`
The standalone path is detected by canonicalizing `current_exe()`,
canonicalizing CODEX_HOME via `find_codex_home()`, and checking whether
the binary is running from under
`$CODEX_HOME/packages/standalone/releases`.
We intentionally do not use a release metadata file. The binary path is
the source of truth.
### Dependency resolution
For standalone installs, `grep_files` now resolves bundled `rg` from
`codex-resources` next to the Codex binary.
For npm/bun/brew/other installs, `grep_files` falls back to resolving
`rg` from PATH.
For Windows standalone installs, Windows sandbox helpers are still found
as direct siblings when present. If they are not direct siblings, the
lookup also checks the sibling `codex-resources` directory.
### TUI update path
The TUI now has `UpdateAction::StandaloneUnix` and
`UpdateAction::StandaloneWindows`, which rerun the standalone install
commands.
Unix update command:
```sh
sh -c "curl -fsSL https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.sh | sh"
```
Windows update command:
```powershell
powershell -c "irm https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.ps1|iex"
```
The Windows updater runs PowerShell directly. We do this because `cmd
/C` would parse the `|iex` as a cmd pipeline instead of passing it to
PowerShell.
## Additional installer behavior
- standalone installs now warn about conflicting npm/bun/brew-managed
`codex` installs and offer to uninstall them
- same-version reruns do not redownload the release if it is already
staged locally
## Testing
Installer smoke tests run:
- macOS: fresh install into isolated `HOME` and `CODEX_HOME` with
`scripts/install/install.sh --release latest`
- macOS: reran the installer against the same isolated install to verify
the same-version/update path and PATH block idempotence
- macOS: verified the installed `codex --version` and bundled
`codex-resources/rg --version`
- Windows: parsed `scripts/install/install.ps1` with PowerShell via
`[scriptblock]::Create(...)`
- Windows: verified the standalone update action builds a direct
PowerShell command and does not route the `irm ...|iex` command through
`cmd /C`
---------
Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>