OpenAI has added a desktop floating pet to the Codex coding tool. It is not just a nice-looking desktop toy -- when you run a task with Codex, this pet, floating on the topmost layer of the screen, shows the working status in real time, acting as a cross-app "Dynamic Island".

What Is the Codex Desktop Pet

Codex's desktop pet feature is similar to the classic virtual pet Tamagotchi, but with two key differences:

1. Global floating: unlike Claude Code's pixel pet, which only shows inside the terminal, Codex's pet floats globally over the desktop and stays visible no matter which app you switch to.
2. Work status indicator: the pet tells you Codex's background progress through different actions (head scratching = thinking, waving = task complete, jumping = it needs a decision from you).

The 8 Built-In Base Pets

Codex ships with 8 pixel-art pets, which you can find under Codex Settings > Appearance > Pets:

Custom Pets: Hatch Any Character with /hatch

The really fun part is customization. Via the /hatch command you can upload any image, and Codex will automatically hatch it into an animated pet.

Steps

Step 1: Install the hatch-pet Skill

$Skill Installer hatch-pet

This downloads the corresponding Skill document from OpenAI's official GitHub repository.

Skill document location: https://github.com/openai/skills/tree/main/skills/.curated/hatch-pet

Step 2: Generate a custom pet

$hatch-pet make a Labubu desktop pet

Codex follows the Skill workflow automatically: it first generates a main image, then derives from it animation frames for multiple states -- idle, running-right, running-left, waving, jumping, failed, waiting, running, review -- with 4-8 frames per state.

Step 3: Import and share

Generated pets are saved in a local folder and can be packaged up to share with other people. Download someone else's pet archive, copy it into the matching folder, and select it in settings.

Note: generating custom pets consumes a lot of quota -- some users reported that their 5-hour quota was used up by the time they generated a second pet.

Popular Community Creations

A huge wave of creative pets has already emerged on social networks:

• Lil Finder Guy: a pet version of the Mac Finder smiley, floating above the Dock
• Clippy: a recreation of Microsoft's classic big-eyed paperclip
• Sam (Altman): a pixel-art OpenAI CEO with anxious side-glancing eyes and sunglasses
• Dario (Anthropic CEO): an angry version of the Anthropic CEO

Pet sharing platforms:

• PetShare: https://codex-pet-share.pages.dev/
• PetDex: https://petdex.crafter.run/

Other Features in the Same Update

Automatic Claude Code config import

Codex can now automatically detect whether your computer has configuration files left behind by Claude Code (such as CLAUDE.md); once detected, it proactively offers to import all your plugins, project conventions, and custom rules with one click, lowering the cost of switching between platforms.

Dictation dictionary

Codex has added a "dictation dictionary" feature that lets you pre-register your personal abbreviations and phrases, reducing the misrecognition of proper nouns when you write code by voice.

Practical Value

The desktop pet matters beyond cuteness. It solves a real pain point of AI coding tools: you no longer have to keep switching back to the Codex window to check progress. The pet floats on the topmost layer of the screen and tells you Codex's background status through bubbles and actions. When a task is done, tap it, reply directly, and get back to work.

OpenAI even ran an official pet design contest: being selected for the "Top 10 favorites" wins you 30 days of ChatGPT Pro ($200/month).