Is Codex (OpenAI) Down?

Quickest ways to check the current status of openai.com plus recent known issues and working alternatives if it's out.

Last editorial review: 2026-09-05

How to check right now

Step 1 -- Load the site
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The simplest check. If it loads and you can log in, the tool is up for you.

Step 2 -- Crowdsourced reports
DownDetector: Codex (OpenAI)→

User-reported outages aggregated across regions. Good signal for partial or regional outages.

Step 3 -- Live social
Search X for “Codex (OpenAI)down” →

Live tweets from other users. Fastest signal for a fresh outage -- often beats status pages by 10-20 minutes.

Step 4 -- Official status page
Find Codex (OpenAI)'s status page →

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Known issues we've tracked

THE CODEX HARNESS WAS REWRITTEN ALONGSIDE GPT-6 ASTRA -- 1.9x FASTER TASK COMPLETION, AND THE SPEED GAIN IS NOT ALL FROM THE MODEL (2026-09-03, vendor-primary): OpenAI shipped **GPT-6 Astra** and states in the launch post: '**Alongside Astra, we are also updating the Codex harness to significantly improve the speed of computer use. Combined with Astra's efficiency, this translates to a 1.9x faster task completion compared to the current GPT-5.6 Sol experience, on the Mind2Web benchmark.**' **Read the attribution carefully, because it is doing work: the 1.9x is the combination of a harness change and a model change, not a model benchmark.** OpenAI separately reports that on OSWorld 2.0 latency simulations Astra scores **72.6% at roughly 40 minutes per task** versus Sol's **65.7% at roughly 75 minutes** -- about **47% less time** -- so the model is genuinely faster on computer use, but the Codex-specific figure bundles the harness update in. **WHAT THIS MEANS IF YOU RUN CODEX:** the harness improvement lands for everyone on the Codex surface, and Astra reaches Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise within existing subscription allowances as the staged rollout completes. Astra is API-addressable as `gpt-6-astra` at **$10/$50 per 1M short-context** ($20/$75 long-context, Batch $5/$25, Fast mode 2x) -- **2.5x the price of GPT-5.6 Sol at $4/$20**, which is the trade to weigh for high-volume agent runs where Sol was already adequate. **CONTEXT WITH THIS WINDOW'S OTHER CODEX CHANGE:** GPT-5.4 and GPT-5.4-mini left the Codex surface on 2026-08-31 as scheduled, so within four days the Codex model list lost its two oldest entries and gained OpenAI's most expensive one.
2026-09-03•OpenAI (openai.com/index/gpt-6-astra/, publicationDateText 'September 3, 2026') + platform.openai.com/docs/pricing.md -- fetched 2026-09-05 via curl with browser UA
TODAY IS THE DAY: GPT-5.4 AND GPT-5.4-MINI RETIRE FROM CODEX (2026-08-31 -- re-verified on the vendor doc this morning, still scheduled, not slipped): the deprecation announced back on 2026-04-22 reaches its date today. OpenAI's Codex models documentation still states it in the future tense as of this check -- '**GPT-5.4 and GPT-5.4 mini retire from Codex on August 31, 2026**' -- so the retirement is proceeding on schedule rather than being quietly deferred, which is worth confirming because OpenAI has let doc pages for retired models linger before. **THE MIGRATION, VERBATIM FROM THE VENDOR:** 'If you sign in with ChatGPT, replace `gpt-5.4` with `gpt-5.6-terra` and `gpt-5.4-mini` with `gpt-5.6-luna` in **saved configurations, custom agents, and scheduled tasks**.' Those three surfaces are the ones that break silently -- a `model = "gpt-5.4"` line in a `config.toml`, a custom agent definition, or a nightly `codex exec --model gpt-5.4` job will not warn you in advance. **THE SCOPE LIMIT THAT MOST COVERAGE GETS WRONG, AND THE VENDOR IS EXPLICIT ABOUT IT:** '**The OpenAI API and Codex authenticated with your own API key aren't affected.**' This is specifically **Codex with ChatGPT sign-in**. If you drive Codex with your own API key, nothing changes for you today. **Corroborating detail: `gpt-5.4` does not appear anywhere in OpenAI's API deprecations ledger** -- checked the same session -- which is consistent with this being a Codex-surface retirement rather than an API model shutdown, and is a useful reminder that the two ledgers are separate and you have to read both. Current recommended Codex set remains **GPT-5.6 Sol / Terra / Luna**, with Sol the only one available in Codex cloud.
2026-08-31•OpenAI (developers.openai.com/codex/models.md, 'Other models' section) -- fetched 2026-08-31; cross-checked against platform.openai.com/docs/deprecations.md the same session, which contains no gpt-5.4 row
