Skip to main content

Connect OpenAI Codex

OpenAI Codex is a terminal-based coding agent (available as a CLI and an IDE extension). Connecting it to Stack Automation registers the Stack Automation MCP server as a tool Codex can call, so you can query and drive your deployments from the same terminal where you write code.

Setup is a short install script plus one environment variable for your token.

Prerequisites​

  • The Codex CLI installed and working (codex --version).
  • A Stack Automation API token
  • A POSIX shell (zsh or bash).

Install​

  1. In the OpenAI Codex panel, click Download stack-automation-mcp-codex.sh.

  2. Make it executable and run it from the download location:

    chmod +x stack-automation-mcp-codex.sh && ./stack-automation-mcp-codex.sh

    The script registers the stack-automation MCP server with your Codex configuration.

  3. Add your token to your shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc) so Codex can authenticate:

    export SA_TOKEN="<YOUR_STACK_AUTOMATION_TOKEN>"

    Reload your shell (source ~/.zshrc) or open a new terminal so the variable takes effect.

  4. Verify the connection — you should see stack-automation in the list:

    codex mcp list

When you're done, tick "I've completed the setup — mark as connected" in the panel.

Operate​

Start a Codex session and ask for Stack Automation actions in natural language; Codex routes them to the stack-automation MCP server.

Verify the connection:

List my Stack Automation spaces.

Everyday examples:

  • "Launch the terraform-vpc blueprint in the staging space."
  • "Show the outputs of my most recent deployment."
  • "Tear down the deployment named pr-1423-preview."
  • "Generate a Terraform module and then deploy it as a blueprint in Stack Automation."

Combining Codex's code generation with Stack Automation deployment lets you go from Infrastructure-as-Code to a running deployment in a single conversation.

Troubleshooting​

  • stack-automation not shown in codex mcp list. Re-run the install script and confirm it completed without errors, then restart your terminal.
  • Auth errors / empty results. Confirm SA_TOKEN is exported in the current shell (echo $SA_TOKEN) and that the value matches a valid, non-regenerated token.
  • Command not found. Ensure the Codex CLI is on your PATH.