Codex CLI

Codex CLI talks to FreeTheAI through the OpenAI Responses API. Add FreeTheAI as a model provider in config.toml and keep the key in an environment variable.

Category: Coding tools. Before you start, you need a FreeTheAI account, an API key, and today's check-in.

Settings

Setting	Value
base_url	https://api.freetheai.org/v1
wire_api	responses
env_key	FTAI_KEY

Steps

Save your key in an environment variable

On Windows run the first line and open a new terminal; on macOS and Linux add the second line to your shell profile.

setx FTAI_KEY "ftai_your_key_here"
export FTAI_KEY="ftai_your_key_here"

Edit config.toml

Open ~/.codex/config.toml (on Windows, %USERPROFILE%\.codex\config.toml) and add:

model = "fta/zai/glm-5.3"
model_provider = "freetheai"

[model_providers.freetheai]
name = "FreeTheAI"
base_url = "https://api.freetheai.org/v1"
env_key = "FTAI_KEY"
wire_api = "responses"

Run Codex

Start codex. To switch models, change model = "..." to any fta/ ID and restart.

Tips

• Codex only speaks the Responses API now; wire_api = "chat" is refused by current versions.
• fta/zai/glm-5.3 and fta/kimi/k3 handle tool calls well.

Common questions

Does FreeTheAI support the Responses API Codex needs?

Yes. /v1/responses is translated for every free model, streamed or not. It was tested with Codex on 2026-09-29.

More help

• Every API error and its fix
• Limits and the daily reset
• Codex CLI website and source code

How this guide was checked

Tested with the current Codex CLI on 2026-09-29 (Responses streaming and tool calls through FreeTheAI).