Choose native or enhanced mode.
Codex Appearance settings support a base theme plus accent, background, foreground and font choices. Use those controls when you only need color and typography. The studio’s copied color string is an experimental transfer aid because the public documentation does not promise that serialization as a stable developer API; if your version has no matching import control, reproduce the values in Settings instead.
An enhanced skin adds a background image and translucent visual treatment. It needs the open-source Dream Skin engine and its local CDP connection.
Inspect the exact source you will run.
Read the current repository README and the platform-specific install, verify and restore entries. Record the commit you reviewed before running it. Confirm that the scripts bind CDP to loopback, leave the official install directory alone and do not change an API key, base URL or model-provider setting.
The button above opens a local task with the repository and a review-first prompt. The prompt is placed in the composer; you still decide whether to send it and whether to approve any command.
Use the documented platform entry.
macOS
From the repository’s macos directory, use Install Codex Dream Skin.command. The project documents support for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
Windows
Follow windows/SKILL.md. The documented sequence uses install-dream-skin.ps1 followed by start-dream-skin.ps1.
Do not copy commands from a theme author’s package. Packages are data only; installation logic belongs to the reviewed engine.
Customize only through a supported path.
The studio’s .dreamskin export is a ZIP-compatible review recipe, not an upstream installer. It contains manifest.json, theme.json, background.webp, preview.webp, LICENSE.txt and signature.json, and it is deliberately marked unsigned.
macOS
Extract background.webp, then use the reviewed upstream Customize entry to select that image. The upstream flow owns application discovery, session startup, verification and recovery; website sliders remain a visual reference rather than a promise that every value maps one-to-one.
Windows
Use the upstream fixed install, start, verify and restore flow. The repository does not currently document user-image customization at macOS parity, so treat the website archive as a design reference instead of claiming it can be applied in one click.
Test the surfaces and practice recovery.
Open Home, a long task and a Diff. Check text readability, composer controls, scrolling and window focus. Then run the documented restore action once, even if the theme works. A recovery path is only useful after you have verified it.
Quit the engine before running untrusted local applications. If Codex updates and the interface looks wrong, restore stock, review the upstream repository for a verified update and keep using the official appearance until compatibility is confirmed.