Codex Worktrees Can Now Be Created From an iPhone

CodexSep 8, 2026View original changelog

ChatGPT for iOS 1.2026.244 let the mobile app create Codex worktrees for the first time, closing a gap where an iPhone could only view worktrees started on the CLI or desktop. Below the composer, a developer picks which git branch a new worktree is based on, including the current branch with its unstaged local changes. On iOS 26 the setup continues in the background with progress shown in a Live Activity on the lock screen, so the app does not have to stay open while the worktree is provisioned.

Key Takeaways

Codex worktrees can now be created directly from an iPhone, closing a gap where the iOS app could only view worktrees started on the CLI or desktop.
New worktrees can be based on any branch, including the current branch together with its unstaged local changes.
A Live Activity tracks setup in the background on iOS 26, so the ChatGPT app does not need to stay open while a worktree is provisioned.
The feature builds on Codex CLI 0.154.0's experimental worktree support, extending the same isolation mechanism to a mobile surface.
The release also brought the CLI's @ task mentions and inline live question answering to the iOS composer.
File browsing inside a task improved, gaining back navigation, recently opened files, and remembered reading positions.

Worktree Creation Arrives on Mobile

OpenAI released ChatGPT for iOS version 1.2026.244 on September 8, 2026, and its most substantive change is that the app can now create Codex worktrees rather than only viewing ones created elsewhere. Until this release, a developer could open an iPhone and inspect a worktree-backed Codex thread started on the CLI or desktop, but starting a fresh isolated checkout meant going back to a computer.

Choosing a Starting Branch

Below the composer, a developer now chooses which git branch a new worktree should be based on. That can be the repository's main branch, an existing feature branch, or the current branch including any unstaged local changes, giving mobile users the same branch-selection flexibility that CLI and desktop users already had. The result is a genuinely isolated checkout created from the phone, suitable for running a Codex session that will not collide with work in progress elsewhere in the same repository.

Live Activity Keeps Setup Running in the Background

On devices running iOS 26, worktree setup continues in the background while a Live Activity reports its progress on the lock screen. Provisioning a worktree is not instantaneous, and previously any equivalent long-running setup would have required keeping the app in the foreground and watching it finish. With the Live Activity, a developer can start a worktree, put the phone down, and come back once the lock screen says it is ready.

Why It Matters

Worktrees are the mechanism Codex uses to keep several concurrent sessions against one repository from overwriting each other's files, a pattern that became considerably more useful once Codex CLI shipped experimental worktree support in version 0.154.0. Bringing creation to mobile means the phone is no longer a read-only companion to that workflow: a developer can kick off an isolated session from anywhere and let it run, rather than queueing the work until they are back at a desk.

Also in This Release

The same iOS release brought the CLI's @ mention shorthand to the mobile composer for referencing another Codex task, and let Codex surface a live question mid-task that a developer can answer inline without losing whatever draft they were composing. File browsing inside a task also improved, picking up back navigation, a list of recently opened files, and remembered reading positions. A set of reliability fixes rounds out the release: voice now respects the selected model and reasoning effort, missing delegated-task messages are restored, code reviews complete more consistently without duplicate activity, crashes when switching between Queue and Steer modes were resolved, reconnect reliability improved with device pairing preserved through temporary outages, and duplicate plugin skills no longer appear in composer suggestions.