Codex — OpenAI Codex CLI Delegation Setup Guide¶
Delegate coding tasks from your Hermes agent to OpenAI Codex CLI. This skill enables your Hermes agent to spawn Codex subprocesses for feature development, PR creation, and complex refactoring — leveraging Codex's specialized coding capabilities while Hermes handles orchestration.
Source: nousresearch/hermes-agent via skills.sh
Installation¶
npx skills add nousresearch/hermes-agent --skill codex
Prerequisites¶
- Hermes Agent installed and running
- OpenAI Codex CLI installed:
npm install -g @openai/codex - OpenAI API key configured in Codex:
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-... - Node.js 18+
Configuration¶
After installation, the skill auto-discovers Codex CLI. Verify:
# Check Codex is accessible
codex --version
# Test basic delegation
hermes codex test
Usage Patterns¶
1. Delegate a Feature¶
# From Hermes, delegate a feature to Codex
hermes codex delegate "Add rate limiting middleware to the API server"
Hermes will: 1. Pass the task description to Codex 2. Codex reads the codebase, plans the change, and implements it 3. Results (diffs, test results) are returned to Hermes 4. Hermes can review, approve, or request changes
2. Create a PR¶
hermes codex pr "Fix the pagination bug in /api/users endpoint"
3. Refactor with Constraints¶
hermes codex delegate \\
--constraints "Keep backward compatibility, add deprecation warnings" \\
"Refactor the auth module to use the new token format"
Integration with Hermes Workflows¶
Autonomous PR Pipeline¶
Create a cron job that picks up issues and delegates to Codex:
# In Hermes config
codex:
auto_pr: false # Set true for fully autonomous PR creation
review_required: true # Hermes reviews before pushing
max_files_per_pr: 10 # Safety limit
Pair Programming Mode¶
# Codex works on a task while Hermes monitors
hermes codex pair "Implement the GraphQL resolver for User type"
# Hermes watches Codex output, can interrupt if it goes off-track
Safety & Guardrails¶
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
review_required |
true | Hermes must approve changes before they're committed |
max_files_per_pr |
10 | Hard limit on files changed per PR |
blocked_operations |
rm -rf, drop table, truncate |
Patterns that Codex cannot execute |
test_required |
true | Tests must pass before PR can be opened |
Comparison with Hermes Native Coding¶
| Aspect | Hermes Native | Codex Delegation |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Orchestration, ops, config | Feature dev, refactors |
| Code generation quality | Good | Specialized (Codex tuned for code) |
| Context window | Smaller | Codex has its own context |
| File operations | Direct | Via Codex sandbox |
| Review workflow | Manual | Hermes reviews Codex output |
Troubleshooting¶
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
codex: command not found |
Install: npm install -g @openai/codex |
| Codex returns empty | Check OPENAI_API_KEY is set and valid |
| Delegation times out | Increase timeout: hermes codex config --timeout 600 |
| Codex makes unwanted changes | Tighten constraints: add more specific instructions |
| PR creation fails | Check GitHub token: gh auth status |