Use Codex Goals for a bounded coding objective

Choose work with a clear end state

The May video explains Codex Goals as a way to continue toward one objective across multiple tasks. Its CLI-only statement describes that recording. The title’s 15 hours is not a guarantee of runtime or completion, and longer activity is useful only when it produces a checked result.

1. Choose one coding objective with an observable outcome, such as completing a defined feature and its relevant checks. State the files or behaviour in scope and the evidence required at completion.
2. Set a practical work limit and identify decisions that require you. Use an ordinary short task when the job is a small edit that does not need sustained iteration.

Enable the feature and use its controls

The setup chapter at 1:03 shows enabling Goals in config.toml, with confirmation at 1:48. The description supplies command names but not the exact configuration entry. Follow the recorded setup alongside the installed CLI’s supported options.

1. Open the demonstrated config.toml setup and confirm the feature is enabled before assigning the objective. Start the goal with /goal and keep the finish criteria visible in the request.
2. Use /goal pause to pause the work, /goal resume to continue and /goal clear to clear the goal when appropriate. Check the resulting state rather than assuming typing a command changed it.

Review progress across context compaction

The video discusses non-blocking work, token limits and context compaction. A continued session still needs a durable account of what changed and what remains. Compaction is part of managing conversation context; it does not itself prove the application is correct.

1. Keep decisions, completed checks and unresolved failures in project files that the next stage can read. Inspect the saved code and test evidence when the session reports progress.
2. At the finish, run through the intended user behaviour and review the actual changes against the original objective. Record incomplete parts even if the goal spent a long time working.

The takeaway

Judge the goal by the finished behaviour and supporting checks. Runtime and a continuing session are context, not substitutes for completion.