Codex Engineering Workflow Pack

Controlled Codex execution for work that is too important to run blind.

CEWP is an unofficial, local-first supervision and evidence layer for Codex. It adds explicit scope, isolated worktrees, bounded retries, deterministic verification, independent review, recovery controls, and portable receipts while leaving code generation to Codex.

Why CEWP

Native Codex is the right choice for small, low-risk work. CEWP is designed for changes where an undetected scope violation, failed verification, uncontrolled retry, or unverifiable result would be expensive.

Need	CEWP control
Prevent accidental broad edits	Approved file scope and isolated worktree
Limit repeated model operations	Explicit operation, repair, and reviewer budgets
Recover without losing evidence	Pause, resume, revise, retry, and retained checkpoints
Verify outside the model loop	Deterministic local commands and scope inspection
Require a second decision	Independent reviewer PASS before finalization
Explain what happened	JSON and Markdown receipts with honest usage labels

CEWP does not attach to private ChatGPT sessions, scrape interfaces, infer missing usage, route automatically between models, or merge, push, publish, tag, or release code.

Quick Start

Requirements:

• Node.js 22 or newer
• Git 2.39 or newer
• Codex CLI for managed execution

Check the live npm tags, then install the current beta CLI:

npm view @setrathex/codex-engineering-workflow-pack dist-tags --json
npm install -g @setrathex/codex-engineering-workflow-pack@beta
cewp init
cewp doctor

The npm install provides the cewp and cewp-mcp commands. It does not automatically register the CEWP Codex plugin.

Install The Codex Plugin

The full local plugin bundles three CEWP skills, the local cewp-mcp bridge, review-required subagent evidence hooks, and plugin metadata. After installing the npm package globally, register its marketplace with Codex.

PowerShell:

$cewpPackage = Join-Path (npm root -g) "@setrathex\codex-engineering-workflow-pack"
codex plugin marketplace add "$cewpPackage"
codex plugin add cewp@cewp-local
codex plugin list

macOS or Linux:

codex plugin marketplace add "$(npm root -g)/@setrathex/codex-engineering-workflow-pack"
codex plugin add cewp@cewp-local
codex plugin list

Restart Codex, open a new conversation, and enable CEWP from the Plugins Directory. This installs the complete plugin on the current machine from a local marketplace source; it does not list CEWP in the universal public plugin directory.

To evaluate the exact GitHub candidate before or without a registry publication, run it from a source checkout:

git clone https://github.com/SetraTheXX/Codex-Engineering-Workflow-Pack.git
cd Codex-Engineering-Workflow-Pack
node ./bin/cewp.js doctor

The source checkout can also be registered directly:

codex plugin marketplace add /path/to/Codex-Engineering-Workflow-Pack
codex plugin add cewp@cewp-local

Run the credential-free walkthrough:

node ./bin/cewp.js demo supervised

Create a bounded checkpoint in a disposable or reviewed repository:

cewp supervise plan \
  --goal "Update the installation example" \
  --scope README.md \
  --verify "git diff --check" \
  --stop "The example is accurate and the approved check passes"

Inspect the proposal before enabling managed operations:

cewp policy set full-authority
cewp supervise approve <run-id> --yes
cewp supervise execute <run-id> --yes
cewp supervise verify <run-id>
cewp supervise review <run-id> --yes
cewp supervise receipt <run-id>
cewp supervise finalize <run-id> --yes
cewp policy reset

The advanced policy permits requested local operations; it does not disable scope, budget, verification, ownership, or reviewer gates.

Use CEWP From Codex

The intended product interaction is a normal Codex request that explicitly selects CEWP:

Use CEWP to complete @roadmap.md. Turn it into bounded checkpoints, use
independent workers only where scopes do not overlap, verify every checkpoint,
require reviewer PASS, preserve receipts, and stop on a closed gate.

Native Codex /goal keeps a persistent objective attached to the active task. CEWP does not replace or control that private host goal. The plugin adds an engineering control plane around the work: source-bound planning, explicit scope, isolated worktrees, budgets, deterministic verification, recovery, independent review, and final evidence.

Today CEWP provides three related execution levels:

1. Supervised checkpoint: the plugin plans and runs one bounded managed checkpoint at a time through CEWP Core.
2. Coordinator Mode: CEWP can run two non-overlapping codex-exec workers sequentially or in parallel, then run an independent reviewer.
3. Workflow runtime: CEWP validates versioned DAGs, dependencies, worker capacity, budgets, revisions, results, and reviewer gates.

The complete one-sentence-to-finished-roadmap experience is a product direction, not a current completion claim. The workflow compiler currently emits a source-bound agent request; the host agent must produce the structured workflow proposal, and approval, task start/result, review, and finalization transitions remain explicit. Codex can spawn native subagents when directly requested or when plugin/project instructions request them, but CEWP currently treats native subagent hooks as optional evidence rather than canonical execution control.

Safety Model

CEWP Core is the authority for every completion claim:

1. The operator approves bounded scope and stopping conditions.
2. Managed execution uses the selected codex-exec backend in an isolated worktree.
3. CEWP checks changed paths and test-authoring policy.
4. Approved verification runs outside the model loop.
5. An independent reviewer must return PASS.
6. Receipt generation and explicit finalization close the run.

Unknown host usage remains unknown; it is never converted to zero or a fabricated currency value. Budget or host exhaustion produces a resumable state, not a false PASS.

Operating Surfaces

• CLI: planning, execution, verification, recovery, review, receipts, and workflow operations.
• Codex plugin: three focused conversational skills.
• Local MCP: the same Core operations and gates exposed over stdio.
• Evidence hooks: optional, reviewable observations that never replace Core enforcement.

The stable managed path is managed + codex-exec. App Server remains experimental and OpenCode remains optional and outside the golden path.

Documentation

Start here:

• Installation
• Supervised workflow
• Native Codex or CEWP?
• Architecture
• Security model
• Recovery guide
• Evidence receipts
• Compatibility contract
• Validation status
• Known limitations

Reference:

• Workflow runtime
• Contract index
• Contract extension example
• Adapter contract
• Operator policy
• Migration policy
• Contributing
• Security policy

Development

The runtime has no package dependencies. From a source checkout:

node ./bin/cewp.js --help
node ./bin/cewp.js doctor
npm test
npm run check
npm run pack:dry-run

CI runs on Windows and Ubuntu with Node.js 22, 24, and 26.

Project Status

CEWP is beta software. Stable-core compatibility, migration, recovery, security, and package lifecycle contracts are implemented. The project is not published as 1.0.0; final release validation and explicit human-controlled publication remain separate steps.

See Validation Status and Release Notes for the current evidence boundary.

License

MIT