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Surface Picker: App vs CLI vs IDE Extension vs Web vs Cloud Tasks

All surfaces run the same underlying Codex agent and share configuration (config.toml, AGENTS.md, skills), so this is a question of workflow fit, not capability tiers. Local surfaces (app, CLI, IDE) run sandboxed threads on your machine; web/cloud run in isolated cloud environments cloned from GitHub.

Comparison

Analysis

• Context acquisition differs most. The IDE extension automatically includes open files and selected text; in the CLI you must @-mention or /mention files; web tasks only see what's in the GitHub repo and environment setup. This is the documented reason the same prompt performs differently across surfaces.
• Cloud requires GitHub + ChatGPT sign-in. Codex web setup is "connect your GitHub account"; cloud threads clone the repo, so uncommitted local work doesn't exist there unless you delegate from IDE/CLI, which carries over thread context and local working state ("delegate tasks from your local machine").
• The app is the orchestration layer. Worktrees, Handoff (move a thread Local ↔ Worktree), automations, and Triage inbox exist only in the app — it's positioned for running many threads in parallel without file conflicts.
• The CLI is the automation/composition layer. Only the CLI offers codex exec for scripting and CI (non interactive exec), making it the surface for pipelines, pre-commit hooks, and the codex sdk.
• Versions can drift between surfaces. The app bundles its own CLI build; a feature may land in the standalone CLI first. Compare codex --version against /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/codex --version when behavior differs.
• API-key users lose the cloud column entirely. No cloud tasks, GitHub code review, or Slack integration with API-key auth — see auth plan picker.

Recommendations

Pick by use case:

• Interactive feature work in a codebase you have open → IDE extension (free context from open files; selection-scoped tests/refactors).
• Tight terminal loop: repro a bug, run commands, keep a transcript → CLI.
• Scripting, CI, batch jobs, building products on Codex → CLI codex exec / SDK.
• Many parallel workstreams, scheduled background jobs, reviewing+shipping from one window → Codex app (worktrees + automations + review pane).
• Long tasks you want off your machine, work from any device, PR-shaped output → Codex web / cloud tasks.
• Careful design + bulk implementation → hybrid: plan locally in IDE/CLI, then delegate milestones to cloud (documented "Delegate refactor to the cloud" recipe in workflow recipes).
• Repo triage without leaving GitHub → @codex on issues/PRs via github integrations.
• On Windows with heavy shell usage → CLI native PowerShell with the Windows sandbox, or WSL2 for Linux-native tooling; see sandbox approval guide.

Pages Compared

• codex app
• codex cli
• codex ide extension
• codex web
• cloud tasks
• non interactive exec
• auth plan picker
• workflow recipes