Install and Apply Enhanced Themes
Choose the guide for this machine, complete preflight, then keep Verify and Restore beside the Apply step.
What this guide covers
This page is the handoff from browser tools to the independent Codex Dream Skin local Engine. The website can create, preview, and structurally validate files, but it does not apply them to Codex. Choose the guide for your operating system only after you have reviewed the theme record, source rights, hashes, structural report, runtime evidence, and recovery steps.
Preflight before local use
Save current work and close or back up important sessions. Confirm that your theme is one named directory containing one theme JSON and one referenced PNG, JPEG, or WebP image. Compare any published SHA-256 values. Reject unexpected scripts, executables, extra files, nested archives, path traversal, or a FAIL result. Record your OS and architecture, Codex build, Engine version, and the pinned Runtime SHA before Apply.
Choose macOS or Windows
Use the macOS page for the documented macOS workflow and the Windows page for the documented Windows workflow. The two paths have separate commands, file locations, permissions, and evidence. Do not copy a result from one platform to the other. If your exact Codex build is not represented by formal evidence, Runtime status remains NOT_VERIFIED or becomes REVERIFY_REQUIRED.
Apply boundary
The independent Engine launches or connects to Codex through a loopback Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint and injects CSS or DOM into the local renderer. That loopback debug endpoint does not provide user-level authentication. Use it only on a trusted local machine. Follow the pinned guide exactly; do not expose the debug port beyond the intended loopback session.
Verify the themed session
Verify the exact theme, platform, Codex build, Engine version, Runtime SHA, artifact hash, and date. Visual appearance alone is not formal evidence. The verification record must also identify what was checked and preserve an evidence hash. A browser preview or structural PASS cannot substitute for this runtime step.
Restore and close
Use Restore when finished. A completed recovery record must show that injected content was removed, the themed CDP session and port were closed, and stock Codex reopened without debug flags. If any part cannot be confirmed, show CANNOT_VERIFY for the recovery check and do not claim that the stock state was restored.
Stop conditions
Stop before Apply when the files FAIL validation, rights or redistribution status is blocked, the source is unclear, required hashes do not match, unexpected package content appears, or the platform guide does not match your system. Stop during recovery if the themed process or debug endpoint remains open; consult the pinned Engine documentation rather than improvising a universal command.
Evidence boundary
Structural PASS is not runtime evidence. Runtime claims apply only to the exact evidence tuple shown and may require re-verification after Codex or Engine updates. CodexSkin Tools is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by OpenAI.
States
Errors
Frequently asked questions
What should I check before applying an Enhanced theme?
Review source rights, redistribution status, structural results, available hashes, exact platform and build evidence, the pinned Runtime SHA, and the complete Restore path.
Why are there separate macOS and Windows guides?
The workflows can have different commands, paths, permissions, and evidence. A result for one platform must not be copied to the other.
When is Restore complete?
Only when injected content is removed, the themed CDP session and port are closed, and stock Codex reopens without debug flags; otherwise recovery remains unconfirmed.