(Credit: OpenAI)
Vibe coding got you down? How about a digital pet?
OpenAI is rolling out AI "pets" for its agentic vibe coding tool Codex. They 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.
(Credit: OpenAI)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 (and share) your own by prompting Codex. It appears to support characters from classic franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pokémon, and Dragon Ball Z, as well as political figures. In a dose of nostalgia from a more primitive time in computing history, a Mr. Clippy icon is also available.
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 currently available on Windows and macOS. If you’d like to try the new feature, head to Settings > Appearance > 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, press Cmd+K or Ctrl+K to run the same commands to toggle the floating overlay.