Codex for Chrome ChatGPT Sidebar · moshikporat

Search "codex" in the Chrome Web Store and the top result isn't OpenAI's: how a prompt sidebar caught the traffic leaking from an official rename

What it is A free Chrome sidebar extension that adds prompt templates and a shortcut cheat sheet to the ChatGPT / Codex web app.

Why it took off It grabbed the name of OpenAI's official extension. After OpenAI renamed theirs, it held the #1 spot for "codex" in the store. Google Ads paid acquisition and scratch-card prize draws for reviews (open to 10-17+ users every day, 3% of users) pushed its rating count from about 5 to 820 in a month.

CHow you could follow it You don't need to copy this one. What's worth learning: watch big companies' new product launches and renames, and be first to ship a "product name + category keyword" companion tool to catch search traffic. Also set up monetization paths like affiliate links or your own site before you buy traffic.

C grade: the playbook is clear and reusable, but the "codex" spot is already taken, the feature set has no barrier, and monetization hasn't been proven. Each opportunity depends on a one-time event like a big company launch or rename, so the window is short, and there's a risk of trademark takedowns and removal for incentivized reviews. Hardly anyone knows about it yet

30,000 users · rating 4.926829268292683 (820)

Ⓒ6 days after OpenAI launched "Codex for Chrome," an indie dev shipped an extension with the same name. Two months later OpenAI renamed its own extension "ChatGPT," and since then, anyone searching the store for a Codex extension sees this plain prompt sidebar first. It now has 30k users and a 4.93 rating. Below: how it grabbed that slot, how the rating climbed, where the money is supposed to come from, and whether you can run the same play.

A five-star review that only said "honest review"

In Nov 5, a five-star review appeared under this extension in the Chrome store with just two words in the body: "honest review." Those two words are also the text on a button in the extension's popup: "Enter the draw: leave an honest review". Leave a review, enter the draw, and win "one year of Plus, worth $240," with one winner each month.

Around the same days, many reviews were actually about ChatGPT itself: "ChatGPT is a lifesaver for many things, but you still have to double-check everything it says" and "Codex in the ChatGPT sidebar became my right-hand helper... it backed up and organized my project and didn't break anything." This extension can't write code or back up projects. It just adds a column of prompt templates next to the ChatGPT web app.

Change in rating count (Chrome Web Store, November):

Date	Users	Score
11-01	30,000	553
11-02	30,000	591
11-04	30,000	685
11-06	30,000	820

The rating count rose 48% in 5 days, while the user count stayed at the store's rough bucket of 30,000 and didn't move. Third-party tracker AppGazers reports "815 new ratings in the last 30 days," which means it had only about 5 ratings total at the start of October.

What it actually is

A free extension, 30.9KB installer. On chatgpt.com, codex.com and sora.com it adds a sidebar with 30 prompt templates (code writing, code review, rewriting, debugging; one click drops them into the input box), a ChatGPT / Codex shortcut cheat sheet, and a light/dark toggle. No login needed. Permissions are only local storage, the sidebar, and OpenAI's domains.

Tools like this have been around for 2023 years. The old-timer Meomni sidebar has 60k users, and prompt managers like Promptly and MetaPrompt have 80k to 100k users, with more features. Its only real difference is the name.

Where its traffic comes from: OpenAI renamed its own product

The timeline goes like this:

05-07 OpenAI officially launched "Codex for Chrome," letting a Codex agent operate your browser (reported by MacRumors and The New Stack). The official extension now has 8M users.
05-13 This extension went live under the name "Codex for Chrome ChatGPT Sidebar," developer account moshikporat, a Yahoo email, not registered as a trader.
07-09 OpenAI folded Codex into the ChatGPT desktop app, and the official extension was renamed "ChatGPT."
11-06 Searching "codex" in the Chrome Web Store, this is the first result. The official extension is not in the top results.

