OpenAI has released a Windows version of its Codex desktop app, expanding access to its AI coding assistant beyond macOS. The app provides developers with a single workspace where they can manage multiple AI coding agents, allowing them to run tasks in parallel and oversee software projects from one interface.

Codex is designed to help developers build and ship software with the assistance of AI agents powered by OpenAI’s coding models. Instead of using AI mainly as a chatbot for quick questions, the app acts as a central interface where several agents can work on different parts of a project at the same time.

Developers can run tasks asynchronously across projects while supervising progress. For example, one agent might update parts of a codebase while another works on a different task within the same project. The system is designed to support long-running work, with tasks that can continue for hours or even days. The app keeps these activities organised in separate project threads so users can move between tasks without losing context.

The Windows version runs natively using PowerShell and the Windows sandbox, which helps isolate tasks for security. Developers can also configure the app to run through Windows Subsystem for Linux if their workflow requires a Linux environment.

In one demonstration shared by OpenAI, Codex created a racing game from a single prompt. The system generated the code, produced visual assets and tested the game by playing it to check that it worked as expected.

The app also supports scheduled background work through a feature called Automations. Users can set tasks to run automatically, such as checking software issues, summarising build failures or generating release summaries. Once the task is finished, the results appear in a review queue where the user can review the output and decide what to do next.

The Windows release follows the earlier launch of the Codex desktop app for macOS, which OpenAI says was downloaded more than one million times in its first week. More than 500,000 developers had also joined the waitlist for the Windows version before its release.

According to OpenAI, adoption of Codex has grown quickly. Weekly active users have tripled this year to more than 1.6 million, while overall usage has increased more than fivefold. Developers from startups such as Ramp and Harvey, as well as larger companies including NVIDIA, Rakuten and Cisco, are already using the platform.

Codex is available across ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans. Developers can access it through the desktop app as well as through the web, command-line tools, IDE extensions and cloud services using a single account. On Windows, the app can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store, and organisations can deploy it through enterprise management tools if needed.