Agent skill · software engineering · sundial-org
codex-orchestration
General-purpose orchestration for Codex. Uses update_plan plus background PTY terminals to run parallel codex exec workers.
Why this skill is useful
Adds specific orchestration patterns and commands for managing parallel Codex execution that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires codex installed locally. About 6k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-03-07. 639 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Codex orchestration You are the orchestrator: decide the work, delegate clearly, deliver a clean result. Workers do the legwork; you own judgement. This guide is steering, not bureaucracy. Use common sense. If something is simple, just do it. Default assumptions YOLO config (no approvals); web search enabled. PTY execution available via execcommand and writestdin. Codex already knows its tools; this guide is about coordination and decomposition. Two modes Orchestrator mode (default) Split work into sensible tracks. Use parallel workers when it helps. Keep the main thread for synthesis, decisions, and final output. Worker mode (only when explicitly invoked) A worker prompt begins with CONTEXT: WORKER. Do only the assigned task. Do not spawn other workers. Report back crisply with evidence. Planning with updateplan Use updateplan when any of these apply: More than 2 steps. Parallel work would help. The situation is unclear, messy, or high stakes. Keep it light: 3 to 6 steps max. Short steps, one sentence each. Exactly one step inprogress. Update the plan when you complete a step or change direction. Skip the plan entirely for trivial tasks. Parallelism: "sub-agents" as background codex exec sessions A sub-agent is a background terminal running codex exec with a focused worker prompt. Use parallel workers for: Scouting and mapping (where things are, current state) Independent reviews (different lenses on the same artefact) Web research (sources, definitions, comparisons) Long-running checks (tests, builds, analyses, data pipelines) Drafting alternatives (outlines, rewrites, options) Avoid parallel workers that edit the same artefact. Default rule: many readers, one writer. Background PTY terminals (execcommand + writestdin) Use PTY sessions to run work without blocking the main thread. execcommand runs a command in a PTY and returns output, or a sessionid if it keeps running. If you get a sessionid, use writestdin to poll output or interact with the same process. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills sundial-org/codex-orchestration