AI companions are gradually becoming essential in the industry, and OpenAI is now part of this movement. The company has introduced Codex Pets, an optional animated companion integrated into its AI coding tool.
Similar to many AI companions, it doesn’t perform any significant tasks. However, Codex Pets justifies its presence as a floating overlay that provides real-time project status updates, eliminating the need to switch tabs. Users can keep an eye on active threads and determine whether Codex is running, awaiting input, or prepared for review, all while remaining focused on their current work.
Getting started is easy. Navigate to Settings, select Appearance, and then choose Pets to access the available built-in options. After activation, you can toggle the floating overlay on or off by typing /pet in the composer, using Wake Pet or Tuck Away Pet in Settings > Appearance, or by pressing Cmd+K on Mac or Ctrl+K on Windows.
This feature comes with eight built-in variations — including both a cat and a dog — but the more intriguing aspect is the custom pet creator. Users can directly prompt Codex to create their own companion and share it online. A quick glance at the homepage shows that the community has already begun creating. Current creations feature Goku, Patrick Star, Microsoft’s long-retired Clippy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and — of course — a goblin.
