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Comment by lgl

10 hours ago

Does that really mean that it's bundling those apps from the start or did it just download and install them at some point to do some local work on some prompt or job you ask it to?

I don't see it making much sense to bundle it. I'm sure a LOT of LLM prompts are related with docs, excels, powerpoints etc, etc but don't really see it worth it for it to be bundled on the codex app from the get go, because otherwise, why not also install dozens of other apps?

9 comments

lgl

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simonw  10 hours ago

I'm not sure. Someone who hasn't installed the ChatGPT (or Codex) apps yet could confirm this by installing the apps, seeing if that ~/.cache directory exists, then try running a prompt that needs Python or Node.js or LibreOffice and see if it downloads them when needed.

  • zatkin  10 hours ago

    I've never installed the ChatGPT app on my Mac until today. I ran the app, signed in, and I see the same.

    % ls ~/.cache/codex-runtimes/codex-primary-runtime/dependencies/native/libreoffice-headless

    libreoffice manifest.json

    • embedding-shape  10 hours ago

      On a Windows installation I see this:

          PS C:\Users\user> ls C:\Users\user\.cache\codex-runtimes\codex-primary-runtime\dependencies\native\
    Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
    ----                 -------------         ------ ----
    d-----         8/27/2026  10:09 AM                git
    d-----         6/16/2026   9:18 PM                jxrlib
    d-----         8/26/2026   7:37 PM                libheif
    d-----         6/17/2026   5:32 AM                poppler
    d-----         8/27/2026  10:09 AM                powershell

      So doesn't seem bundled with all installs at least.

      2 replies →

    • zamadatix  9 hours ago

      Notably: this did not exist after I installed the app, it existed after I ran the app and there was the long startup screen. Presumably, and I'm not sure I'm interested enough to redo it all and find out, that long startup screen involves the default skills plugins setting up their environment and one of those pulls it as a general app requirement.

      I also saw this present after first run on macOS but not Windows.

      1 reply →

    • ValentineC  9 hours ago

      I have had the Codex/ChatGPT app installed for a few months, and can confirm that there's a 422.9 MB file named LibreOfficeDev.app in the above path.

      More notably, I don't use Computer Use or any of the fancy features, just Codex for agentic coding.

RomanHauksson  10 hours ago

> why not also install dozens of other apps?

because other apps are less likely to be useful, and there's diminishing returns