TapprovalCodex notifications on your Apple Watch
Written by the maker of Tapproval, one of the options below, so read it with that in mind. Every claim about another product links to its source; facts as of 9 November 2026.
Codex stops when it needs you: a command to allow, a file change to approve. If you have stepped away, the work waits. There are four ways to have your Apple Watch tell you, and they differ in one thing that matters more than it sounds: whether the watch can only tell you, or can also answer.
1. Codex's own alerts, on the computer
The Codex CLI can raise a terminal notification when it needs approval or finishes a turn. In ~/.codex/config.toml, the [tui] table's notifications setting turns them on and can limit them to events such as approval-requested and agent-turn-complete (Codex's configuration guide). They appear on the computer, through your terminal, so they reach the wrist only if you are near enough to see the screen.
Good fit if you stay in the room and only need a nudge. Nothing to install.
2. A notify script that pings your phone
Codex can also run a program of your choice, set with notify in the same file. It passes the program one JSON argument describing the turn, and it fires "whenever Codex emits supported events (currently only agent-turn-complete)" (the same guide). A short script there can send a push through ntfy or Pushover, which your watch shows like any other phone notification.
The limit is in that quote: it tells you a turn is done, not that Codex is waiting for permission. For approvals, a script has to sit in a Codex hook instead.
3. The ChatGPT app on your iPhone
OpenAI's remote connections let the ChatGPT app on a phone follow Codex on a computer: it lists "Approve commands and other actions" among what you can do remotely, and you can "get notified when ChatGPT completes a task or needs your attention". The computer runs the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS or Windows, signed in to the same account and workspace as the phone.
The page does not mention the Apple Watch. Your watch shows the phone's notification the way it shows any iPhone app's, while the iPhone is locked or asleep, and the approval itself is made on the phone.
Good fit if you use Codex through the ChatGPT desktop app and carry your phone.
4. A watch app that answers
The fourth kind puts the question itself on the watch and sends your answer back. On the computer, a hook in Codex's hooks.json hands each permission question to a small relay; the watch app shows it, and one tap answers. Tapproval works this way, from watch app 3.0: each question arrives marked with one of five risk tiers, worked out on your computer, so a force-push to main shows as CRITICAL before you tap. You can also follow a Codex chat live and reply to it from the wrist. The first 100 answers are free, shared with Claude Code, then $5 once unlocks Codex. The Codex setup guide takes five minutes.
Others exist. Agent Approve has a watch app and lists Codex among its agents, at $14.99 a month after a trial. The comparison page sets the rest side by side, with price, account and server for each.
Codex's own approval settings still decide which actions ask at all: if you have set an automatic reviewer, it can approve an action before any card appears. Tapproval approves nothing on its own; every card that reaches the watch waits for your tap.
When your iPhone is not with you
This is where the four part ways. Apple routes an iPhone app's notifications to the watch only while the two are connected: "when your devices are disconnected, your notifications will appear on your iPhone instead of your Apple Watch." Leave the phone at home and options 2 and 3 go quiet on the wrist; option 1 never left the computer.
A watch app can reach your computer on its own over the internet, on Wi-Fi or cellular. Tapproval does that through a private travel address and, on a Mac, through your own iCloud, so questions still arrive and answers still land with the phone switched off.
Side by side
| Codex alerts | Notify script | ChatGPT app | Watch app (Tapproval) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tells you it needs approval | Yes, on the computer | No, turn finished only | Yes, on the phone | Yes, on the watch |
| Answer on the watch | No | No | No, on the phone | Yes, one tap |
| Works with the iPhone away | On the computer only | No | No | Yes |
| Needs | Nothing | A script and a push service | ChatGPT desktop app, same account on the phone | The app and its open-source helper |
| Risk shown on the prompt | No | No | Not stated | Yes, five tiers |
Using Claude Code too? Claude Code notifications on Apple Watch covers its three ways, and one Tapproval install answers both.