OpenAI has added a new feature called Record & Replay to the macOS version of its AI agent Codex. Shipping as version 26.616, the feature lets you perform a task on screen just once; Codex learns that sequence as a reusable "skill" and carries out the same work on its own the next time. The key difference from before is that you can automate a workflow without spelling it out in detailed written instructions.

Show it once, and Codex remembers the steps

Until now, handing a routine task to an AI meant describing, step by step and in the right order, exactly what to do. Record & Replay flips that premise. When you carry out your target task in front of Codex once, it observes the on-screen content and the flow of your actions and records them in a form it can reproduce.

When the recording finishes, Codex's language model interprets the sequence of actions and automatically drafts a human-readable instruction document called a SKILL.md. That becomes a reusable skill you can call up afterward without re-recording. On replay, Codex can combine its own capabilities with Computer Use, which operates the screen directly, along with browser actions and plugins, to run the task through to completion.

Filling the gap between "I can do it" and "I can't explain it"

The heart of this feature is that the skill is authored by the AI, not by the user. Putting the intent and steps of a task into words for an AI is surprisingly hard if you are not used to it. Record & Replay removes that verbalization step entirely.

In other words, even someone who knows a task by muscle memory but struggles to describe it precisely can reach automation simply by demonstrating it. OpenAI cites the example of uploading a video to YouTube together with its metadata, thumbnail, and subtitles. Other good fits include filing an expense, booking a parking space, creating a properly configured issue, publishing a video, and downloading a recurring report, all tasks where the steps are fixed each time.

Supported plans and requirements

The Codex app itself is free to download, but you need a paid ChatGPT plan to make real use of it. Record & Replay is offered to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu subscribers.

To use it, you must have Computer Use, which operates the screen directly, turned on. There are also regional limits: the feature is currently unavailable in the EU, the UK, and Switzerland. That said, Computer Use itself became available in the EU on June 16.

Other improvements in the same update

Version 26.616 brings several refinements beyond Record & Replay. It adds bulk actions for managing your automation history, and it lets you hand off an in-progress thread between a local device and a remote host so you can continue a task on a connected machine. Codex began as an AI agent for coding support, but updates like these are steadily widening its role into a tool for automating white-collar work in general.

Summary

Record & Replay replaces the chore of "explaining" a task to an AI with the more intuitive act of "showing" it. From a single demonstration, Codex drafts the procedure and turns it into a reusable skill, lowering the barrier to automating routine work. There are conditions, such as enabling Computer Use and the regional restrictions, but for anyone who wants to delegate everyday repetitive tasks beyond coding, it looks like a step worth trying.