Red Card is a webcam-powered Codex skill that ejects you from work, and you can build it yourself.
Hold up a red card and the app sends your goodbye, leaves the call, blocks time on your calendar, turns on your vacation responder, and runs a tiny referee animation. You do not need to know how to code—Codex walks you through setup and helps you make it your own.
- A Mac with ChatGPT for macOS and Codex access
- Google Chrome, signed into the account you want Red Card to use
- Python 3.11 or newer and the Xcode Command Line Tools
- Your Mac's camera, or a connected webcam
- A physical red card, or a phone showing the screen below
Open this image full-screen on your phone—or print it—and hold it up to the webcam.
Open ChatGPT on macOS in Codex mode and type:
Help me build the project at https://github.com/openai/redcard
Codex will install a self-contained $redcard skill, build its native helpers,
and run the required permission and camera checks. Setup stops before the real
Red Card sequence starts. If Codex asks you to reload or start a fresh task
after setup, do that once so the newly installed skill becomes available.
Once setup is finished:
- Join a Meet call in Chrome.
- Type
$redcardin Codex. - Hold up your red card when you are ready to leave.
Red Card takes it from there. Press Esc at any time to stop Red Card, even while Chrome is focused.
The setup installer checks permissions before the first real $redcard run.
When macOS asks, click Allow. If a setting needs to be changed manually,
Codex will take you to:
- System Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera
- System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility
- System Settings > Privacy & Security > Input Monitoring , if macOS asks for it so the global Esc shortcut can work
Enable ChatGPT for these permissions. You may need to quit and reopen ChatGPT after changing a permission.
In Chrome, also enable View > Developer > Allow JavaScript from Apple Events. Setup and every real Red Card launch verify this setting.
Ask Codex to change the goodbye message, calendar block, vacation response, sleep behavior, red-card sensitivity, or referee animation. Describe what you want in plain language and Codex will update and test it with you.