THE ADMIN PLUGIN COVERS CODEX, NOT JUST CHATGPT WORK (2026-08-25, vendor-primary): OpenAI's new **Admin plugin ships for ChatGPT Work *and* Codex**, so Codex workspaces get the same conversational administration surface: **review Codex activity and credit usage**, spot members or groups approaching credit limits, manage members and groups, control **feature or model access by role or group**, and approve or deny **usage-limit and spending requests** in context. Recurring checks can be automated and routed into Slack or Microsoft Teams for approval. **For Codex specifically the credit-usage angle is the relevant one** -- Codex consumption is the line item enterprises actually watch, and this puts limit adjustment and spend approval in the same conversation as the usage data. OpenAI notes its own IT team runs ChatGPT Work and Codex this way. **Same caveat as on the ChatGPT Work page: this grants an LLM authority to change permissions and approve spend, and the announcement describes no independent audit or rollback mechanism.**
2026-08-25•OpenAI (openai.com/index/introducing-admin-plugin/, publicationDateText 'August 25, 2026') -- fetched 2026-08-28 via curl with browser UA
THE ASSISTANTS API IS NOW ACTUALLY DEAD -- SUNSET EXECUTED 2026-08-26, CONFIRMED PAST-TENSE ON OPENAI'S OWN DEPRECATIONS PAGE (2026-08-26, vendor-primary): OpenAI's deprecations documentation now reads, in the past tense, '**The Assistants API was officially sunset on August 26, 2026, following its deprecation announcement on August 26, 2025**' -- exactly twelve months' notice, honoured to the day. **Replacements are the Responses API and the Conversations API**, with an Assistants-to-Conversations migration guide. This closes a dated watch we had been carrying: the retirement was scheduled, and unlike some vendor deadlines this one executed on time rather than slipping. **Why it belongs on this page: anyone still running an Assistants-API integration has a broken product today, not a deprecation warning** -- and the migration is not cosmetic, because Responses/Conversations split what Assistants did into two primitives. **Method note for future sweeps: the machine-readable source is platform.openai.com/docs/deprecations.md (the developers.openai.com/api/deprecations.md path 404s and returns a 440KB HTML shell that greps as a false negative).**
2026-08-26•OpenAI (platform.openai.com/docs/deprecations, fetched as .md -- verbatim: 'The Assistants API was officially sunset on August 26, 2026'; deprecation table row '2026-08-26 | Assistants API | Responses API and Conversations API') -- fetched 2026-08-28 via curl
MODEL RETIREMENT WAVE EXECUTED 2026-07-23 -- AND GPT-5.4 LEAVES CODEX ON 2026-08-31 (announced 2026-04-22, vendor deprecation ledger): OpenAI shut down **18 model IDs across 15 ledger rows**. The Codex-branded ones all went in one sweep: **`gpt-5-codex`, `gpt-5.1-codex`, `gpt-5.1-codex-max`, `gpt-5.1-codex-mini` and `gpt-5.2-codex`** -- substituted by `gpt-5.6-sol`, except `gpt-5.1-codex-mini` which maps to `gpt-5.6-terra`. Also retired: `gpt-5-chat-latest`, `gpt-5.1-chat-latest`, `computer-use-preview`, `o3-deep-research`, `o4-mini-deep-research`. **TWO MORE CODEX DEPRECATIONS ARE LIVE RIGHT NOW:** `gpt-5.2` and `gpt-5.3-codex` are already deprecated for ChatGPT sign-in, and **`gpt-5.4` + `gpt-5.4-mini` retire from Codex on 2026-08-31** (migrate to `gpt-5.6-terra` and `gpt-5.6-luna` respectively). If you have `model = "gpt-5.4"` in a config.toml, a custom agent, a scheduled task, or a `codex exec --model` script, you have until the end of August. **The OpenAI API and Codex authenticated with your own API key are not affected by the GPT-5.4 retirement** -- this is specifically Codex with ChatGPT sign-in. Current recommended set is **GPT-5.6 Sol / Terra / Luna**, with Sol the only one available in Codex cloud, plus **GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark** as a Pro-only text-only research preview for near-instant iteration. DATA-HYGIENE WARNING: OpenAI's own models index still serves live doc pages for several retired IDs with no retirement banner -- do not treat presence in the docs as evidence a model is callable
2026-07-23•OpenAI deprecations ledger (developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations), OpenAI Codex models doc (developers.openai.com/codex/models)
APP MERGER + GPT-5.6 (2026-07-09): The **standalone Codex app is merging into the new unified ChatGPT desktop app** (Mac/Windows) -- update the Codex app and it becomes the ChatGPT app with Chat, Work, and Codex surfaces; developers can set Codex as the default view and keep the Codex icon; desktop Codex projects are accessible from the ChatGPT mobile app; the old ChatGPT desktop app is renamed 'ChatGPT Classic.' Codex itself gains: **inline editing within diffs, PR review in the side panel, faster computer use (powered by GPT-5.6), and multi-repo projects**. Model lineup: **GPT-5.6 GA in Codex same day** -- Free/Go get Terra; Plus+ pick Sol/Terra/Luna with per-model effort; `max` toggleable for all GPT-5.6 users; **`ultra` (4 parallel agents) available from Plus up in Codex**. Scale disclosure: 5M+ weekly Codex users, 1M+ using it for non-development work. Net read: Codex stops being a separate app and becomes the engine inside ChatGPT's agent stack (ChatGPT Work is built on Codex technology -- see /tools/chatgpt-work)
2026-07-09•OpenAI (openai.com/index/chatgpt-for-your-most-ambitious-work/), OpenAI (openai.com/index/gpt-5-6/)

Issues here are sourced from our editorial sweeps, not real-time telemetry. Newer issues may exist.

