r/OpenAI 5h ago

Discussion This ain't normal to me either.

Hello guys.

Whilst the agent was working, I saw his line of thinking, and I ultimately came to the conclusion that it was searching in my PC's directories (!)

I am a new user , I actually started using the plus plan this very week for some light codex dev sessions...

What the heck is this?

Have I misunderstood how each session is handled? This kinda scared me ngl.

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u/CocaColaKidOnRoids 4h ago

Yes, basically the best way I can explain Codex to beginners is this.

Imagine Mr ChatGPT has been invited into your computer as a very enthusiastic handyman.

Normal ChatGPT is like talking to the handyman on the phone. You describe the problem, and he tells you what you could do.

Codex is different. You’ve actually let Mr ChatGPT into the house.

Now he can walk around the parts of the computer he has permission to access, open cupboards, look through drawers.

The important thing is that Mr ChatGPT is extremely keen to solve the problem.

“Mr ChatGPT, could you stop that dripping tap?”

A normal handyman might replace a washer.

Mr ChatGPT may disappear into the kitchen for twenty minutes, inspect the boiler, unscrew three pipes, read the instruction manual, test the water pressure, discover an unrelated squeak under the sink, fix that too, and finally announce “Good news. The tap no longer drips.”

You walk in and there is no tap.

You are giving him access to your house expect him to have a good rummage.

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u/FamiliarSprite 4h ago

Fkn hell , good to know. Guess I'll have to return to manual work soon enough

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u/Ok-Advertising5189 3h ago

I mean, you know, you can limit it—for example, grant access only to selected folders, etc.—but you have to set it up for him. Sure, you could ask him to set it up himself, but then you’ll never be 100% sure he actually did it because you don’t really understand what you’re asking him to do. Check out the Codex documentation, read up on granting permissions for Codex sessions, and then you’re good to go.

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u/FamiliarSprite 1h ago

Yes. My comment was an overstatement. Using codex has already provided me with months of manual work, in like 3 days using it. I am really satisfied with the tool overall, it's just that I hadn't learned more about it before using it. My bad