GPT-5.1-Codex is a specialized version of GPT-5.1 optimized for software engineering and coding workflows. It is designed for both interactive development sessions and long, independent execution of complex engineering tasks. The model supports building projects from scratch, feature development, debugging, large-scale refactoring, and code review. Compared to GPT-5.1, Codex is more steerable, adheres closely to developer instructions, and produces cleaner, higher-quality code outputs. Reasoning effort can be adjusted with the reasoning.effort parameter. Read the docs here

Codex integrates into developer environments including the CLI, IDE extensions, GitHub, and cloud tasks. It adapts reasoning effort dynamically—providing fast responses for small tasks while sustaining extended multi-hour runs for large projects. The model is trained to perform structured code reviews, catching critical flaws by reasoning over dependencies and validating behavior against tests. It also supports multimodal inputs such as images or screenshots for UI development and integrates tool use for search, dependency installation, and environment setup. Codex is intended specifically for agentic coding applications.