Install XCR in Codex: hand the heavy work over and make your Codex quota last longer

Why use XCR with Codex

Codex draws on your ChatGPT plan's allowance, and multi-file features with a few rounds of test fixes are exactly the work that drains a window fastest. With XCR connected, Codex keeps the conversation, the planning and the review, and hands the heavy implementation to XCR. XCR's tasks run on its own model access and are billed to your XCR credit, so your Codex allowance goes much further. More on the limits themselves in Codex usage limits explained.

Before you start

• Codex installed and signed in on a computer running macOS or Linux.
• Node.js 20 or later. If it's missing, Codex can install it for you during setup and asks before it does.
• An XCR account with credit. Sign in with your email on the install page and add a pack from $5 under Credits & billing.

Step 1: Open the install page and pick Codex

In your console, open Install on a computer and choose the Codex tab. Under What XCR will change on your computer you'll see the two changes it makes for Codex. Read them and tick the box to agree.

Step 2: Copy the instruction and paste it into Codex

Click Copy install instruction and paste the text into Codex. The instruction asks Codex to:

1. Check for Node.js 20 or later with node --version, and install the current LTS version first if it's missing, telling you before it does.
2. Run one command in the terminal. It downloads the plugin from xcr.ai and checks its SHA-256 before running anything, so nothing unverified is executed.
3. Tell you in a sentence or two what the command said and remind you to restart Codex.

When Codex asks for permission to run the command or to use the internet, allow it. The instruction works once, for the next 10 minutes. If it expires, copy it again.

Step 3: Wait for "Connected", then restart Codex

Your console page shows Waiting for Codex to finish installing… and switches to Connected with your computer's name as soon as setup finishes. Restart Codex so it loads XCR. If you closed the page, Already installed? Check connection finds the computer for you.

What changes in your Codex setup

• ~/.codex/config.toml gets an XCR section that registers XCR as an MCP server for Codex, with a tool timeout of 180 seconds.
• ~/.codex/AGENTS.md gets a short rule that tells Codex when to hand work to XCR and how to review the result.

Every change sits between clearly marked XCR lines, and your original files are backed up first in XCR's own folder in your home directory. Nothing else in your Codex settings is touched.

Check that it works

After the restart, ask Codex: "What's my XCR balance?" Codex answers from XCR with your remaining credit and today's spending on this computer. Then ask for something bigger than a small edit, for example "Add CSV export to the orders page, with filters by date and status." Codex hands it to XCR, and the task appears under Tasks in your console.

What a hand-off looks like

XCR works on a copy of your project, runs your project's checks (type check, lint, tests) offline in a sandbox on macOS, or on Linux with bubblewrap installed, and repairs failures within the task budget. Codex gets back a short report: the requirements done, the files changed, the check results and the exact cost. When the checks pass, the change is written into your working tree without a commit, so you review it like any other diff. Codex checks it against your request and finishes anything that needs the internet, such as installing packages. To take a change back out, ask Codex to undo the XCR change.

Get the most out of XCR in Codex

• Put the full requirement in one message, including how to test it. XCR builds against it, and Codex reviews against it.
• Keep AGENTS.md focused. Codex reads it on every task, and the XCR rule is only a few lines.
• Want XCR off for one repository? Switch it off for that project under Computers & projects.
• Set a daily limit for this computer under Computers & projects if you want a firm ceiling.

Pause or uninstall

Pause everything with the switch at the top of Overview; Codex then does the work itself and nothing is charged. To remove XCR from this computer, tell Codex "Uninstall XCR from this computer", or click Remove from this computer under Computers & projects. Uninstalling takes out exactly what XCR added to config.toml and AGENTS.md and leaves the rest of each file as it was. The backups are kept until you delete them. New to XCR? Start with the XCR quick start.