---
title: Using Codex as my OS
date: 2026-04-23T21:06:28-04:00
categories:
  - llm
  - coding
description: By running programs through an AI coding agent like Codex rather than executing them directly, you create an agentic operating system that automatically installs dependencies, handles configuration changes, and debugs brittle scripts.
keywords: [ai coding agents, agentic operating systems, automated debugging, codex, script maintenance, autonomous execution]
---

Increasingly, I'm using Codex (or other AI coding agents) as the "operating system" to run programs. That is, rather than directly run programs, I have the coding agent run the program.

Advantage: If the program breaks, or needs a configuration change, the coding agent debugs it and fixes it. I don't need to do anything.

This is particularly useful for installation. For example:

> Install demucs and run it against my music folder.

It's also useful for brittle scripts. When my WhatsApp scraper broke, I told Codex:

> The scraper was working fine but today, it fails. Find out what changed in the WhatsApp Web UI and fix it.

Codex researched and replied:

> The current scraper still finds the chat area and message rows, but its row-identity parser is now invalid. On March 28 the code assumed each message node had a packed `data-id` like:
>
> ```text
> true_<chat-id>@..._<message-id>
> false_<chat-id>@..._<message-id>
> ```
>
> Today, in the live WhatsApp tab, the visible message nodes still exist under `#main [role="row"]`, but `data-id` now looks like a bare message ID:
>
> ```text
> 3A4689CE2A81856D4BB0
> ACED689BB5C3115D3DD361F3520F9ECE
> ...
> ```
>
> Because `parseDataId()` only accepts the old packed format, it rejects every row, so `whatsappMessages()` returns `[]`, and the bookmarklet shows `Copy 0 messages`.
>
> WhatsApp appears to have split what used to be one overloaded field into separate concerns:
>
> - `data-id` now behaves like `messageId`
> - outgoing direction is likely encoded by DOM class (`.message-out`)
> - chat/thread id is no longer bundled into the row `data-id`

... and went on to share a "Recommended hardening plan for future breakages".

If coding agents can install, configure, write, run, test, and debug programs, "Agentic Operating Systems" are not nearby. We already have them.