Codex Skin Command Reference Cheat Sheet

Codex skin commands are few, but they live in three different places: the CLI, the Codepilot TUI, and a separate Go tool. This cheat sheet puts the whole set in one table so you can copy and move on.

The command table

Command	Where	What it does
/theme	Codex CLI	Prints the installed theme list and opens the picker
/theme <Name>	Codex CLI	Applies a theme by name, e.g. /theme Tokyo Night
/skin	Codepilot TUI	Picks one of the 16 built-in TUI skins
codex-theme apply <slug>	Codex Themes CLI	Applies a skin using its index slug
codex-theme rollback	Codex Themes CLI	Undoes the last apply
codex-theme export	Codex Themes CLI	Writes the same palette to your terminal profile
Bearded Theme Ports install script	shell	One-time install that makes /theme useful

Install command, once per machine:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vufly/bearded-theme-ports/master/scripts/install-codex.sh | sh

How to list installed codex skins

1. Open Codex CLI and run /theme.
2. The /theme command list shows every port currently installed — nothing more, nothing less.
3. If it is empty, run the install script above, close the prompt, and open it again. Ports are read at startup.

Codex Themes CLI adds a preview step before you commit: codex-theme preview <slug> renders the palette without writing it, which is the safer order when you are testing something like Tokyo Night CLI against a light terminal.

Switch a codex skin from the terminal

You do not have to use the picker. Name the theme and it applies immediately:

# inside Codex CLI
/theme Monokai Stone
/theme Solarized

# from a normal shell, using the index slug
codex-theme apply amber-nocturne

Two things worth knowing. Some ports cache colors at startup, so if the palette looks wrong after an apply, restart Codex CLI before you assume it failed. And codex-theme rollback is faster than re-applying the previous theme by name when you are comparing two candidates.

Codex skin shortcuts worth memorising

• Name matching is forgiving. /theme Monokai Stone works without quoting the space in the CLI prompt.
• Arrow keys plus Enter beats typing the full name when the list is short.
• Preview, then apply. codex-theme preview before codex-theme apply saves a restart each time.
• Export once. codex-theme export writes the same palette to your terminal profile, so the prompt and Codex stop disagreeing.
• Rollback before experimenting. One codex-theme rollback undoes a bad apply.

When a command quietly does nothing

• /theme prints nothing — no port installed yet. Run the install script and reopen the prompt.
• Palette looks wrong after apply — restart Codex CLI; ports cache colors at startup.
• /skin is not recognised — it only exists inside the Codepilot TUI (npm i -g @charzhu/codepilot), not in stock Codex CLI.
• Desktop does not respond to /theme — CLI skins are palette-only. Desktop skins are installed differently; the install guide covers both paths.
• Two themes with the same name — ports with identical display names collide in the picker. Apply by slug with codex-theme apply instead, which is unambiguous.
• Changes vanish after an update — a Codex update can reset the theme directory. Re-run /theme and reapply; if it keeps happening, keep the install script in your dotfiles so restoring takes one command.
• The terminal outside Codex still looks different — /theme only colors Codex. Run codex-theme export once and the surrounding prompt, selection highlight and background follow the same palette.

A useful habit: keep a note of the exact command that produced the look you settled on. Six months later, when you rebuild a machine, that one line is faster than re-reading the whole picker.

Where to go next

The four skins referenced here are all in the Mono & Terminal category: Monokai Stone CLI, Solarized CLI, Tokyo Night CLI and Vivid Purple CLI. If you want the reasoning behind each install format, Codex skin file formats explained is the companion read, and the skin index lists everything currently catalogued.