Codex CLI vs Qwen Code

Codex CLI is a coding agent from OpenAI that runs locally on your computer.
If you want Codex in your code editor (VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf), install in your IDE.
If you want the desktop app experience, run codex app or visit the Codex App page.
If you are looking for the cloud-based agent from OpenAI, Codex Web, go to chatgpt.com/codex.

Quickstart

Installing and running Codex CLI

Run the following on Mac or Linux to install Codex CLI:

curl -fsSL https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.sh | sh

Run the following on Windows to install Codex CLI:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.ps1 | iex"

The standalone installers download from https://releases.openai.com/codex by default and fall back to GitHub Releases if a metadata or asset download is unavailable. To force GitHub Releases, set CODEX_INSTALLER_USE_RELEASES_OPENAI_COM to false (0 and no are also accepted):

curl -fsSL https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.sh | CODEX_INSTALLER_USE_RELEASES_OPENAI_COM=false sh

$env:CODEX_INSTALLER_USE_RELEASES_OPENAI_COM='false'; irm https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.ps1 | iex

Codex CLI can also be installed via the following package managers:

## Install using npm
npm install -g @openai/codex

## Install using Homebrew
brew install --cask codex

Then simply run codex to get started.

Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan

Run codex and select Sign in with ChatGPT. We recommend signing into your ChatGPT account to use Codex as part of your Plus, Pro, Business, Edu, or Enterprise plan. Learn more about what's included in your ChatGPT plan.

You can also use Codex with an API key, but this requires additional setup.

Docs

• Codex Documentation
• Contributing
• Installing & building
• Open source fund

This repository is licensed under the Apache-2.0 License.

Why Qwen Code?

• Agentic out of the box — Auto-Memory, Auto-Skills, SubAgents, Agent Teams, and MCP. Dynamic workflows, zero setup.
• Open-source, inside and out — The framework and the Qwen models are open-source. They evolve together. No vendor lock-in.
• Multi-protocol — Supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and Qwen APIs. Any third-party provider or local model (Ollama / vLLM). Switch at runtime.
• Beyond the terminal — IDE plugins, Desktop app, Web UI, SDKs, and chat integrations (Telegram / DingTalk / WeChat / Feishu).

[!TIP]
Qwen Code is actively iterating on itself — using its own agent and models to file issues, submit PRs, review code, and run tests. Powered by the community, driven by AI.

Installation

Looking for Qwen Code 1.0 Preview? Get started here. The instructions below are for the main version.

Linux / macOS:

curl -fsSL https://qwen-code-assets.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/installation/install-qwen-standalone.sh | bash

Windows:

irm https://qwen-code-assets.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/installation/install-qwen-standalone.ps1 | iex

Restart your terminal after installation to ensure environment variables take effect.

npm install -g @qwen-code/qwen-code@latest

brew install qwen-code

Quick Start

Open a terminal in your project and start Qwen Code:

cd /path/to/your-project
qwen

Inside the session, run /auth and choose Qwen Account with Subscription to sign in with your Plus or Pro subscription, or configure a provider with an API key. Then try:

Explain this repository and show me where to start.

See the Authentication Guide and Settings Reference for detailed setup.

How to Use Qwen Code

Choose the interface that fits your workflow:

For automation and custom integrations:

• Headless — Run qwen -p "..." in scripts, CI/CD, or batch jobs.
• SDKs — Build with TypeScript, Python, or Java.
• Daemon — Run qwen serve to connect clients over HTTP + SSE (ACP). (experimental) Daemon guide.
• Computer Use — Set up native MCP tools or Node REPL + SDK in Qwen Code, Claude Code, or Codex.

import asyncio

from qwen_code_sdk import is_sdk_result_message, query

async def main() -> None:
    result = query(
        "Summarize the repository layout.",
        {
            "cwd": "/path/to/project",
            "path_to_qwen_executable": "qwen",
        },
    )

    async for message in result:
        if is_sdk_result_message(message):
            print(message["result"])

asyncio.run(main())

Daemon Mode

Run Qwen Code as a long-lived service when you want browser, editor, SDK, and automation clients to share agent sessions without each starting a separate process. The daemon provides the built-in Web Shell and an HTTP + SSE API, supports multiple workspaces, and lets clients reconnect to active sessions.

Start it in the foreground and open the Web Shell:

qwen serve --open

The default address is http://127.0.0.1:4170. To run and manage it in the background instead:

qwen daemon start
qwen daemon status
qwen daemon logs -f
qwen daemon stop

By default, the daemon listens on loopback without bearer authentication; any local process that can reach it can use the full API, including code execution. On shared or untrusted hosts, set QWEN_SERVER_TOKEN and use --require-auth. See the Daemon guide for workspaces, authentication, remote access, and the API.

Capabilities

If you know Claude Code, you already know Qwen Code — and then some. We've put significant effort into bringing Qwen Code to feature parity with Claude Code, improving both breadth and reliability across the board.

Qwen Code Evaluation

On SWE-bench Verified, seven Qwen Code versions scored 76.40%–77.80% on average using the same Qwen 3.7 Max model (500 tasks, three trials per version).

Full results and evaluation configuration →

Ecosystem

• Qwen Code Desktop — Official desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux

• AionUi — A modern GUI for command-line AI tools including Qwen Code

• Gemini CLI Desktop — A cross-platform desktop/web/mobile UI for Qwen Code

• qwen-audio-agent — Realtime full-duplex voice frontend for Qwen Code over ACP — talk hands-free with barge-in and a local wake word

• 🦞 Qwen Code Claw — Let other agents (Claude, Codex, etc.) delegate coding tasks to Qwen Code via ACP. Paste this prompt into your agent:

Use Qwen Code as a coding agent. First, fetch and read this skill reference:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/QwenLM/qwen-code/refs/heads/main/.qwen/skills/qwen-code-claw/SKILL.md
Then follow the instructions inside to install, authenticate, and use Qwen Code via acpx for all coding tasks.

• Aliyun Model Studio CLI — Official CLI for Aliyun's AI platform (bailian-cli). Extends Qwen Code with image/video generation, knowledge retrieval, app orchestration, and model deployment

Privacy

See the Terms of Service and Privacy Notice, including Chrome extension and Browser Use data handling.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Acknowledgments

This project was originally based on Google Gemini CLI v0.8.2. We gratefully acknowledge the Gemini CLI team's excellent work. Starting from Qwen Code v0.1, we stopped syncing with upstream and began independent development as a multi-protocol, multi-platform agent framework with deep integrations for Qwen models and beyond.