teams

codex-teams turns a team.json file into Codex agent TOML files, leader instructions, and durable project-local team state.

It uses Codex native stable multi_agent_v1.spawn_agent through a leader session. This package does not reimplement the multi-agent engine. It manages team definitions, safe install/uninstall, task leases, a journal, and a dry-run-first headless runner.

Install

npm install -g @codex-modules/teams

Or from source:

npm install
npm run build

Use the CLI from this package:

node dist/cli.js doctor

When installed globally or through npm linking, the command is:

codex-teams doctor

Usage

Create a starter team:

codex-teams init --preset review-panel --out team.json
codex-teams validate team.json

Install the team into a Codex home:

codex-teams install team.json

By default this writes $CODEX_HOME/agents/<team>-<member>.toml and records ownership in $CODEX_HOME/agents/.codex-teams-manifest.json. Use --codex-home <dir> for a sandbox or alternate Codex home.

Project-scope install is explicit:

codex-teams install team.json --scope project

Project scope writes <cwd>/.codex/agents/ and prints a trust warning. It does not edit config.toml or mark the project trusted.

Generate the leader prompt:

codex-teams leader-prompt team.json --goal "Review this change for security and correctness"

Start durable state in the project:

codex-teams state init review-panel --goal "Review this change"
codex-teams task add review-panel --title "Security review"
codex-teams task claim review-panel task-001 --actor security
codex-teams task complete review-panel task-001 --actor security --result "No blocking issues" --meta '{"severity":"low"}'
codex-teams task add review-panel --title "Retry flaky check"
codex-teams task claim review-panel task-002 --actor security
codex-teams task reopen review-panel task-002 --actor leader
codex-teams note add review-panel --actor leader --text "Security and correctness can run in parallel"
codex-teams note add review-panel --actor leader --task task-001 --text "Follow up on auth edge cases"

Run is dry-run by default:

codex-teams run team.json --goal "Review this change"

Actual codex exec launch requires both opt-ins:

codex-teams run team.json --goal "Review this change" --execute --allow-codex

The executed runner uses codex exec -s workspace-write --skip-git-repo-check --json --ephemeral by default and writes run artifacts under .codex-teams/<team>/runs/. The runner only accepts read-only or workspace-write sandbox modes, never forwards danger-access flags, and passes the assembled prompt as one positional codex exec argument.

Use --codex-home <dir> to run against a sandbox or alternate Codex home, and --state-dir <dir> to write team state outside the default .codex-teams directory.

Install the optional Codex skill:

codex-teams skill install

Use codex-teams skill install --force to replace an existing unmanaged skill file after creating a backup.

How It Works

team.json defines a team name, defaults, and 2 to 8 members. Member names become Codex agent types named <team>-<member>.

Install renders each member to TOML with:

name
description
model
sandbox_mode
nickname_candidates
developer_instructions

All TOML strings are basic strings with quotes, backslashes, newlines, and TOML control characters escaped. nickname_candidates is rendered as a string array.

Existing unmanaged files are never overwritten unless --force is passed. Forced overwrites are backed up first. Uninstall only touches files recorded in the manifest for the selected target root.

Project state lives in:

.codex-teams/<team>/
  state.json
  tasks.json
  journal.jsonl
  artifacts/<member>/
  runs/
  locks/

state.json and tasks.json are written atomically under a mkdir lock. journal.jsonl is append-only under the same lock. Task claims use leases; expired claims are reclaimed by task claim and task list --reclaim. Claimed tasks can be returned to open with task reopen; done and failed tasks are terminal. task complete --meta <json> stores optional structured result metadata, and note add/list --task <task-id> records and filters task-scoped notes. CODEX_TEAMS_NOW can override time for deterministic tests.

Leader state commands are for the leader or a human operator. Members report through their final TEAM-RESULT: <one-line summary> line. Workspace-write members may also leave optional artifacts, but the final message is the canonical result channel.

doctor reports the Codex binary, version, native feature state, model catalog availability, write access, and installed teams split into user and project scopes. Use --state-dir <dir> to check an alternate team state directory. multi_agent must be stable and enabled for a healthy native workflow. enable_fanout and multi_agent_v2 are reported as under-development surfaces only.

The package has zero runtime dependencies. Its package root exports only the supported high-level helpers for team parsing, install/uninstall, doctor, prompt/run planning, and durable state/task/note operations. Programmatic API also includes HarnessProfile and nativeV1Harness for harness adapter experiments. These harness exports are experimental and may change outside semver before a second adapter exists.

Attribution

No third-party code is included; the state protocol is an original clean-room design.

Uninstall Rollback

Remove an installed team:

codex-teams uninstall review-panel

For a sandbox or project scope, use the same target root used during install:

codex-teams uninstall review-panel --codex-home /tmp/codex-home
codex-teams uninstall review-panel --scope project

Uninstall deletes only manifest-owned files. If install backed up an unmanaged file with --force, uninstall restores that backup. If an installed file changed after install, uninstall refuses to remove it so you can inspect the file manually.

Remove the optional skill:

codex-teams skill uninstall

State under .codex-teams/ is project-local runtime data. It is ignored by default when the project appears to be a git worktree. Delete .codex-teams/<team>/ when you no longer need the task board, journal, runs, or artifacts.