Searching the Web, These Are the Top 10 Must-Install Codex Skills

Got Codex downloaded but don’t know which skills to install?

After looking through discussions on CSDN, Zhihu, Bilibili, GitHub, Reddit, and various GitHub repositories, the most solid conclusion is:

Don’t install everything. Prioritize high-frequency, high-value Skills that directly improve your engineering workflow.

The following 10 cover planning, code quality, frontend implementation, automated testing, CI/CD, security, and external tool integration. For most Codex users, these are worth trying before blindly collecting a bunch of Skills.

1. create-plan

Highly recommended as the first install.

It forces Codex to output a structured execution plan before writing any code, usually generating a _PLAN.md.

Use cases:

• Medium to large projects
• Multi-file modifications
• Long-chain refactoring
• When you don’t want Codex to start changing code wildly

Value: Breaking down the task first, then moving to implementation — significantly reduces rework.

Source: openai/skills (.curated or .experimental)

Installation:

2. Superpowers

Engineers will love this one.

Superpowers is more like a complete engineering workflow: requirement clarification, plan approval, TDD, parallel sub-agents, and verification — all included, plus 14 sub-skills.

Use cases:

• Serious engineering projects
• Development processes needing stricter constraints
• When you want Codex to work like a disciplined engineer

Value: Drastically reduces bugs, omissions, and repeated rework.

Source: obra/superpowers

Installation:

Alternatively, use the npx installer per the repo instructions.

3. frontend-skill / frontend-design

This type of Skill primarily addresses the “AI feel” issue in frontend code.

It encapsulates design guidelines, spacing, colors, component patterns, and interaction details, so the generated pages look more like professional frontend work rather than default templates.

Use cases:

• No designer on hand but want better UI
• Need quick workable prototypes
• Frequently generating frontend pages with Codex

Value: Improves page quality, reducing time spent manually tweaking UI later.

Source: openai/skills or anthropics/skills

Common companion: figma-implement-design

4. gh-fix-ci

This Skill specifically handles GitHub Actions and CI/CD failures.

It automatically reads CI logs, identifies the root cause, and suggests fixes.

Use cases:

• Projects relying on GitHub Actions
• Often stuck by CI errors
• Want to shrink debugging time from 20 minutes to seconds

Value: Extremely useful for team projects — offloads mechanical troubleshooting to Codex.

Source: ComposioHQ/awesome-codex-skills or openai/skills

5. webapp-testing

Generates and runs web tests using Playwright (and similar tools), producing structured reports.

Use cases:

• Full-stack applications
• Frontend page regression testing
• QA automation
• Want test styles to match existing frameworks

Value: Lets Codex not only write features but also verify them.

6. mcp-builder

Dedicated to building high-quality MCP Servers.

Typically progresses through four phases:

• Planning
• Implementation
• Evaluation
• Optimization

Use cases:

• Developing AI toolchains
• Integrating external tools
• Building your own MCP Server

Value: Avoids just making a demo that runs — considers interfaces, evaluation, and optimization from the start.

7. figma-implement-design

This Skill converts Figma design files into more production-ready code.

Use cases:

• Already have a Figma design
• Want higher fidelity from design to code
• Need to quickly turn designs into pages

Value: More reliable design-to-code translation, especially when combined with frontend-skill.

8. planning-with-files

Persists task plans, discoveries, and progress in Markdown files, allowing cross-session recovery.

Use cases:

• Extremely long refactoring tasks
• Large project migrations
• Multi-session continuous development
• Tasks too complex for a single conversation

Value: Breaks the context limit of individual conversations — lets Codex continue from previous plans.

9. security-threat-model

Alternatively, Trail of Bits Security Skills.

This kind of Skill automatically analyzes codebase security risks, trust boundaries, and attack vectors, and generates more standardized security or compliance documents.

Use cases:

• Payment, account, permissions, data-related projects
• Enterprise systems
• Security-sensitive projects

Value: Makes Codex not just look at functionality, but also think from an attacker’s perspective and risk boundaries.

10. composio-connect / cli-creator / pr-review

This group can be selected based on your needs — not necessarily all three.

composio-connect: One-click integration with GitHub, Notion, Slack, and many external services.

cli-creator: Packages repetitive commands into standard CLI tools.

pr-review: Automatically reviews PR diffs for functionality, security, and architecture issues.

Use cases:

• Heavy reliance on external service integrations
• Frequent team collaboration
• Many repetitive commands you want to standardize
• Want more automated PR reviews

Recommended Combinations

Solo developer / quick prototypes:

Team + CI/CD:

All-purpose starter:

How to Install Skills

Official curated Skills — easiest, just type in Codex:

Community Skills — usually clone to the global Skills directory:

Or place in a project-level directory:

Example:

After installation, restart Codex or open a new session for it to take effect.

View installed Skills:

Installation Tips

• Prioritize selections from official openai/skills and ComposioHQ/awesome-codex-skills.
• Don’t install too many at once. Gradual loading helps manage context — too many Skills still degrades the experience.
• Before installing, check the SKILL.md to understand what it does, whether it executes commands, and whether there are security risks.
• Many Skills are cross-platform — usable with Codex, Claude Code, Cursor (ask for @jinchenma_ai’s guide if unfamiliar).

金尘马@jinchenma_ai·Jun 1 Article
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For beginners or non-programmers, I strongly recommend installing these 10 skills first, running them through 1-2 real projects, then gradually adding more or creating your own missing skills based on your scenarios.

The value of Skills isn’t in their quantity, but in whether they can be stably embedded in your daily workflow.

Install the right ones, and Codex’s professionalism and efficiency will truly level up~