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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

3 Codex Updates
+ How To
Actually Use Them

I use both Claude Code and Codex, and Codex has had a big few months. Here are the three updates I use every week, and the exact steps to use each one yourself.

Quick honesty: I run both Claude Code and Codex and I’m not loyal to either team. I use whatever gets the job done, and lately Codex has been pulling more weight.

Read This First: Where Codex Lives Now

Codex is now a mode inside the ChatGPT desktop app, next to Chat and Work. It’s included on every ChatGPT plan, Free too, with lower limits on the cheaper plans. Developers can still use the Codex CLI in the terminal.

Update 1: Role-Based Plugins

OpenAI launched six role-based plugins that together span 62 apps and 110 skills. They cover creative production, data analytics, sales, product design, public equity investing and investment banking. A plugin pre-loads Codex with the tools and know-how one job needs. (OpenAI)

01

Turn one on and use it

  1. In the ChatGPT app, open the Plugins tab. In the Codex CLI, type /plugins.
  2. Open the plugin you want, click the + to install it, and connect any apps it asks for.
  3. Start a new chat. Describe your task, or type @ plus the plugin name to call it directly.

The role plugins rolled out to Business and Enterprise first. If you don’t see one in your Plugins tab, it isn’t on your plan yet. (Plugin docs)

02

Creative Production is my favorite

It works with tools like Figma, Canva and Shutterstock and turns a plain brief into assets you can review, like campaign boards, ad variations and product lifestyle shots.

Brief In, Ad Set Out
@Creative Production You're my creative director for a product launch. Turn my brief into a reviewable ad set. My brief: - Product: [what it is, one sentence] - Who it's for: [your customer] - The one feeling the ads should leave: [e.g. calm, confident, playful] - Brand: [colors, fonts, or attach my brand guide] - Assets: [attach product photo and logo] Steps: 1. Build a one-page campaign mood board: 3 visual directions, each with a name, palette, image style and one sample headline. 2. Stop and ask me to pick a direction. 3. For the direction I pick, make 6 ad variations: 2 sized for an Instagram feed post (4:5), 2 for a Story (9:16) and 2 for a website banner (wide). 4. Keep my logo in the bottom-left on every version and keep my actual product photo, don't redraw the product. Output: show each variation with its size and headline, and tell me where to open it in Canva or Figma for final edits. Don't use any stock image or font you can't license for commercial use.

A marketing-strategy plugin is on OpenAI’s coming-soon list. Today, the creative plugin is about making assets fast, and it’s really good at it.

Update 2: Build A Live Site From A Prompt

What started as Sites for Codex is now ChatGPT Sites. You describe a website or simple app in ChatGPT or Codex, it builds it, and you publish it with a link. It’s in public beta for Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise, but not Free or Go. (Sites docs)

03

How to build and ship one

  1. Describe the site you want in a chat. Be specific about the sections, form fields and look.
  2. Review the preview and keep chatting to tweak it, like "make the button bigger" or "add an email field."
  3. Publishing makes it live, so review it first. When you publish, you choose who can visit.
  4. To change it later, ask for the edit in the same chat and publish the update.
A Lead-Capture Page
Build me a simple lead-capture page for my business that I can review before I publish. About the business: [what you do, who it's for, one sentence] Brand: [colors and vibe, e.g. warm cream background, black text, one red accent] The page needs: 1. A headline and one-line subheadline that say what I help with. Draft 3 options and use the best one. 2. A short form: name, email, and "What do you need help with?" (a dropdown with [option 1], [option 2], [option 3], plus "Something else"). 3. Save every submission to a list only I can view, with the date it came in. 4. After someone submits, show a friendly thank-you message that tells them I'll reply within [timeframe]. 5. Mobile-first layout that loads fast. Don't publish yet. Show me the preview, list anything you assumed, and wait for me to say "publish."

Good To Know

Hosting is free through December 31, 2026. After that, usage above your plan’s monthly allowance costs extra. Custom domains are planned at about 25 credits a month from January 2027, plus registration, and you can take payments through a third-party payment processor. I still use it most for internal tools, link-in-bio pages and simple lead pages.

Update 3: Big Jobs On Autopilot

This one changed how I work: hand Codex a big job and come back to finished work. There are two ways, and one is much friendlier for non-coders.

04

The easy one: scheduled tasks

Ask ChatGPT in any chat to run something on a schedule, or click Scheduled in the desktop app sidebar to set one up. Each run reports back in Scheduled, with an unread dot when something needs you. If a task needs files on your computer, keep the computer on and the app running. (Scheduled task docs)

Your 7am Competitor Check
Every weekday at 7am, give me a competitor and brand check. Competitors to watch: [name + website or social handle, up to 5] My brand name and handle: [your brand] Steps: 1. Look for anything new from each competitor in the last 24 hours: posts, launches, price changes, promos. 2. Search for new public mentions of my brand. 3. Skip anything older than 24 hours or anything you can't link to. Give me back: - The 3 biggest highlights, one line each, with the link. - One thing I should react to today, and a suggested first step. - "Nothing new" if a competitor was quiet. Don't pad it. Keep the whole thing under 150 words.

Other good ones: every Monday, turn last week’s sales numbers into 5 bullets with the top 3 things to fix. Or overnight, draft 7 days of launch captions for you to review.

05

The power-user one: /goal

Type /goal plus a big objective in Codex and it keeps working toward that goal until the task is finished or it needs more input from you. You can pause or edit the goal while it runs. It’s more technical and long runs eat into your usage, so try it on one well-defined task first.

The Real Win

None of these make Codex smarter. They give you leverage. The plugin handles the grunt work, the page ships in one prompt, and the scheduled task runs while you sleep. That’s how you do more without adding hours or headcount.