A practical guide to understanding what the /goal command does in Codex, when to use it, how to write it properly, and why it can improve an AI coding workflow while increasing token usage.
How to Use /goal Properly in Codex
When people first discover Codex, they often use it like a classic chatbot: one task, one prompt, one answer.
And at first, that works really well.
You ask it to fix something, create a new page, build a component, or make a small improvement, and Codex gets it done. The problem starts when the project grows.
Little by little, the limits appear:
the AI forgets earlier decisions;
the design becomes less consistent;
the architecture starts to drift;
you keep repeating the same instructions;
Codex understands the task, but not always the bigger direction of the project.
That is exactly what /goal is trying to solve.
Instead of giving Codex only a local instruction, /goal lets you define a broader direction that Codex keeps in mind throughout the workflow.
Used well, it can seriously improve the consistency of a project. Used poorly, it can also increase costs, slow down simple tasks, or push Codex to do too much.
What you need to understand before using /goal
The first mistake is to think of /goal as just a longer prompt.
It is not exactly that.
A regular prompt usually says:
Read next
Do this task.
A /goal says something closer to:
This is the kind of product we are trying to build.
That difference matters.
The point is not just to generate code. The point is to guide the model’s decisions across several dimensions:
architecture;
user experience;
visual style;
priorities;
constraints;
the general behavior of the project.
In practice, /goal acts almost like a permanent product brief.
That is what makes it useful on a real project. But it is also what makes it risky if the direction you give is vague, too broad, or contradictory.
If your goal is poorly written, Codex may make bad decisions consistently. And sometimes, that is worse than a simple local mistake.
How to write a good /goal
A good /goal should give Codex a clear direction.
You do not need to write three pages. You just need to help the model understand what you are actually building.
A good goal should include:
a clear product vision;
concrete priorities;
useful constraints;
a sense of the experience you want to create.
Bad /goal example
/goal Build a website
Here, Codex understands almost nothing.
What kind of website? For whom? With what style? What priorities? What technical constraints?
The model has to improvise.
And when AI improvises too much, the project can quickly move in a direction you never intended.
Average /goal example
/goal Build a recipe sharing platform
This is already better.
We understand the product category: a recipe sharing platform. But it is still too broad.
Should it be social? Mobile-first? Highly visual? Built for quick cooking? Designed for creators? Families? Students?
Codex has a bit of context, but not yet a real direction.
Good /goal example
/goal Build a recipe platform where users can save recipes in under 10 seconds, quickly switch between mobile cooking mode and desktop browsing, and always keep ingredient lists readable while cooking.
Here, everything changes.
The model now understands the priorities much better:
saving a recipe should be fast;
mobile usage matters;
the cooking experience is important;
ingredient readability is a priority;
the product should stay practical in a real-life context.
Even without a full specification, Codex can already make better decisions.
It can understand that ingredients should not be hidden behind three menus, that loading speed matters, and that a cooking mode should probably avoid unnecessary distractions.
That is where /goal becomes useful: it does not only describe what to build, it explains why the product should be built in that direction.
Three concrete examples of good /goal prompts
A good /goal does not need to be long. It mainly needs to be specific about the real use case.
For a study app
/goal Build a study app designed for students who revise in short sessions between classes, with instant note access, distraction-free reading and extremely fast loading times.
Here, Codex understands that study sessions are short, notes must be instantly accessible, and speed matters more than visual effects.
For a photographer portfolio
/goal Build a portfolio website for photographers where images should always feel immersive, fullscreen and smooth even on slower connections.
This goal gives a clear direction: the visual experience is central, but it should not destroy performance.
Codex can make better trade-offs between image quality, compression, lazy loading, transitions and smoothness.
For a recipe platform
/goal Build a recipe platform where users can save recipes in under 10 seconds, quickly switch between mobile cooking mode and desktop browsing, and always keep ingredient lists readable while cooking.
This example works because it starts from a real usage situation.
It does not simply say “build a modern recipe app”. It explains what actually matters to the user.
And that is often the key to a good /goal: fewer vague words, more usage context.
When you should use /goal
/goal becomes useful when your project starts to have real structure.
For example:
multiple pages;
a clear architecture;
a visual identity;
UX decisions that need to stay consistent;
many iterations;
important refactors;
a product logic that should remain stable.
It is especially useful for:
SaaS products;
dashboards;
mobile apps;
content platforms;
long-term projects;
products with a strong UX logic;
large refactors.
In these situations, /goal helps Codex avoid treating every request as an isolated task.
It understands that each change should fit into a broader product vision.
When you should not use /goal
On the other hand, /goal is not useful everywhere.
For a tiny task, it can be excessive.
For example:
fixing an isolated bug;
changing a color;
renaming a variable;
writing a small script;
adjusting a button;
fixing a simple TypeScript error.
In these cases, a normal prompt is usually enough.
