Codex Accounts Switcher 🌀

Easily manage multiple OpenAI Codex CLI accounts — switch, save, and restore with one command.

The official OpenAI Codex CLI does not support multi-account login.
Users must manually swap ~/.codex folders or re-authenticate every time they switch accounts — a painful process for developers who use multiple OpenAI accounts (for example, personal vs work).

I raised this issue here: #4432
and also created a pull request adding multi-account support: #4457
However, the feature hasn’t yet been merged or prioritized, so this standalone script fills that gap.

I HAVE TESTED THIS ON MAC ONLY

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🔧 Installation

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/bashar94/codex-cli-account-switcher.git
cd codex-cli-account-switcher
chmod +x codex-accounts.sh

# Optionally make it global
sudo mv codex-accounts.sh /usr/local/bin/codex-accounts

🚀 Usage

codex-accounts list
codex-accounts current
codex-accounts save <name>
codex-accounts add <name>
codex-accounts switch <name>

Examples

# Save your current login
codex-accounts save bashar

# Add a new account slot
codex-accounts add tazrin
codex login   # then run:
codex-accounts save tazrin

# Switch between accounts
codex-accounts switch bashar

📁 Data Locations

Codex stores its session data inside ~/.codex. This script backs up each account’s .codex directory as a compressed zip file and lets you swap them instantly.

Path	Purpose
~/.codex	Active Codex session folder
~/codex-data/<name>.zip	Saved account backups
~/.codex-switch/state	Tracks current and previous accounts
~/.codex-switch/shared	Shared config restored after switch

It’s safe to use — your account session data is preserved before every switch.

Shared (global) .codex data

The script keeps these paths common across all accounts (stored in ~/.codex-switch/shared):

• rules/
• AGENTS.md
• config.toml
• skills/
• memories/
• automations/

These paths are excluded from account zip files and overlaid after each switch, so your global rules/config stay consistent.

⚙️ Requirements

• macOS / Linux
• zip, unzip, bash
• Codex CLI installed:
  • macOS: brew install codex
  • Linux: use your package manager or follow the Codex CLI docs

🧠 Notes

• Supports unlimited accounts — name-based switching.
• Automatically backs up the current account before changing.
• Shows the current and previous account states.
• Works cross-platform: macOS, Linux, WSL.
• Simple shell-only dependencies (bash, zip, unzip).
• Helpful prompts if Codex isn’t installed or logged in yet.
• You can safely share this across machines (just copy ~/codex-data).