Read Codex Aloud — Hear OpenAI's Coding Agent
Select any text in your Terminal.app where Codex is running — a plan, a refactor summary, a tool-call trace, a post-edit report. A floating ▶ appears next to your selection. One click — natural voice with word-level highlight on the real terminal.
macOS native · Free · No login · 40+ languages · Native terminal AX, no OCR
~/project $ codex
I ran the failing test in isolation and narrowed the bug to the cache eviction path. The TTL comparison uses seconds but the store records milliseconds — that explains why entries look fresh when the tests expect them to be stale. Fix: divide by 1000 at the comparison site and add a regression test.
Highlight follows each spoken word directly inside Terminal.app.
One App Covers Every AI Coding Tool on Mac
Same gesture, same word-level highlight — across every IDE and CLI developers actually use.
VS Code
Microsoft's editor
Cursor
AI-native IDE
Xcode
Apple's IDE
Windsurf
Codeium AI IDE
Claude Code
Anthropic CLI
Gemini CLI
Google AI CLI
Codex
OpenAI coding CLI
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Three Steps — Terminal AX Path
Codex runs in Terminal.app. Terminal.app is a native AppKit app, so CastReader reads its output through AX — no Screen Recording, no OCR.
Install
Download CastReader for Mac (.dmg). Grant Accessibility permission. Terminal.app needs no Screen Recording.
Select
Drag-select any text in Terminal.app — a Codex plan, a refactor trace, a tool-call output, an error message.
Click ▶
A play button appears next to your selection. One click — audio starts and highlight glides across the real terminal.
When Codex Users Add Read-Aloud
Codex is OpenAI's terminal-based coding agent. It produces plans, rationales, refactor summaries — long prose that's tough on the eyes. Listening offloads to your ears.
Hear Codex's plan before applying
Codex lays out its plan before multi-file changes. Listening at 1.5× catches 'wrong file' or 'wrong framework' assumptions faster than reading.
Listen to refactor summaries
After a multi-file refactor, Codex summarizes what it did. Audio lets you cross-check against `git diff` in another pane.
Audio-scan long explanations
Complex bug-hunt sessions produce paragraphs of reasoning. Listen while you sketch the flow on paper.
Review test-failure analyses
When a test breaks, Codex explains the root cause in prose. Audio helps you absorb the chain while your eyes scan the stack trace.
Study Codex's design choices
Codex justifies patterns in its output. Listening on replay embeds the idiom better than a single read.
Accessibility for marathon sessions
An 8-hour Codex session generates novels. Eyes on code + ears on prose is the only sustainable cadence.
Why CastReader Beats macOS `say` for Codex
The built-in `say` command reads a pasted string — no highlight, no word-level sync, no click-to-jump, 2000s-era voices. CastReader reads your actual selection, in place, with modern TTS.
Word-level highlight on Terminal.app
A transparent overlay tracks each spoken word on the real terminal — not a clone window or side panel.
40+ Kokoro voices, auto-detect
English, Chinese, Japanese, 40+ more — auto-picked per selection. Modern TTS quality, not 1990s system voices.
Adjustable rate + click-to-jump
1.5× for verbose plans, 0.8× for tricky rationales. Click any paragraph to jump — impossible with `say`.
Zero cost, zero signup
No account. No daily limit. Your OpenAI bill stays the same — CastReader is the free voice layer.
Common Questions
How do I read Codex output aloud on a Mac?▾
Install CastReader for Mac, grant Accessibility permission, run Codex in Terminal.app, then select any text — a plan, a summary, an error — and click the floating ▶. Word-level highlight appears on your terminal.
Does Terminal.app need Screen Recording?▾
No. Terminal.app exposes its text through macOS Accessibility APIs. CastReader reads it directly — Accessibility permission alone is enough.
Does this work in iTerm2 / Warp / Ghostty?▾
Terminal.app has the cleanest AX path. iTerm2 works via AX with quirks. Warp uses a custom renderer (partial OCR support). Ghostty works reasonably through AX.
Will it read ANSI color codes?▾
CastReader strips ANSI escape sequences before synthesis. Colors and bold/underline render to the terminal; the speech hears only the underlying characters.
Can I read Chinese Codex prompts aloud?▾
Yes. CastReader auto-detects CJK and switches to native Mandarin, Japanese, or Korean voices. Mixed-language replies switch voice at sentence boundaries.
Does it interfere with Codex's keyboard input?▾
No. CastReader only triggers on selection + click ▶. Codex's prompt handling, Ctrl-C, and all shell shortcuts stay untouched.
What about running Codex in VS Code's terminal?▾
VS Code's integrated terminal uses a different AX path — CastReader uses the Electron OCR path there. Works but needs Screen Recording. For cleanest experience, run Codex in Terminal.app.
Is it really free?▾
Yes. 100% free — no account, no credit card, no premium voice gate, no daily word limit. Download the .dmg and use it forever.
Ready to Hear Codex Speak?
Install once. Run Codex in Terminal. Select any output. Click ▶. Listen.