(Credit: OpenAI)
Need some good vibes while you vibe code? OpenAI is rolling out new AI “pets” for its agentic vibe coding tool Codex, adding a touch of virtual companionship.
These “pets” act as floating overlays on your screen, giving you progress updates while you work on other tasks in different windows, according to documentation first spotted by Engadget. For example, they can show when your prompt has finished running or when the agent needs your input.
There are eight built-in pets to choose from, including classics like cats and dogs. But if you’re feeling adventurous, you can also create your own by prompting Codex. Users can share the pets they create via an online platform, with some popular creations, including characters from classic franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pokémon, and Dragon Ball Z. Icons inspired by famous figures like President Trump and what appears to be the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also available.
And in a dose of nostalgia from a much more primitive time in computing history, a Mr. Clippy icon is also available. The throwback to Microsoft’s early 2000s Office assistant is one of the community’s most popular picks.
Codex, OpenAI’s AI coding agent for software engineering tasks like writing code and fixing bugs, was released in 2025. It’s already estimated to have millions of users and can help people without technical skills build software tools.
The new coding companions are already available on the Windows and macOS versions of Codex. If you prefer to code on mobile, OpenAI didn’t mention anything about a potential iOS or Android rollout.
If you’d like to give the new feature a go, head to Settings, go to Appearance, and choose Pets. From there, you can either select a built-in pet or create custom pets from your local Codex environment.
To toggle your new pet off and on, type /pet into the composer, then use Wake Pet or Tuck Away Pet in Settings > Appearance. Alternatively, you can press Cmd+K or Ctrl+K and run the same commands to toggle the floating overlay.