Codex Compatibility

Codex is a first-class Meta Harness target. The portable skill remains the source of truth; generated native profiles are optional execution material.

Paths and install commands

• Shared project skill: .agents/skills/harness/
• Shared user skill: ~/.agents/skills/harness/
• Optional native profiles: .codex/agents/ or the user-level Codex agents directory
• Deprecated project mirror: .codex/skills/harness/
• Deprecated user mirror: ~/.codex/skills/harness/

Use the modern runtime selection command:

meta-harness install \
  --scope project --target /path/to/repo \
  --agent codex --non-interactive
meta-harness install \
  --scope user \
  --agent codex --non-interactive

The modern --agent codex path installs the canonical shared skill and can also generate optional .codex/agents/ profiles. It does not create the deprecated .codex/skills/harness/ mirror. Do not put reusable domain behavior in .codex/agents/; keep those files as runtime profiles that can be regenerated or removed.

Capability profile

Codex can discover Agent Skills and can use native/custom agent definitions. Worker spawning, write isolation, communication, permission handling, model and reasoning routing, and persistence vary with the Codex surface and project configuration. Treat ownership as advisory unless the selected execution profile provides isolation or enforcement.

Use the portable role contract and request semantic model policies (inherit, balanced, or strong) rather than requiring a model ID. Keep delegation shallow and assign non-overlapping files to parallel workers.

Degradation

If a requested native capability is unavailable, lower it explicitly: use an isolated workspace, state non-overlapping ownership, or serialize conflicting work. If messaging or durable state is unavailable, use parent-mediated summaries and _workspace/ artifacts. Never assume a native profile makes a portable guarantee enforceable.

Rippability

Removing .codex/agents/ or .codex/skills/harness/ leaves the shared .agents/skills/harness/ source and portable docs/harness/ contracts intact. See the portable contract and compatibility matrix. The optional codex-agent-adapter.md and codex-agent.toml template describe removable native execution material. Generated skill files must use YAML frontmatter with name and description.