codex-flows/docs/pages/concepts/code-mode.md
2026-05-15 22:49:49 +00:00

936 B

title description
Code Mode Why Code Mode is gated and how it relates to normal Bun runners.

Code Mode

Most flow steps should use runner = "bun". Bun runners are plain scripts: they receive flow context on stdin, perform deterministic work, and emit FLOW_RESULT.

Use runner = "code-mode" when the step needs Codex to operate inside the repository. Code Mode calls a fork-only app-server method, thread/codeMode/execute, so it is intentionally gated.

Why it is gated

Code Mode can use Codex tools and repository access. Enabling it changes the trust and operational model of a flow deployment. The explicit gate keeps ordinary flow execution safe by default.

Execution location

Flow orchestration and Codex execution are separate axes. A local flow can start a local stdio app-server today. A future remote Code Mode transport should use a real app-server transport, not an unrelated HTTP shell wrapper.