The problem: OpenAI's docs and the Codex app kept telling users to "install the Chrome extension," and people on the OpenAI community forum and GitHub posted that the official extension was "not found" or "won't install." Those people searched the store for "Codex Chrome" and landed here. Its store listing was written to match, stuffed with keywords: "If you're looking for a ChatGPT sidebar extension, Codex Chrome extension, ChatGPT assistant…" Some people who installed it without realizing it wasn't the official one probably just kept it. It's 30KB and needs no account, so there's no obvious reason to uninstall (inference).

Beyond search, it's also buying traffic. A code comment states it plainly: new installs open a welcome page that "fires the Google Ads install conversion." The welcome page sits on calc-tech.com, a tool site with 200+ free calculators. How much was spent isn't visible from outside. It also submitted to ExtensionLaunch, an extension directory, which did little. No one on X, Reddit, or in the press appears to discuss it.

How the 4.9-star rating was built

The file in the extension that asks for reviews is 55KB, several times larger than all the functional code combined. The flow is:

a "🎁 A gift for you" pops up next to the ChatGPT input box;
clicking it opens a scratch card with the button "Enter the draw: leave an honest review";
it jumps to a store review page, you come back and click "Confirm my entry," and leave an email to join the draw.

Fine print says "Honest reviews of any star rating count; no purchase or review required to enter." It looks like a compliant sweepstake, but in practice it trades prizes for reviews, which the Chrome Web Store policy forbids.

The rollout method is more interesting. The code has RAMP_START = '2026-10-17' and RAMP_PER_DAY = 3: each install gets a random number from 1 to 100, and starting Oct 17 the popup is opened to 3% more users each day, reaching everyone by Nov 20. Users must also be active for 5 days, have had the extension a full week, or have pasted from the sidebar more than 2 times. A comment explains why: without batching, 25k users would all become eligible the day after a new version shipped. A jump of thousands of reviews in a day stands out, while tens a day looks like organic growth.

The comment also says the "gift" approach won an A/B test against speech bubbles, a wheel, banners and emoji ratings, run on another extension. At this pace, reviews will keep climbing fast until Nov 20.

Who's behind it and where the money comes from

That "other extension" is "Codex Chrome Extension — Prompt Pane for ChatGPT," credited to Michael K, listed in Jul 14, with 7,000 users and about 477 ratings. The two codebases are nearly identical, share the same stats and draw backend, and the review file's header literally says "ported from Codex Pane 1.2.5." So it's one team, one codebase, two store listings: one released in May, one in July, running A/B tests against each other. The comments also cite a "growth spec" doc and a "boss's call," which suggests a small team with a defined method (inference).

The monetization isn't set up yet:

This one has no in-app purchases and no ads right now.
The sister extension already places an affiliate button for Surfshark VPN beside the ChatGPT input box. Its copy and styling are under A/B test, grouped by Chinese, Japanese and English, toggled remotely from the server with no new release needed. This one will probably copy it (inference).
The prize list says "Plus," "Lifetime Pro" and "Premium," which means they plan a paid tier that hasn't launched yet.
Install and update both send users to calc-tech.com, and that calculator site may itself earn from ads (unverified).

So 30k users, plus paid acquisition, and the only visible ways to make money are VPN affiliate commissions and sending traffic to their own site. Whether it actually earns is not visible from outside.

Who it's competing with

Product	Scale	How it compares
OpenAI's official extension (now called ChatGPT)	8M users	Completely different features, only the old name overlapped. If OpenAI puts "Codex" back in the name, its search position is gone.
Prompt Pane for ChatGPT(Michael K)	7,000 users	Sister extension from the same team
Meomni Sidebar	60k users	Veteran ChatGPT sidebar with more features
MetaPrompt / Promptly	100k / 80k users	Multi-model prompt management, more complete
Codex auth helpers, Codex Dev, various Codex quota trackers	A few hundred to 10k	All riding the "Codex" keyword with different features

On features, it loses to all of them. What it holds is a search position, and a crowd is already fighting over that word.

If it were you

Verdict: Don't copy this extension itself. The "codex" slot is already taken, the features have no moat, and the money hasn't been proven. The approach is worth studying, but each time it's a short window, and it carries takedown risk.

