Codex Editor Documentation
Comprehensive documentation for Codex Editor — an AI-powered platform for collaborative translation projects. This site is a living document and subject to changes as we optimize the user experience.
Welcome to Codex Editor
Codex Editor is an AI-assisted translation platform that combines a powerful editor foundation with modular extensions for translation, collaboration, and quality assurance. Whether you're working on structured texts, literary works, subtitles, or other documents, Codex helps you create accurate, contextually appropriate translations.
What is Codex Editor?
Codex is an AI-powered translation tool built to handle the complex needs of translation projects worldwide. It supports:
- Global Accessibility: Lowering barriers for translators in regions with limited resources
- Community Collaboration: Enabling teams to work together across geographic and linguistic boundaries
- Cultural Sensitivity: Allowing customization for specific domain and cultural contexts
- Quality Assurance: Providing tools for validation, back translation, and consistency checking
How Codex Works
Codex is not a single monolithic application. It is a custom build of VS Code (through VSCodium) that uses a modular extension architecture — each component owns a distinct responsibility, and together they form the full translation platform.
Foundation
Desktop application for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Extension Layer
Modular components installed from Open VSX
Extension Sideloader
Bundled in the binary — activates on first launch, fetches the extensions below, then sits idle
Codex Translation Editor
Custom .codex notebook editor, AI-powered translation tools, language server, and webview panels
Frontier Authentication
User accounts, cloud sync via GitLab, team collaboration
Shared State Store
Cross-extension reactive state for keeping panels in sync
Core Extensions
When you first launch Codex, a lightweight bootstrap extension called the Extension Sideloader automatically fetches and installs the core extensions from the Open VSX marketplace. After installation, all extensions are available offline for subsequent launches.
Codex Translation Editor — The heart of the platform. Provides the custom .codex notebook editor with a Quill-based cell editor supporting spellcheck and audio attachments, an embedded language server for spelling diagnostics, LLM-powered "smart edits" for AI-assisted translation and back-translation, and multiple webview panels for navigation, parallel passages, comments, project settings, and more. This is the extension users interact with directly when translating.
Frontier Authentication — Handles cloud identity and remote project lifecycle — user login and registration, GitLab-backed project sync (including auto-sync, merge conflict handling, and LFS support), and communication with the Frontier API for user accounts and sessions. Without this extension, users cannot log in, sync projects, or collaborate remotely.
Extension Sideloader — Developed and published to Open VSX as its own extension, but during the Codex build process its VSIX is downloaded and embedded directly into the binary — so it's available on first launch with no network. Its only job is to fetch a remote JSON manifest and trigger installation of the other extensions listed above. It has no UI of its own, and once the other extensions are installed it effectively becomes idle.
How Extensions Are Loaded
Extensions reach a running Codex instance through two phases:
Build Time — Bundled in the Binary
All extensions (including the Sideloader) are developed in their own repositories and published to Open VSX independently. During CI/CD, the Codex build pipeline downloads the Extension Sideloader VSIX from Open VSX, unzips it into the VS Code extensions directory, and the platform packaging step bakes it into the final binary. This is the only extension embedded at build time — it's available immediately at first launch with no network required.
Runtime — Sideloaded on First Launch
When Codex starts, the bundled Sideloader activates after startup finishes. It fetches an extensions.json manifest from GitHub, checks which extensions are missing, and installs them from the Open VSX gallery. On subsequent launches, extensions are already installed and no network is needed.
The Open VSX marketplace is configured during the build process via product.json. This is the same gallery used by VSCodium and other open-source VS Code distributions.
Desktop Application
Codex runs as a desktop application (Electron-based, like VS Code) on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Key Features
AI-Powered Translation
- Smart translation suggestions powered by advanced AI
- Customizable AI instructions for style and accuracy
- Batch prediction for efficient translation workflows
- AI learns from your edits to improve over time
Collaboration & Project Management
- Team-based project sharing and management
- Group creation with role-based permissions
- Automatic synchronization across team members on configurable intervals
- Version control and change tracking
Quality Assurance
- Back translation generation for accuracy verification
- Validation workflows for translation review
- Consistency checking across translations
- Phrase-level notes and annotations
Export & Integration
- Multiple export formats (plain text, HTML, USFM)
- Integration with existing translation workflows
- Project archiving and backup capabilities
Getting Started
New to Codex Editor? Start here to set up your account and create your first translation project.
Download
Download Codex Editor to get started today!
Initial Setup & Account
Set up your account and configure Codex Editor
Create a Project
Create and configure your first translation project
Core Workflows
Translation Process
Batch Translations
Use AI to queue and translate multiple cells at once for faster workflows
AI Copilot Settings
Configure AI instructions to guide translations in your project
Translation Tools
Learn about AI-assisted translation, back translation, and validation tools
Search & Replace
Search across files, pin parallel passages, and find-and-replace in your project
Comments
Leave notes, discuss translations, and collaborate with your team
Project Management
Sharing & Managing Projects
Collaborate with teams and manage project permissions
Exporting Projects
Export your translations in various formats for distribution
Support & Resources
- Documentation: Comprehensive guides for all features and workflows
- Community: Connect with other translators and share best practices on Discord
- Support: Technical assistance and troubleshooting help
If something is not working, start with the troubleshooting flow before escalating to support:
Troubleshooting
Diagnose common setup, project, import, sync, AI, media, and export issues before escalating.
Reporting Bugs
Learn how to collect console errors, screenshots, and reproduction steps that help the team fix bugs faster.
Ready to begin your translation journey? Start with our Getting Started guide or explore specific features in the Translation section.