Launching today

CodexBar Lite

Launching today

Privacy-first Codex tracker for your macOS menu bar

37 followers

Privacy-first Codex tracker for your macOS menu bar

37 followers

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CodexBar Lite is a native macOS menu bar app that keeps your OpenAI Codex usage visible at a glance. It uses your existing Codex CLI session - no browser cookies, Keychain permissions, API keys, or third-party accounts required. Monitor usage, reset times, and receive notifications, all from a lightweight, open-source app.

Free

Launch tags:Privacy•Developer Tools•GitHub

Launch Team / Built With

Viktor.comAn AI coworker that actually does the work

Promoted

CodexBar Lite

Maker

📌

Hey everyone! 👋 CodexBar Lite started as a tool I built for myself. I wanted a simple way to keep an eye on my Codex usage while working, but even getting one tracker set up felt like more effort than it should. Most solutions I tried wanted access to Chrome, browser cookies, Keychain, or other permissions just to show usage. So I built one around a simple idea: use the existing codex login session that's already on my Mac. I've been using it daily for the past few months, gradually polishing it instead of launching it. Every time I thought it was ready, I'd find one more thing to improve. Today I'm finally sharing it. A few highlights: - Native macOS app - Uses your existing Codex CLI login - Minimal by design - no Chrome, browser cookies, or Keychain access - No telemetry - Lightweight and open source I'd love to hear what you think. If you use Codex regularly, what would make a menu bar companion genuinely useful for your workflow?

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2d ago

Reusing the existing Codex CLI session instead of asking for Chrome access, browser cookies, or Keychain permissions is exactly the right call for a tool this narrow in scope, most usage trackers overreach on permissions relative to what they actually need to show a number. Months of daily personal use before shipping usually shows in the polish, and it reads that way here. Since it only reads the CLI session, does it break or silently go stale if OpenAI changes how that session is stored, or is there some fallback check built in for that.

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3h ago

CodexBar Lite

Maker

It would silently stop fail if OpenAI changes the session format. That said, I use it every day myself and have been maintaining it for almost 2 months now, so these issues usually get caught quickly.

I’ve also added OTA updates, which makes it easier to ship fixes whenever something changes on OpenAI’s end.

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2h ago

Loving the choice to lean on the existing CLI session instead of asking users to generate yet another API key, lovely detail that makes a tool feel trustworthy:)

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20m ago

Forum Threads

p/codexbar-lite

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1d ago

Why I built this instead of using existing solutions

The moment a usage tracker asks for half a dozen permissions, something has already gone wrong.

I wasn't looking for another dashboard. I wasn't looking for analytics. I definitely wasn't looking to hand over Chrome access, keychain access or browser cookies. I wanted to answer one question.

"Can I keep coding, or am I about to hit my limit?"

p/codexbar-lite

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1d ago

What's one thing that would make CodexBar Lite genuinely more useful?

One thing I've tried to avoid with CodexBar Lite is feature creep. Every feature starts as a good idea. Add enough of them and you've accidentally built another dashboard.

So before I add anything, I usually ask myself one question:

"Does this help someone get back to coding faster?"

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