Who it suits: People who can already build Chrome extensions, have a monetization landing spot (their own tool site, affiliate deals, a paid tier), and are willing to watch big-company launches and move fast. For you, an extension is a cheap "search slot collector"; you can ship one in a weekend.

Who it doesn't suit: People hoping to sell subscriptions from the extension alone, and people who care about trademarks and store compliance and don't want an email takedown one day.

How to do it:

Watch big companies' launches and renames. A rename is worth more than a launch: once an official name changes, nobody picks up the search traffic the old name used to get.
Name the listing "product name + category word," and build a companion tool that doesn't conflict with official features (prompts, shortcuts, quota views, export). Don't build something that impersonates the official product; that gets you taken down.
Connect monetization before buying traffic: put the welcome page on a site you can monetize, and gate affiliate buttons with server-side toggles grouped by language.
You can borrow its batched-rollout idea for review cold-start, but trading prizes for reviews breaks store policy. The risk is yours to weigh.

How to get users: store search is the main channel, with Google Ads for extra volume. No social media needed.

When to get in: the window is the first week or two after a big-company launch or rename. The Codex wave has passed; wait for the next one: any AI company shipping a browser extension, or renaming an existing one.

Signs you read it wrong: if OpenAI renames the official extension back to include "Codex," or the store takes action over misleading reviews or names and its user count drops with it, the position can't be held for more than a few months. If after the Nov 20 rollout ends it launches a paid tier or VPN button and its user count still grows, the model earns more than it appears to.

Chrome store page ↗

Research notes: competitor table, acquisition evidence, full research report

Competitors

Name	Where	Launched	Scale	How it differs from this one
OpenAI's official Chrome extension (formerly Codex, now ChatGPT)	Chrome	Listed 2026-04-30 / launched 05-07	8M users	The official extension is a bridge for an agent to operate the browser; this one is a prompt sidebar with no overlapping features, only the same name. After the official rename, it took the "codex" search traffic.
Codex Chrome Extension — Prompt Pane for ChatGPT	Chrome	2026-07-14	7,000 users, about 477 ratings	Sister extension from the same operator, nearly identical code, with an added Surfshark affiliate button
Sidebar: ChatGPT, Bookmarks \| Meomni	Chrome	2023-03	60k users, 2,250 ratings	Veteran ChatGPT sidebar with more features, but no "Codex" in the name
MetaPrompt / Promptly	Chrome	2025-04 / 2024-10	100k / 80k users	Prompt enhancement and management tool supporting multiple models with more features; doesn't ride Codex search traffic
SideAI / ChatsNow / Nily / SidebarGPT	Chrome	2020–2024	about 10k users each	AI sidebar with built-in model chat, not a widget attached to the website
ChatGPT's built-in shortcut panel / Projects / custom instructions	Big-company features	Has been around all along	—	OpenAI already offers some shortcut cheat sheets and saved prompts

Where users come from

Verified Store search + grabbing an official product name: 05-07 OpenAI launched Codex for Chrome; 05-13 this listed an extension with the same name; 07-09 the official extension was renamed ChatGPT; 2026-11-06 in testing, searching "codex" in the store ranks it first; the description is stuffed with SEO keywords; many reviews treat it as ChatGPT itself
Verified Google Ads: background.js comment: after install, the calc-tech.com welcome page is opened to report Google Ads install conversions; ad spend isn't findable
Verified Prize draw for reviews (scratch card, 1 winners per month, prize value $240): review-ask.js: RAMP_START=2026-10-17, ramp 3% per day, button reads "Enter the draw: leave an honest review"; after 30 days of rating +815
Verified ExtensionLaunch directory listing: the entry on extensionlaunch.com and the corresponding Facebook post
Inference X / Reddit / press coverage: x-radar shows 60 posts in the last 0 days; searches turned up no discussion

Codex for Chrome ChatGPT Sidebar (pehedehfoggdnpccjabgoceohhljiged) research report

Research date 2026-11-06. Data sources: our chromestore database (item / item_snap / related, starting 2026-11-01), the Chrome Web Store pages (read via Jina), the source code of the extension package (CRX v1.1.0) pulled from the store's official download URL, AppGazers, ExtensionLaunch, OpenAI, and media coverage.

