superpowers/skills/using-superpowers/references/codex-tools.md

Codex Tool Mapping

Skills use Claude Code tool names. When you encounter these in a skill, use your platform equivalent:

Skill references	Codex equivalent
Task tool (dispatch subagent)	spawn_agent (see Named agent dispatch)
Multiple Task calls (parallel)	Multiple spawn_agent calls
Task returns result	wait
Task completes automatically	close_agent to free slot
TodoWrite (task tracking)	update_plan
Skill tool (invoke a skill)	Skills load natively — just follow the instructions
Read, Write, Edit (files)	Use your native file tools
Bash (run commands)	Use your native shell tools

Subagent dispatch requires multi-agent support

Add to your Codex config (~/.codex/config.toml):

[features]
multi_agent = true

This enables spawn_agent, wait, and close_agent for skills like dispatching-parallel-agents and subagent-driven-development.

Named agent dispatch

Claude Code skills reference named agent types like superpowers:code-reviewer. Codex does not have a named agent registry — spawn_agent creates generic agents from built-in roles (default, explorer, worker).

When a skill says to dispatch a named agent type:

1. Find the agent's prompt file (e.g., agents/code-reviewer.md or the skill's local prompt template like code-quality-reviewer-prompt.md)
2. Read the prompt content
3. Fill any template placeholders ({BASE_SHA}, {WHAT_WAS_IMPLEMENTED}, etc.)
4. Spawn a worker agent with the filled content as the message

Skill instruction	Codex equivalent
Task tool (superpowers:code-reviewer)	spawn_agent(agent_type="worker", message=...) with code-reviewer.md content
Task tool (general-purpose) with inline prompt	spawn_agent(message=...) with the same prompt

Message framing

The message parameter is user-level input, not a system prompt. Structure it for maximum instruction adherence:

Your task is to perform the following. Follow the instructions below exactly.

<agent-instructions>
[filled prompt content from the agent's .md file]
</agent-instructions>

Execute this now. Output ONLY the structured response following the format
specified in the instructions above.

• Use task-delegation framing ("Your task is...") rather than persona framing ("You are...")
• Wrap instructions in XML tags — the model treats tagged blocks as authoritative
• End with an explicit execution directive to prevent summarization of the instructions

When this workaround can be removed

This approach compensates for Codex's plugin system not yet supporting an agents field in plugin.json. When RawPluginManifest gains an agents field, the plugin can symlink to agents/ (mirroring the existing skills/ symlink) and skills can dispatch named agent types directly.

Environment Detection

Skills that create worktrees or finish branches should detect their environment with read-only git commands before proceeding:

GIT_DIR=$(cd "$(git rev-parse --git-dir)" 2>/dev/null && pwd -P)
GIT_COMMON=$(cd "$(git rev-parse --git-common-dir)" 2>/dev/null && pwd -P)
BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)

• GIT_DIR != GIT_COMMON → already in a linked worktree (skip creation)
• BRANCH empty → detached HEAD (cannot branch/push/PR from sandbox)

See using-git-worktrees Step 0 and finishing-a-development-branch Step 1 for how each skill uses these signals.

Codex App Finishing

When the sandbox blocks branch/push operations (detached HEAD in an externally managed worktree), the agent commits all work and informs the user to use the App's native controls:

• "Create branch" — names the branch, then commit/push/PR via App UI
• "Hand off to local" — transfers work to the user's local checkout

The agent can still run tests, stage files, and output suggested branch names, commit messages, and PR descriptions for the user to copy.