What to use if Codex (OpenAI) is down

Top AIToolTier-ranked alternatives in the same category, ordered by our overall score.

A

GitHub Copilot

8.3

AI code assistant that lives in your editor -- autocomplete on steroids, now with the broadest model picker of any coding tool. **Three frontier models landed in four days: Claude Fable 5.1 (2026-09-01), Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-09-03) and GPT-6 Astra (2026-09-04)** -- Astra and Gemini auto-enable under default model enablement, but **Fable 5.1 is OFF by default because it requires data retention** to run Anthropic's safety classifiers. **A four-model deprecation slate hits 2026-10-02** (Gemini 3.5/3.6 Flash, Kimi K2.7 Code, Claude Opus 4.7), and **Business/Enterprise card/PayPal customers move to upfront per-seat charging on 2026-10-01**. **Gemini 3.7 Flash landed 2026-08-13 and Grok 4.6 on 2026-08-14**, both across Pro, Pro+, Max, Business and Enterprise and both still off by default for orgs. **Claude Opus 5 landed 2026-07-24** (Pro+, Max, Business, Enterprise) and **Grok 4.5 on 2026-07-28** (all five paid SKUs, up to 500K context, text and image input, low/medium/high reasoning effort). Both bill usage-based at provider list price, and both are off by default for Business/Enterprise until an admin enables the policy -- though that posture flips on **2026-08-26**, when new GA models covered by GitHub's data-retention agreement start auto-enabling for orgs. **MAI-Code-1.1-Flash landed 2026-08-11** (native vision, 0.25x premium-request multiplier, 73% below the model it replaces; automatic for Free/Student, manual elsewhere, off by default for orgs) and **MAI-Code-1-Flash retires 2026-09-10**. **GitHub Models (the separate free playground) was fully retired 2026-07-30.** Usage-based billing went live 2026-06-01 with AI Credits and token metering; code completions are still free; new signups for Student/Pro/Pro+/Max remain PAUSED

A

Cursor

8.3

AI-native code editor, agent-first in Cursor 3 -- **now a SpaceX subsidiary as of 2026-08-14, when the April acquisition option closed**. **OpenAI is cutting it off: on 2026-08-28 OpenAI notified SpaceX it will wind down the contract supplying OpenAI models to Cursor, proposed shutoff 2026-11-12, and says it is providing no future models to Cursor in the meantime** -- so the model-neutrality pitch is narrowing. Still home to **Grok 4.6 on day one (2026-08-12)**, following the Grok 4.5 model Cursor trained jointly with SpaceXAI on trillions of Cursor tokens (still $2/$6 per 1M, fast variant 2x, desktop/web/iOS/CLI/SDK), with Composer 2.5 as the fast lower-cost tier. Since 2026-08-11 the **Cursor Ultra and Teams Premium tiers also entitle you to xAI's Grok Bot**

A

Google Antigravity

8.0

Google's agent-first AI IDE -- deploys up to 5 autonomous coding agents in parallel on a VS Code fork. Antigravity 2.0 (I/O 2026) is the runtime substrate for Gemini Spark, and the Antigravity CLI is now the official successor to Gemini CLI, which stopped serving consumer tiers on 2026-06-18

A

Roblox Assistant

8.0

Roblox Studio's agentic AI that plans, builds, and playtests games. Planning Mode (2026-04-16) + Mesh Generation + Procedural Models brings 3D-native creation to 70M+ daily creators

B

Claude Code

7.8

Anthropic's terminal-based coding agent that reads your whole repo and makes real changes -- not just suggestions. v2.1.131 (2026-05-06 Code with Claude conf) shipped Code Review GA + Remote Agents + CI Auto-Fix + Routines, plus 2x rate-limit increase from the SpaceX compute deal. **Claude Fable 5.1 (2026-09-01) is the new top model and defaults to High effort in Claude Code specifically** -- Medium on every other Anthropic surface -- at an unchanged $10/$50 per 1M with cache reads cut 4x to $0.25/MTok

About Codex (OpenAI)

Tier A (8.3/10). OpenAI's coding agent -- parallel tasks, PRs, and as of 2026-07-09 merged into the unified ChatGPT desktop app (Chat + Work + Codex, every plan incl. Free) with GPT-5.6 across the lineup. **GPT-6 Astra arrived 2026-09-03 with a rewritten Codex harness -- OpenAI claims 1.9x faster task completion vs GPT-5.6 Sol on Mind2Web**, though that figure combines the harness change with the model. GPT-5.4 and 5.4-mini left Codex on 2026-08-31

Read the full Codex (OpenAI)review →