Keep Codex.
Give it your machines.

AI Commander is not an alternative to Codex, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, or Grok. It is the remote-machine harness those tools plug into over MCP: outbound-only shell, detached jobs that outlive the chat, and file transfer on hardware you already own or rent, from a dev box under your desk to a VPS.

Sibling harness pages: Claude Code · Cursor · Grok · ChatGPT · Roo Code · Zed · OpenCode · Qwen Code · Continue · Gemini.

Connect Codex (HTTP MCP)

Codex talks to AI Commander over remote HTTP MCP. One command — pass --url before the address:

Prefer a local stdio bridge? Add this to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.aicommander]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@aicommander/mcp"]
env = { AICOMMANDER_SERVER = "https://aicommander.dev" }

On Windows use command = "npx.cmd" for the stdio variant. Full client matrix (Codex, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, Grok, REST): Connect your AI client.

codex mcp add opens the one-time browser sign-in itself (OAuth Dynamic Client Registration; you sign in with an email code). Run codex mcp login aicommander only if you need to sign in again. For a code-only first hour without that flow, append ?anonymous=1 to the MCP URL where your client supports it.

AI Commander tools disappeared from Codex? Its sign-in was most likely ended because an old sign-in token was reused, which can happen when several Codex sessions run at once. Codex may keep retrying without asking you to sign in again. Update Codex, then run codex mcp login aicommander. AI Commander emails you when this happens, at most once every 48 hours.

Codex Remote SSH, mobile and AI Commander

Two options OpenAI documents for working with Codex away from the computer in front of you (checked 2026-10-23): Remote SSH, generally available since May 14, 2026 (OpenAI: Work with Codex from anywhere), lets the desktop app detect hosts from ~/.ssh/config, start the remote Codex app server over SSH, and run project chats that read, write and execute on that host. codex must be installed, authenticated and on the remote user's PATH. OpenAI advises not exposing the remote app-server transports directly on a shared or public network, and using a VPN or mesh network to reach machines outside your network (ChatGPT docs: Remote connections). Codex on mobile, launched as a preview in the ChatGPT app for iOS and Android on May 14, 2026, controls chats that keep running on a paired host: you pair the phone by QR code with a host running the ChatGPT desktop app (the current docs list macOS and Windows hosts; availability can vary by rollout); a secure relay keeps that host reachable without exposing it directly to the public internet, and from the phone you can start or continue chats, approve commands and review diffs and terminal output. The host has to stay awake and online.

Those features run or steer the Codex session itself. AI Commander works alongside them: Codex still decides what to do, and AI Commander gives it MCP tools to reach your other machines — servers, GPU rigs, NAS, Windows boxes — through a host agent that only connects outbound, with no SSH keys or open ports, plus detached jobs that keep running after the chat ends.

What you get that the chat alone cannot

• Remote shell on Linux, macOS, and Windows — by session code or saved alias.
• Detached jobs for builds, training, and headless agents on the box that has the repo.
• Fleet list + GPU facts so Codex picks the right machine before it burns an hour.
• File courier (Pro) for checkpoints and diffs up to 100 MiB.

Not a replacement — a multiplier

FAQ

Also see the agent stack for Claude Code, Codex & Grok users — AI Commander plus PLAI.chat, MCPfinder and cnvs.app, each priced separately (no bundle). The three MCP servers for Codex with exact commands: MCP stack for Codex.