OpenAI’s Codex is now smart enough to control your Mac even when it’s locked

Macworld

AI development is new and exciting, but while AI agents are doing their thing, you can end up waiting for a good amount of time. It’s a nice opportunity to get up and go do something, but if your Mac goes to sleep, AI agents stop working.

Some developers turn to invoking a caffeinate session or using utilities to bypass the Lock Screen settings. Others use dummy display dongles to trick the Mac into thinking a display is attached, thus preventing sleep mode. But OpenAI announced a new capability in its Codex AI assistant that makes it even easier: Codex now has the ability to keep running after your Mac is locked.

Codex anywhere and everywhere, all the time.

Now your Mac doesn’t have to be unlocked for Codex to use your computer.

From your phone, Codex can securely use apps on your Mac, even when the screen is off and locked.https://t.co/PCGK4i7FSF pic.twitter.com/956aAtM3vl

— OpenAI Developers (@OpenAIDevs) May 21, 2026

In Codex’s settings, there is an option for Locked use , which does exactly what it says when you turn it on. An Apple authorization plug-in installs, and then Codex will keep running. According to OpenAI’s Codex documentation, “Locked use is intentionally narrow. It’s not a general-purpose remote-unlock path for your Mac, and it doesn’t let other apps or local processes unlock the computer.”

Foundry

OpenAI notes that this feature has some safeguards, including a short-lived authorization window, availability only to Codex, and coverage for every connected display. It also won’t work when you shut your MacBook’s display, which triggers a different sleep mode. But if you don’t want a dongle or an app, this is a handy feature for OpenAI developers.