Use OpenAI Codex with Take Toucan

What you'll get

The Codex desktop app working in your Take Toucan Documents folder, creating and editing script files that appear in the app after iCloud sync. Write anywhere. Record here.

Before you start

• Take Toucan installed on iPhone or iPad, with onboarding completed at least once. On first launch, the app seeds your folder with a README, a demo script, and AI instruction files.
• iCloud Drive enabled on all devices: Settings → [your name] → iCloud → iCloud Drive → On. Use the same Apple ID on Mac and iPhone.
• Open Take Toucan on iPhone once so the folder is created. On Mac, wait for iCloud to sync. Finder may show a cloud icon until download completes.
• Desktop tools (Cursor, Codex, Claude Code, Obsidian) connect on Mac only. Never paste an iPhone filesystem path on your Mac. Use the Mac path from the app or the paths below.

Find your scripts folder

Take Toucan stores scripts in iCloud Drive. The folder you connect to any writing tool is the Documents subfolder inside Take Toucan.

1. Finder sidebar: Finder → iCloud Drive → Take Toucan → Documents.
2. Go to Folder: Finder → Go → Go to Folder (⌘⇧G), then paste the path below.
3. From the iPhone app: Take Toucan → Dashboard or Settings → Scripts folder → Copy Mac path. Paste into Finder or your tool's open-folder dialog.

~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~co~uk~designaway~TakeToucanV2/Documents

You can also open ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Take Toucan in Finder and navigate to Documents.

[Screenshot: Finder → iCloud Drive → Take Toucan]

If you do not see agent files like AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md, enable View → Show Hidden Files in Finder (⌘⇧.). AI tools can still read them when the Documents folder is the project root.

Download the Codex desktop app

1. On your Mac, download the Codex desktop app from openai.com/codex.
2. Install Codex and move it to your Applications folder.
3. Open Codex and sign in with the same ChatGPT account you use for your paid subscription.

[Screenshot: Codex desktop app download and sign-in]

Connect Codex to the folder

Open the Documents folder as your project in Codex, not the parent Take Toucan container. That way agent files like AGENTS.md resolve correctly.

1. In the Codex desktop app, open your scripts folder. Use File → Open Folder or press ⌘O.
2. Navigate to iCloud Drive → Take Toucan → Documents, or paste the path below.
3. Select the Documents folder and open it as your project.
4. When you start a thread, choose to work locally in that folder so Codex can read and write files there.

~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~co~uk~designaway~TakeToucanV2/Documents

You can also drag the Documents folder onto the Codex app window to open it as a project.

[Screenshot: Codex desktop app with the Documents folder open as a project]

Write your first script

Create a new file named Why I press record.md in your Documents folder. Use plain spoken prose:

I used to wait until I felt ready on camera.

Now I press record before I feel ready, because waiting was the whole problem.

One messy take beats another week of planning.

Save the file, wait for iCloud sync, then open Take Toucan on iPhone and record.

Optional: use AI in this folder

With your Documents folder open in the Codex desktop app, ask Codex to draft a script in the chat. It should read AGENTS.md, TAKE_TOUCAN_SCRIPT_RULES.md, and VOICE.md from the folder.

Read TAKE_TOUCAN_SCRIPT_RULES.md and VOICE.md, then create a 150-word Take Toucan script called My First Idea.md. Plain spoken prose only, no stage directions.

You do not need to edit AGENTS.md unless you want to change how agents write for Take Toucan. The app may update app-managed files on release.

Sync back to Take Toucan

1. Save your .md file in the Documents folder on Mac.
2. Wait for iCloud to sync (usually seconds to a minute).
3. Open Take Toucan on iPhone and pull to refresh on the dashboard.
4. Your script appears. Tap it and record with the teleprompter.

Troubleshooting