Launch your SaaS on directories with Codex

What Codex needs

Codex CLI or the IDE extension

Start Codex in the private repository you cloned after purchase. The CLI, the IDE extension and the ChatGPT desktop app share one MCP configuration, so a browser server you add once is available in all three.

Python 3.10+ and Node.js LTS

Python runs workspace creation, record.py and the dashboard, standard library only. Node.js provides npx, which Codex uses to launch Chrome DevTools MCP as a stdio server.

A table in config.toml

Codex keeps MCP servers under [mcp_servers.<name>] in ~/.codex/config.toml. A project-level .codex/config.toml is read only in trusted projects, so the file in your home folder is the dependable place.

Product rules in authorizations.json

Codex’s approval settings decide when it asks before a tool runs. LaunchRepo’s grants decide what it may do for this product: free sign-ups, final submissions, mail actions, badges. No spending, in any approval mode.

Connecting Codex to your Chrome

Codex drives a browser only through the MCP server you give it. LaunchRepo’s browser guide prefers your everyday Chrome over a fresh profile: switch on remote debugging at chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging in Chrome 144 or newer, and let the server attach with --autoConnect.

Prefer a command? codex mcp add chrome-devtools, a double dash and the same npx line write an equivalent entry. On native Windows, the official client guide wraps npx in cmd /c and sets SystemRoot and PROGRAMFILES; follow it rather than the Unix example.

The entry below goes into ~/.codex/config.toml. startup_timeout_sec raises Codex’s default of 10 seconds, which the first npx download can exceed:

[mcp_servers.chrome-devtools]
command = "npx"
args = [
  "-y",
  "chrome-devtools-mcp@latest",
  "--autoConnect",
  "--no-usage-statistics",
  "--no-performance-crux"
]
startup_timeout_sec = 20

Format as documented by developers.openai.com, checked on September 30, 2026. ↗

Check it with codex mcp list, or type /mcp inside the Codex TUI. Then have Codex open example.com in a blank tab, allow Chrome’s prompt and confirm that the tab you are looking at moved before anything is signed in.

Connect your coding agent to your Chrome →

The start prompt

Paste the public start prompt from START.md into Codex in the cloned folder. Its first line recommends Claude Code CLI or Codex CLI, so Codex in a terminal is exactly the setup it has in mind. It creates your private workspace, starts the dashboard and answers with a 127.0.0.1 link.

Recommend Claude Code CLI or Codex CLI in a terminal instead of the desktop apps for best results. If session metadata confirms desktop hosting, explicitly advise me to switch to the CLI and resume this same private workspace. Do not infer the host from a CLI engine version alone.

Read AGENTS.md, then follow "Start the dashboard for the owner". Create my private
workspace if I do not have one yet, start the dashboard, and give me the link.
Then lead ONBOARDING.md one phase at a time. Reuse recorded permissions instead of
asking again unless their scope is missing or conflicting. Actually test my visible
existing Chrome profile and intended identity as BROWSER-SETUP.md requires; use the
OS fallback if needed. Use one platform/browser worker by default. Build the normal
run only from suitable free-ready routes, keep research separate, and preserve any
draft that needs one exact human CAPTCHA/2FA action. Never claim browser control
bypasses or reduces those challenges.

The playbooks and instructions are English Markdown, which is what coding agents handle best. Your product copy can be in any language a directory accepts; the agent answers you in your language.

The dashboard then leads onboarding and keeps the prompt for each later session. Whatever Codex learns about your product ends up in files it rereads next time, not in a chat you have to keep open.

Start LaunchRepo in three steps →

What a run looks like

Codex shows each shell command and tool call, before or while it runs depending on your approval setting, and Chrome shows the form being filled. The panel below is the sample batch from the home page. Your real statuses live in submissions.json.

When Codex cannot reach Chrome

Three Codex-specific snags and the documented way out. Your tracker keeps every recorded outcome while you fix them.

The server does not start in time

The first npx run downloads the package and can take longer than Codex’s 10-second default. Keep startup_timeout_sec = 20 in the table, or run npx -y chrome-devtools-mcp@latest --help once to warm the cache.

The project config is ignored

Codex reads .codex/config.toml only in projects you trust. Move the server into ~/.codex/config.toml, or trust the folder, then restart Codex and check /mcp again.

Windows: “Connection closed” on start

Native Windows needs npx to run through cmd /c. Use the Windows example from the official client guide, including its environment entries, then restart Codex.

If browser tools time out with --autoConnect, check four things: Chrome 144 or newer is already running, remote debugging is on at chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging, you allowed Chrome’s connection prompt, and no other tool holds the same browser. Chrome DevTools MCP loads every open tab, so close the ones you do not need.

What still needs you

LaunchRepo is deliberately not a background service. These moments stop the run and are recorded as human handoffs; the agent never works around them:

CAPTCHAs and bot checks

Codex stops on that platform and records prepared_needs_human; the dashboard puts it under “needs you”. You clear the check in the visible tab and let Codex resume. Independent platforms in the batch can carry on meanwhile.

2FA and verification codes

When your mailbox is open in the connected Chrome, Codex can follow the confirmation link itself. Otherwise you pass the code on and the tracker notes a human handoff.

Paid upsells

Routes that cost money become deferred_paid with a note for later. Codex never buys, never starts a trial and never accepts an unrelated offer, whatever approval mode you run.

Confirming “live”

A saved form, a receipt and a thank-you page each keep their own state. Live needs a public URL and your confirmation.

No benchmark, no ranking: we claim compatibility for Codex because the two requirements above are met, not because we measured it against other agents.

Questions