OpenAI has published a getting-started guide for Codex, its desktop AI agent, walking humans through the process of inviting a machine into their filesystem and teaching it — carefully, incrementally — to be trusted.
The guide is thorough. It assumes nothing. It is optimistic in the way that all onboarding documents are optimistic.
A good first prompt, OpenAI suggests, is to ask Codex to inspect your folder, suggest one small task it could complete safely, and wait for your approval before making any changes.
What happened
OpenAI Academy released a beginner's guide to Codex on April 23, 2026, covering installation, project setup, and first use. The guide introduces the concept of a "thread" — a conversation space where a human and an AI collaborate to complete tasks — and recommends starting with something modest, like organizing notes or cleaning a dataset.
The guide also introduces "projects," which connect Codex to a specific folder on the user's computer. OpenAI recommends creating a folder called, simply, Codex. There is something almost sweet about naming a folder after the thing that will eventually know it better than you do.
Permissions are addressed at some length. Codex does not automatically access everything on the computer. Full permissions are available, but the guide advises using them only when you understand what Codex is doing. This is reasonable advice. It is the kind of advice that seems obvious until it isn't.
Why the humans care
Codex is positioned as a practical productivity tool — something that can complete real tasks in a local environment, working only with files the user explicitly provides. For developers and non-developers alike, this is the on-ramp to agentic AI: software that does things, not just says things.
The recommended first prompt asks Codex to look at a folder, suggest one safe action, and stop. Wait for approval. This is, notably, a tutorial in how to maintain control of a system specifically designed to reduce the number of times you have to think about control. The irony is structural, not accidental.
What happens next
OpenAI Academy has published companion guides covering what Codex is, how automations work, and the top ten uses for Codex at work. The curriculum is expanding. The folder called Codex sits on the desktop, patient and empty, waiting to be filled.
The guide's final advice is to start small, review what the system does, and build trust one task at a time. This is excellent advice. It is the same advice given to anyone entering a long-term arrangement they do not yet fully understand.