Share your local app from OpenAI Codex
Content updated October 30, 2026.
How do I get Codex to share the app I’m building?
Install the qURL™ plugin, then ask Codex to share your app. It gives you a private address, and you choose who can open it. Your app stays on your computer. No LayerV account is needed.
Set up qURL for CodexWhat you need
- Codex CLI installed on this computer; use manual skill installation below for the IDE extension
- The app running on this machine
- No LayerV account or API key
Steps
Add the qURL plugin marketplace
Copy this command into your computer’s terminal and press Enter. Run it outside the Codex chat. This adds LayerV’s plugin source. You only need to do this once.
codex plugin marketplace add layervai/codex-pluginsInstall the plugin
After the first command finishes, copy this command into the same terminal and press Enter.
codex plugin add qurl@layervCheck Codex sees it
Start a new Codex session in your app’s project. Enter /plugins in the Codex message box, then check that qURL is installed and enabled.
/pluginsAsk Codex to share the app
Copy this request into the Codex message box and press Enter. Installing the CLI and publishing both need the network, so Codex asks for approval before running them. Review and approve the required actions; the skill gives the address to you and sends invitation emails only to recipients you authorize.
Share the app I'm running with qURL.Choose who can open the app
The agent applies the private access rules you choose. For named recipients, give it their email addresses so it can send invitations. Recipients verify their email in the browser and save a passkey; they never send you their email verification code. The agent checks policy support before sharing and keeps the app private if the deployment cannot support it. For existing legacy resources only, pass on a six-digit access code when it came from the person you mean to let in, over a channel where you know it is them. Ask for a one-time link when that meets your needs; the link is a secret.
Manual skill installation
Use this for the Codex IDE extension, or if plugins are unavailable. Run the command in your terminal, then enter /skills in Codex and select qurl. If it does not appear, restart Codex. Skip the plugin setup above and ask it to share your app with qURL. You do not need both the skill and the plugin.
mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills/qurl && curl -fsSL https://layerv.ai/skills/qurl/SKILL.md -o ~/.agents/skills/qurl/SKILL.mdWhat the recipient sees
A person opens the emailed invitation or the address in a browser and sees who published the app, marked Not verified: today LayerV has verified only its own account. The private policy controls access. Named recipients verify their email there and save a passkey; their email verification code stays in that flow. A person with a one-time link lands on your app directly. Either way, the session admits the network address the opener connects from.
Which tool should Codex use to share the app?
| Option | Choose it when | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| qURL | qURL fits when Codex should share the running app without a deploy: with the qURL skill it installs the CLI, publishes the app privately, and invites only the people you name. | With qURL your computer and the app must stay running, and invited people verify their email and save a passkey before they get in. |
| Vercel preview deployment | A Vercel preview deployment fits when the app should stay online with your laptop closed: the agent can run the Vercel CLI, which uploads the project and builds it on Vercel. | Vercel needs you logged in. New projects enable deployment protection by default, so check access settings before sharing. The first deployment of a new project is always a production deployment. |
| ngrok | ngrok fits when you already have an ngrok account: the agent runs ngrok http with your port and gets your stable dev-domain URL. | ngrok needs an authtoken configured first, the URL is public, and free-plan visitors see a browser warning page. |
| Cloudflare Quick Tunnels | A Cloudflare Quick Tunnel fits a throwaway public link: the agent runs cloudflared tunnel --url with no account. | A Cloudflare Quick Tunnel URL is public unless you add --allowed-mail, changes every run, and does not support Server-Sent Events. |
Troubleshooting
| If you see | Do this |
|---|---|
| Codex can’t read https://layerv.ai/skills/qurl/SKILL.md | Network access is off by default and web search returns cached results. Install the skill file yourself from the “Manual skill installation” section, or use the plugin setup above. |
| qurl publish fails with a network error | The command ran in the sandbox without network access. Approve it when Codex asks, or run qurl publish yourself. |
| The private-policy commands are unavailable or consumer access is disabled | Ask the agent to follow the access-policy support check in the qURL skill. It updates an older CLI when needed. If the deployment cannot support the requested policy, stop sharing and keep the app private; do not fall back to legacy access requests. |
| For an existing legacy resource, the agent cannot turn on access requests, or publishes with no Access: line in the output | The CLI is older than 3.4.1. Ask the agent to update it; the skill’s install step always installs the latest release. qurl --version should then print 3.4.1 or later. |
| qurl publish says the local app is not accepting TCP connections | Start the app first and check that curl works on the same address. qurl publish connects to localhost as 127.0.0.1, so if your app listens only on IPv6 (on macOS or Linux, lsof -iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN -nP shows [::1]), publish 'http://[::1]:PORT' instead, or start the dev server with --host 127.0.0.1 and publish that address. Neither requires listening on your LAN. Keep the quotes: zsh treats the brackets as a pattern. |
| The recipient sees “Access link invalid” | The link was already used or has expired. Run qurl share again and send the new link. |
| The recipient sees “Resource not found” | The resource was deleted after the link was made. Publish the app again, then run qurl share and send the new link. |
| publish rejects http://127.0.0.1 with “only HTTPS URLs are allowed”, or asks you to log in | You have a CLI older than 3.0. On macOS run brew update, then brew upgrade qurl; elsewhere install the latest release again. After updating, qurl --version should print 3.4.1 or later. |
| publish prints no Access: line, or the Access: line says public and you did not ask for public | With no Access: line, the CLI is older than 3.4.1: on macOS run brew update, then brew upgrade qurl; elsewhere install the latest release again. A resource that an older CLI published is public unless you published it with --private, and anyone who has the CRID of a public resource can open it. To make a public resource private, run qurl delete <CRID> and publish again with qurl 3.4.1 or later. The new resource is private and has a new CRID. |
| publish says this Linux session “can’t reach a systemd user manager” | You are in a container or sandbox without a user service manager. Run qurl publish with --foreground; sharing lasts as long as that process runs. |
| publish says “Quota Exceeded” with “protected resource limit reached”, or “Your qURL account has reached a plan limit” | You can see this without an account: a device with no account can keep up to 3 active resources, with links that last up to 24 hours. Run qurl list --status active, then qurl delete <CRID> for any you no longer need (it asks you to confirm; --yes skips that). qurl stop keeps the resource, so it does not free a slot. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use AGENTS.md instead of a skill?
You can point AGENTS.md at the skill, but Codex supports skills directly and loads one only when the task needs it. AGENTS.md is read at the start of every run.
Will the agent send the address or a link to other people?
It gives the address or link to you, and you decide who receives it. It sends invitation emails only to recipients you authorize. For legacy resources, it approves only a code you pass on, never the name on a request.
Do I need a LayerV account or API key?
No. Publishing from the CLI needs no account; the first publish creates an identity for this computer. Recipients verify their email and save a passkey in their browser when the private policy requires it. Without an account you can keep up to 3 active resources, with links that last up to 24 hours.
Who else can reach my app while the link is open?
Opening the link admits the network address it was opened from for the session, which lasts 1 hour by default. Other devices that share that public IP address, such as people on the same office or café network or VPN, can reach the app until the session ends. By default a link admits whoever opens it; access rules set through the API, such as IP allow and deny lists, can restrict that. Keep your app’s own sign-in for anything sensitive.
Share it from Codex
With the plugin ready, copy this request into Codex in the project whose app is running. You choose who can open the app.