GUI Remote: provide consistent desktop-app and web access to existing host sessions

What variant of Codex are you using?

ChatGPT/Codex desktop GUI and web GUI, specifically the user-facing Remote experience, with complementary Codex CLI interoperability. The request is for a supported first-party workflow, not a custom SDK integration or a user-maintained app-server gateway.

What feature would you like to see?

Please make the existing Remote workflow consistently available from another computer through the official ChatGPT/Codex graphical interfaces, with the same core capabilities available from a phone or tablet.

The primary request is computer-to-computer Remote access in the desktop GUI. Desktop-browser access is also requested, including for Linux clients; it is not intended to replace or narrow the desktop-app request. Pairing and ongoing interaction should be possible entirely from computers, without requiring a phone or tablet.

The goal is to change the device I work from without changing the session or its execution host. This is not a request to migrate a repository to Codex Cloud, copy the environment to another computer, or stream the host's entire desktop.

Use case

For research and embedded-development work, a task may need to remain on a particular workstation because it has the required tools, compute resources, or hardware connections. For example, I want to start an ARM64 build on a workstation, then continue supervising the same task from a laptop: inspect errors and diffs, provide follow-up instructions, handle approvals, and retrieve the resulting files.

A phone is useful for a quick check, but a keyboard and a large screen are better suited to sustained technical work. Switching to a second computer should not require a new conversation, a separate environment, or a custom remote gateway.

Minimum useful behavior

• Access through the official desktop and web GUIs: expose a clear Remote entry point and an authorized-host picker, with pairing that can be completed between two computers. Make desktop controller availability and any platform, account, or rollout restrictions explicit rather than leaving the relevant controls absent without explanation.
• Same-session continuity: show the existing conversation, current task state, command output, diffs, and generated files. Reopening the session from another client must not fork the conversation or restart the work.
• Full interaction: send messages and attachments, answer questions, approve or reject actions, request a stop, and download authorized outputs.
• Host-side execution and permissions: keep tools, credentials, and execution on the original host or its configured remote environment. Preserve sandbox, workspace, and approval policies; do not require copying tokens or exposing an unauthenticated service.
• Clear connection lifecycle: display the execution host and connectivity state. Closing or disconnecting the controller should not cancel already-authorized autonomous work while the host remains available. Actions requiring new approval should wait, and reconnecting should restore the current state.

Complementary CLI interoperability

Prioritizing the GUI should not exclude Codex CLI. Two complementary workflows would be useful:

• CLI as the host: start work through Codex CLI on a workstation or headless Linux server, then open and control the same eligible session from the official desktop or web GUI, without requiring a desktop application on the execution host.
• CLI as a remote client: attach from another computer's terminal to the same host-backed session, as an alternative to the GUI rather than a separate conversation or execution environment.

Both paths should preserve session identity, running work, and host-side permission and approval policies. Switching clients should provide an explicit handoff where needed, without duplicate execution or conflicting approvals. This is an interoperability goal, not a claim that the CLI currently lacks all remote capabilities.

CLI support would complement the GUI request; a CLI-only solution would not satisfy the primary request for graphical access from a PC.

Acceptance criterion

Start a task on computer A. On computer B, open the official ChatGPT/Codex desktop GUI, select A under Remote, and reopen the same conversation. Review live progress and provide the next instruction or approval. Execution remains on A, with no environment migration or duplicated work. The same core workflow should also be accessible through the web GUI in a desktop browser.

For CLI interoperability, the equivalent handoff should also work for eligible sessions started on a headless CLI host, with an optional terminal client on computer B.

A full remote IDE or desktop-video stream is not needed for an initial version.

Additional information

The official Remote connections documentation already describes desktop-to-desktop control when the feature is available and notes that availability varies by rollout. This request therefore does not claim that Remote is universally mobile-only. It asks for consistent availability and discoverability in the desktop GUI, plus desktop-browser access to the same host-backed sessions.

Related: #30573 requests native Windows-to-Windows pairing and remote control. That issue overlaps with the Windows desktop part of this request; the broader scope here is consistent access across the official desktop and web graphical interfaces, including Linux browser clients, with complementary CLI interoperability.

In one sentence: let me continue the same remote work from the computer and official interface of my choice, with full desktop-GUI access and no phone or tablet required.

Start with the official Remote connections documentation and the acceptance scenario in this issue; no implementation files or tests are identified. Trace the existing Remote/session and Codex CLI entry points, then verify that desktop and web clients preserve session identity, host-side execution, approvals, and reconnect state across computers.