Connect Codex to Vamo

Codex connects to Vamo with a setup code. The Vamo app gives you one line to paste into Codex. Codex trades the code for an API key and sets itself up. Codex also needs network access to reach Vamo.

The ways Codex can connect

There are three.

A setup code. The app shows one line with a single-use code. You paste it into Codex. Codex gets a key, stores it and adds Vamo as a tool.

Skills with an API key. Skills are instructions Codex reads. They call the Vamo API directly with your key.

The API directly. Codex calls the Vamo API with a key when you are building something of your own.

The app does not offer Codex browser sign-in. Every route ends with Codex holding a key.

Which one we recommend

Start with the setup code. It suits most people, because you never copy the key yourself.

Add skills when you want Codex to follow Vamo's own search methods. Skills and the Vamo tool can sit side by side. MCP, skills and the API explains how they differ.

Use the API directly when you are writing code against Vamo. The API reference has the reference.

What you need

• A Vamo account on a Pro or Enterprise plan. A setup code creates an API key, and keys need one.
• A role that can create keys: owner, admin or user. A read-only member cannot.
• Codex on your own computer. The setup stores the key there, so the machine must keep it between sessions.
• Network access from Codex to api.vamotalent.ai. See below.

Codex cloud starts each task fresh, so the setup code does not fit it. There the key is given to the environment instead. The skills install page leads to those steps.

Where to get the current steps

The steps change as Codex changes, so they live in one place that is kept current.

Open the Set up > Get started at Set up > Get started and choose Codex. Copy the line it gives you and paste it into Codex. The code in that line works once and lasts ten minutes, so paste it soon after you copy it.

For skills, follow the skills install page. Set up > Skills in the app shows the same skills and how to install them in Codex. You can browse them in the skills catalog.

Codex needs network access

Codex runs commands in a sandbox. The sandbox has the network off by default, so a skill cannot reach Vamo until it is on.

Vamo needs Codex to reach one host: api.vamotalent.ai. On your own computer, Codex has a sandbox setting that turns network access on for commands. In Codex cloud, the environment has a list of allowed hosts, and that host goes on it.

The skills install page leads to the current steps. Restart Codex after the change. If someone else manages your Codex setup, ask them to allow that host.

What a first good result looks like

Restart Codex after setup, so it loads the Vamo tool and the skills. Then ask for people. For example:

Use Vamo to find the strongest engineers at <company>.

A good answer names real developers, says what each has built, and says why they fit. Set up > API keys then shows when the key was last used.

What commonly goes wrong

• The setup code is rejected. It has expired or was already used. Copy a new line from that section. See The setup code didn't work.
• Codex says the network is blocked, or a request times out. The sandbox is still closed. See the section above.
• Setup finished but Vamo does not respond. See Vamo won't connect.
• Codex answers without using Vamo. It may not have loaded the tool or the skills. See The assistant isn't using Vamo.
• The key was lost. A key is shown once and cannot be shown again. Create a new one at Set up > API keys and revoke the old one.

If something is not working