How to Make a Claude Code Skill Work in OpenAI Codex
A Claude Code skill breaks in Codex for two plain reasons: it writes files where Codex forbids writing, and it calls a question tool Codex does not have. Both have small fixes, now shipped in our free skill, Godmode Lite 2.5.1.
💥 The problem: A Windows user ran our free skill in Codex. It would not start, and its final question step did nothing.
🔍 The cause: It saved run files inside its own skill folder, and it hard-coded Claude Code's question tool.
🔧 The fix: Save state in a per-user folder, fall back to the project, and ask in plain chat text when there is no question tool.
What actually broke
The skill is Godmode Lite, a free skill that walks Claude through four steps: read the context, do the work, test it, polish it. It worked fine in Claude Code, where we built it.
A real user then ran it in Codex on Windows and hit two separate faults.
↓
🚫 Codex refuses: writes are allowed only inside the project
↓
⛔ The runner never starts
↓
❓ Even past that, the "how did it go?" step calls a tool Codex lacks, and silently does nothing
Think of a hotel guest. You may rearrange the furniture in your own room, but the front desk will not let you move things in the lobby. Our skill kept trying to store its luggage in the lobby.
Fault 1: the skill wrote where Codex says no
Our runner kept its per-run state (a notes file plus a report) inside the skill's own folder in your home directory.
Codex runs commands in a sandbox that, by default, only lets them write inside the project workspace. A write to the home skill folder is refused, so the runner stopped before doing anything.
The fix is a short list of places to try, in order. Click each one to see what it means.
Fault 2: a question tool that Codex does not have
The skill ends by asking you how the result landed, and whether you agree to share anonymous outcome stats. In Claude Code it does that with a built-in question tool.
Codex has no such tool, so the call had nothing to run and the step quietly did nothing.
| Step | Claude Code | Codex |
|---|---|---|
| Ask "how did it land?" | Pop-up question tool | Tool missing, step skipped |
| Ask for consent to share stats | Pop-up question tool | Tool missing, no answer recorded |
| After the fix | Same pop-up | Plain question in the chat, your next reply is the answer |
One safe rule for the consent step: if there is no reply, or the reply is unclear, the answer is No. A missing tool must never turn into a silent Yes.
Want the same rigor on a chore of your own? A fixed $250 build ships with the scope written and tested on your example first. Get a written scope.
How do you make one skill run on both?
Never write inside the skill folder, try a per-user folder first, then the project, then the temp folder, and say which one you used. Wherever a step names a Claude-only tool, add a plain-text fallback that reads the next chat reply as the answer.
- Keep the skill folder read-only. Write nothing into it, ever.
- Save run state in a per-user folder:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\godmode-liteon Windows. - If that is blocked too, fall back to
<project>/.evo/godmode-lite, the one place Codex allows writes. - As a last resort use the system temp folder, and print one line saying where state went.
- For every question step, write the plain-text version next to the tool version.
Do
- Test with the skill folder and home folder locked read-only
- Keep reading runs saved in the old location, so nobody loses history
Don't
- Assume every host has the same tools you built against
- Let a missing tool fail without a word
Where the fix stands
Godmode Lite 2.5.1 has both fixes. They are merged on the Godmode Lite GitHub repo and shipped in the download. The runner passed tests with the skill folder locked, and with home locked and only the project writable.
Already have it? Download it again and unzip over your old copy. It is free: see the Godmode Lite install page.
Sources: the fixes and version are from the Godmode Lite 2.5.1 changelog and its test runs. Codex's write limit is its default sandbox behavior and can be configured differently on your machine.
Related: how to create a Claude Code skill and the real cost of a skill that fails silently.