Role Creator

Overview

Use this skill to author, update, or troubleshoot custom Codex agents as standalone TOML files.

Current behavior:

• Each custom agent is defined by one file:
  • Global: ~/.codex/agents/<agent-name>.toml
  • Project: <project>/.codex/agents/<agent-name>.toml
• The agent file is the role source of truth.
• ~/.codex/config.toml is only for global/runtime settings (for example [agents] thread limits), not per-role registration.

Non-Negotiable Inputs

Step 1 is required before writing files:

• name (role identifier used by agent_type)
• description (short, human-readable purpose)
• developer_instructions
• model (recommend gpt-5.3-codex unless requested)
• model_reasoning_effort (none|minimal|low|medium|high|xhigh)
• role scope (global or project)
• output TOML path (canonical absolute path preferred)
• whether to include nickname_candidates and exact values

Execution rule:

• Do not infer required values.
• Do not write until required inputs are explicitly confirmed.

Role file contract (current)

From Codex custom agent docs (/codex/subagents):

• Required keys: name, description, developer_instructions.
• Optional keys: nickname_candidates, model, model_reasoning_effort, sandbox_mode, web_search, mcp_servers, skills.config, etc.
• name is the spawn identifier and source of truth.
• description + developer_instructions define behavior and usage boundaries.
• nickname_candidates is optional and used only for display.

nickname_candidates requirements:

• Must be a non-empty list of unique values when present.
• Allowed characters: ASCII letters, digits, spaces, hyphens, underscores.

Default policy for optional settings

• Do not add sandboxing/MCP/web-search/model extras unless requested.
• Keep generated files minimal by default.
• If the user says "inherit defaults", omit optional keys instead of setting explicit values.

Workflow

1. Collect and confirm required inputs.
2. Resolve output path:
   • global → ~/.codex/agents/<name>.toml
   • project → <project>/.codex/agents/<name>.toml
3. Create or update the file directly with required keys.
4. Validate TOML parse and required keys.
5. Return a ready-to-run example call:

{"agent_type":"<name>","message":"<task>"}

Commands

# 1) Write a standalone custom-agent file
/home/willr/Applications/skills/skills/role-creator/scripts/write_role_config.sh \
  --output ~/.codex/agents/reviewer.toml \
  --role-name reviewer \
  --description "PR reviewer focused on correctness, security, and risk." \
  --model gpt-5.4 \
  --reasoning high \
  --developer-instructions "Review code like an owner. Lead with concrete findings and residual risks."

# Optional: include nickname candidates for display
/home/willr/Applications/skills/skills/role-creator/scripts/write_role_config.sh \
  --output ~/.codex/agents/reviewer.toml \
  --role-name reviewer \
  --description "PR reviewer focused on correctness, security, and risk." \
  --model gpt-5.4 \
  --reasoning high \
  --developer-instructions "Review code like an owner. Lead with concrete findings and residual risks." \
  --nickname-candidates "Atlas,Delta,Echo" \
  --sandbox-mode read-only \
  --web-search disabled

Guardrails

• If runtime returns unknown agent_type, verify the active scope and confirm the file exists at the expected path.
• Check syntax first with tomlq or tomlq -C.
• Keep role instructions operational and narrowly scoped to avoid drift.

References

• Codex subagents docs: https://developers.openai.com/codex/subagents
• Display nicknames: https://developers.openai.com/codex/subagents#display-nicknames
• Reusable templates: templates/