The Most Comprehensive Breakdown of Codex’s Epic Update

Here is the most thorough interpretation of OpenAI’s epic update. All your questions and the latest tips you need to know are included. Enjoy, viewers.

Full table of contents:

1. What exactly is Work? How is it different from Codex?
2. Several new plugins — hands-on results are impressive!
3. Built-in browser update: Put Chrome inside Codex
4. Enhanced frontend design capabilities
5. Ultra mode: multi-agent parallel task execution
6. Connect GPT web chat to Codex — great for brainstorming

1. What exactly is Work? How is it different from Codex?

The biggest update in this Codex release is the addition of the Work area. Many people’s main question about Work is that its interface looks almost identical to Codex — so what are the actual differences?

Work is better suited for research, analysis, and content delivery. It defaults to working around project files, web pages, and other business materials. It commonly uses search, browser, and file generation tools, ultimately producing documents, spreadsheets, PPTs, and other deliverables.

Codex is better suited for software development and executable tasks. It defaults to working around codebases, the current directory, Git status, and project rules. It commonly uses Shell, file editing, build, test, and diff tools, ultimately delivering a set of modifications verified by running.

(See the image below for specific differences.)

In summary: Work excels at turning materials into deliverables; Codex excels at turning code into verified changes. Use Work for research, analysis, and content delivery; use Codex for software development, debugging, and code modifications.

2. Several new plugins — hands-on results are impressive!

1️⃣ sites: Directly replaces Vercel, allowing one-click website deployment. Usage instructions:

2️⃣ Template Creator: Upload existing files (PPT, documents, etc.), then generate a skill based on the file’s layout and structure with one click. The template can be reused later.

3️⃣ Visualize: Turn data, processes, or abstract concepts directly into charts, flowcharts, and interactive presentations.

Tip: There is also a new “Default templates” plugin, which contains 20 built-in Codex style templates. In practice, it’s quite underwhelming — feel free to ignore it.

3. Built-in browser update: Put Chrome inside Codex

The Codex built-in browser has received several major updates, including:

1️⃣ Support for directly importing Google account information, including webpage cookies and passwords 2️⃣ Support for opening multiple tabs simultaneously 3️⃣ Support for directly downloading web files

This update enables Codex to handle all common browser tasks — web browsing, file downloads, page debugging, etc. — all directly within Codex.

4. Enhanced frontend design capabilities

Codex has made significant improvements to its frontend capabilities this time. Personally, I feel it’s somewhat competing with Claude.

Under the same prompt, the two styles are becoming increasingly similar.

I did a comparison test — take a look:

Sac@Saccc_c·7h GPT’s design is starting to look more and more like Claude, isn’t it?

Below is my personal website made with GPT 5.6 Sol and Fable 5 respectively. You can really feel that OpenAI has put serious effort into the frontend — but why does it look increasingly like Claude?

Quote Sac@Saccc_c·19h GPT 5.6 updated its frontend design this time, and they showcased 5 examples on their official website.

Overall, it’s noticeably better than before.

But why is the last one a Korean website? The prompt was also in Korean — I couldn’t understand it at all. 21135.6K

5. Ultra mode: multi-agent parallel task execution

In terms of reasoning intensity, this update introduces a new mode: Ultra.

When Ultra is enabled, Codex coordinates 4 agents working in parallel by default, breaking complex tasks into simultaneously executable workstreams.

Note: This mode consumes a huge amount of tokens, so it’s best suited for complex development tasks and deep research. For ordinary tasks, High mode is sufficient.

6. Connect GPT web chat to Codex — great for brainstorming

Click on the left-side “chat” to see all your web chat history.

You can also discuss issues and brainstorm with GPT here while Codex is running its main task — without interrupting the main task.

If you find that a discussion adds value to the main task, click “Add to task” in the top right corner to add that content directly to the current Codex context. Extremely powerful.

GIF