Update Codex CLI: codex update, npm and Homebrew

To update Codex CLI, run:

codex update

The CLI's own help describes it as "Update Codex to the latest version." If that does not move you to the newest release, update with the same tool you installed with. Check which one that is first.

Check Your Version

codex --version

This prints a line like codex-cli 0.x.y. Codex ships frequently, and some documented features only exist in recent versions, so it is worth checking before you debug a missing flag.

Update by Install Method

The install commands are from the official Codex README. The Homebrew upgrade line is standard Homebrew cask behaviour and not something OpenAI documents separately.

How codex update behaves for each install method has not been confirmed for this page. If it fails or reports nothing, use the package-manager command from the table.

npm

npm install -g @openai/codex@latest

Avoid sudo. If you get EACCES, see npm EACCES permission denied installing Codex.

Homebrew

brew upgrade --cask codex

Install script

Rerun the install command from the table. Per OpenAI's README, the installers download from releases.openai.com/codex by default and can be told to use GitHub Releases by setting CODEX_INSTALLER_USE_RELEASES_OPENAI_COM=false.

Confirm the Update Worked

codex --version
which -a codex
codex doctor --summary

• codex --version should show the new number.
• which -a codex lists every codex on your PATH. More than one means an older copy can shadow the new one; uninstall the stale install with the tool that created it.
• codex doctor diagnoses installation, config, auth and runtime health. --summary prints grouped check rows, and --json emits a redacted report.

Does Updating Reset My Login or Config?

No. Your configuration and credentials live in ~/.codex (config.toml, auth.json), and updating replaces the program only. auth.json holds your credentials, so never share it or commit it to a repository. Confirm with:

codex login status

If a new version complains about your config, the most common cause is a retired setting such as approval_policy = "untrusted"; see Codex sandbox and approval modes.

When Codex Will Not Start After Updating

• unable to locate the Codex CLI binary: see the fix.
• Native package download errors: see could not find Codex package in npm release assets.
• codex: command not found after an install: open a new terminal so your PATH refreshes.

Next Steps

• Install Codex CLI
• Resume a Codex session after updating
• Find where Codex stores config.toml
• Read the official Codex repository