Using /goal for a very local task can even be counterproductive. Codex may read more files, think too broadly, or suggest more ambitious changes than needed.
Sometimes, you just want to fix one line. Not rethink the product.
The most common mistakes
Changing the /goal too often
If the goal changes every twenty minutes, Codex loses global consistency.
The whole point of /goal is to provide a stable direction.
It is better to keep the same goal during a real work phase, then update it only when the product direction actually changes.
You might change it if you are redesigning the UX, changing the target user, changing the product philosophy, or moving from a prototype to a more serious version.
But if you change the goal for every small task, it loses most of its value.
Writing a goal that is too vague
A goal like this is almost useless:
/goal Build a modern app
The word “modern” can mean a lot of things: minimal, highly visual, enterprise-style, mobile-first, clean, premium, experimental.
Codex cannot guess exactly what you have in mind.
Instead of saying “modern”, explain what you actually want: a fast interface, simple navigation, a highly readable experience, a clean design, a mobile-first app, or a product that loads quickly even with a lot of data.
Adding too much information
The opposite mistake also exists.
Some goals become huge blocks of text with too many details and too many constraints.
The problem is that the denser the goal becomes, the more Codex can lose track of the real priorities, mix up constraints, or overvalue a secondary detail.
A good /goal should remain easy to read quickly.
The right balance is often one strong sentence or a short paragraph.
Letting Codex go too far
With /goal, Codex can sometimes become very ambitious.
It may suggest a large refactor, a more complex architecture, new abstractions, or additional files.
Sometimes, that is useful. But sometimes, you only wanted to update one component.
The goal gives the global direction, but your local prompts still need to be precise.
For example:
Only update this component. Do not change the global architecture.
Or:
Make the smallest possible change to fix this issue.
The goal does not replace steering. It improves it.
The hidden cost: tokens
This is probably one of the least discussed aspects of /goal.
When you use /goal, Codex works with a broader vision of the project. That broader vision can make it consume more tokens.
Why?
Because it may tend to:
read more files;
keep more context;
reason for longer;
explore more of the architecture;
suggest broader changes.
On a complex project, that cost can be justified. /goal can save time, reduce inconsistencies and limit micromanagement.
But for small tasks, it is often unnecessary.
The right question to ask is simple:
Does this task need a global product vision, or only a local instruction?
If the answer is “local instruction”, /goal is probably not needed.
A recommended workflow
The best way to use /goal is to separate two things:
the global direction of the project;
the local tasks to execute.
1. Define a stable goal
Start by writing a goal that summarizes the real direction of the project.
It should include the product vision, UX priorities, important constraints and the kind of experience you want to create.
It does not need to be perfect. It mainly needs to stop Codex from improvising the overall direction.
2. Keep the same goal during a real work phase
Once the goal is defined, avoid changing it constantly.
Keep it during a coherent work phase: building a feature, redesigning a page, improving a dashboard, stabilizing the UX, or cleaning up the architecture.
The goal acts as a compass. If you keep changing the compass, it becomes useless.
3. Use classic prompts for local tasks
Then use normal prompts to guide Codex on precise tasks.
For example:
Update the article card component to make the title more readable on light cover images. Keep the current layout and avoid changing unrelated files.
Or:
Fix the loading state on the dashboard. Make the smallest possible change and do not refactor the data fetching logic.
The /goal provides the global context. The local prompt gives the exact action.
They work together.
4. Update the goal only when the direction changes
You can update your goal, of course.
But do it when the project direction actually changes: moving to production, changing the target user, redesigning the UX, changing the product philosophy or restructuring the architecture.
If you are only changing a button, a page or a component, the goal probably does not need to change.
The right way to think about /goal
The easiest way to understand /goal is not to treat it like a magic command.
It is not a button that automatically makes Codex better.
It is a framing tool.
It tells the model:
This is the direction. Now make decisions within that frame.
That is powerful when you want to build a coherent product. But it also requires discipline.
A good /goal should be:
clear;
stable;
use-case oriented;
precise enough to guide the model;
short enough to stay readable.
Most importantly, it should help Codex understand trade-offs.
Because in a real project, the challenge is not just producing code. The challenge is producing code that moves in the right direction.
Conclusion
/goal becomes truly useful when you stop seeing it as just another command.
Its main value is not generating more code. Its real value is helping Codex understand the product you are actually trying to build.
Used well, /goal can reduce micromanagement, inconsistencies, repetition, architectural drift and contradictory UX decisions.
Used poorly, it can also increase costs, add unnecessary complexity, push Codex to over-engineer parts of the project, and make a small task heavier than it should be.
In the end, /goal works best as a permanent product direction.
And that is probably where AI workflows become the most interesting: when we stop asking AI only to execute tasks, and start asking it to build within a clear direction.
As of May 2026, /goal is also available in Claude Code. Anthropic describes it as a command that keeps Claude working toward an objective until the defined condition is met.
