Codex isn't detected | Leafage Help

Leafage doesn’t ship its own AI model. It generates images through Codex running locally on your Mac, using the subscription you already pay for. If Leafage can’t find a working Codex setup, generation is disabled and you’ll see a Codex not detected status in Settings.

This page walks through the three things that cause it and how to fix each.

How to tell this is the problem

You’ll see one of these in Leafage:

Settings -> Codex says the Codex CLI is not configured.
The Generate button on a node is disabled, or shows a “Codex not available” tooltip.
A new generation fails immediately with a message about Codex not being found.

There are three common causes, in order of likelihood:

Codex isn’t installed on this Mac.
Codex is installed but you’re not signed in.
Codex is installed but Leafage can’t find it on your PATH.

Cause 1 — Codex isn’t installed

Leafage needs the Codex CLI present on the same Mac.

Codex app vs Codex CLI

The Codex desktop app is useful if you want the full Codex app experience, but Leafage currently generates by running the local codex command. Installing the app alone may not make Leafage ready; the codex --version check below still needs to pass.

Check whether it’s installed

Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities → Terminal) and run:

codex --version

If you see a version number, Codex is installed — skip to Cause 2.
If you see command not found: codex, it isn’t installed yet. Continue below.

Install Codex

Install the Codex CLI, then confirm it responds:

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

Prefer another install method?

OpenAI's official Codex quickstart also lists the Codex desktop app, npm, and Homebrew options. Use the standalone CLI installer above unless you already manage command-line tools another way. If you install the Codex app too, return here and make sure codex --version works before retrying Leafage generation.

Once codex --version prints a version, move on to signing in.

Cause 2 — Codex is installed but not signed in

A Codex install still needs to be authenticated with your subscription before it can generate.

In Terminal, start the sign-in flow:
```
codex login
```
Complete sign-in in the browser window that opens, using the account that holds your Codex subscription.
Confirm you’re authenticated:
```
codex whoami
```
You should see the account you just signed in with.

Use the account with an active plan

Signing in with an account that has no active Codex subscription will let codex login succeed but generation will still fail. Make sure the signed-in account is the one paying for Codex.

Cause 3 — Codex is installed but Leafage can’t find it

If codex --version works in Terminal but Leafage still reports it as missing, the app is likely looking in a different PATH than your shell uses. This is common when Codex was installed via a version manager (nvm, asdf, Homebrew in a non-default location).

Find the full path

In Terminal, run:

which codex

This prints the absolute path to the Codex binary, for example:

/Users/you/.nvm/versions/node/v22.3.0/bin/codex

Point Leafage at it

Copy the full path from the command above.
In Leafage, open Settings -> Codex.
Click Change in the Codex CLI section.
Paste the path into Custom path and save.
The Codex CLI section should show that Codex is ready.

Tip

After changing anything in Terminal — installing, signing in, or updating Codex — fully quit Leafage (⌘ Q) and reopen it so it re-checks your setup.

Verify it’s working

Open Settings -> Codex and confirm the Codex CLI section says Codex is ready.
Return to your canvas, select a node, and run a generation.
If the image generates, you’re set.

Still stuck?

If Codex works in Terminal but Leafage won’t connect after all of the above:

Confirm you’re on a supported macOS version and the latest Leafage build — see Installing Leafage.
Contact support with your macOS version, Leafage version, and the output of codex --version and which codex.