Bottom line

This is a name-squatting extension. OpenAI released the official Chrome extension "Codex for Chrome" on 2026-05-07. 6 days later (05-13), this indie developer published an extension with the same name, "Codex for Chrome ChatGPT Sidebar." 07-09 OpenAI folded Codex into the ChatGPT desktop app, and the official extension was renamed "ChatGPT." Since then, searching "codex" in the Chrome Web Store ranks this one first. It grew on search traffic (plus Google Ads), and the features themselves are very ordinary: a prompt-template and shortcut sidebar. In the last 5 days its rating count rose 48%, caused by a "scratch-card giveaway for reviews" mechanism that has been rolled out to users gradually at 3% per day since 10-17. Its user count did not grow.

What it is

A free MV3 extension, with a package of only 30.9KB. Features: adds a sidebar on chatgpt.com / openai.com / codex.com / sora.com, with 30 prompt templates (grouped into code, review, writing, and debugging; one click inserts them into the input box), a ChatGPT/Codex shortcut cheat sheet, and a dark/light toggle. Permissions are only storage, sidePanel, and a few OpenAI domains (source: store page; chromestore database permissions field).
Developer moshikporat (a Yahoo email, not a business). The privacy policy is hosted on calc-tech.com, a tool site with 200 free calculators; the welcome page that opens after install and the update notes page are also at calc-tech.com/extensions/codex-for-chrome/.
Data (chromestore database): users 30,000 (approximate figure from the store), rating 4.93, rating count 820. 11-01 is 553,11-02 is 591,11-04 is 685,11-06 is 820; over these days the user count has stayed at 30,000. AppGazers data reads "+815 ratings in the last 30 days," meaning it had only about 5 ratings in total before early October.
The source code contains a comment: "25K users would otherwise all become eligible the day after 1.1.0 lands." So when 10-17 shipped 1.1.0, it had about 25k users; it's about 30k now.

Competitors

Product	Where	Launched	Scale	How it differs
OpenAI's official extension (initially called Codex, renamed ChatGPT after 07-09, id hehgg…)	Chrome	2026-04-30 listed, 05-07 official release	8M users, 1,164 ratings (chromestore database)	The official extension lets a Codex/ChatGPT agent operate your browser; it's essentially a bridge. This one is just a prompt sidebar with zero overlap with official features, only the same name.
Codex Chrome Extension — Prompt Pane for ChatGPT(Michael K)	Chrome	2026-07-14	7,000 users, 433 → 477 ratings	A sister product by the same operator, with nearly identical source code, plus an extra Surfshark VPN affiliate promo button (see below)
Sidebar: ChatGPT, Bookmarks \	Meomni	Chrome	2023-03	60k users, 2,250 ratings	An established ChatGPT sidebar with more features; the store lists it as #1 among this product's "related extensions"
MetaPrompt / Promptly (prompt enhancement and management)	Chrome	2025-04 / 2024-10	100k / 80k users	Supports multiple models with fuller features, but no "Codex" in the name
SideAI, ChatsNow, Nily, SidebarGPT and other AI sidebars	Chrome	2020–2024	about 10k users each	Has its own chat (calls the API) rather than adding a widget to the website
ChatGPT's built-in features (Ctrl+/ shortcut panel, Projects, custom instructions)	Big-company features	Has been around all along	—	Shortcut cheat sheets and fixed prompts, some of which OpenAI already offers natively
Other extensions using "Codex" as a name: Codex authentication helper (10k), Codex Dev (4,000), Codex Usage, and various quota trackers	Chrome	2026 years	A few hundred to 10k	All riding on the word Codex, but with different functions (authentication, quota, developer toolkit)

Bottom line: the "ChatGPT prompt sidebar" category has been crowded since 2023, and this product has no feature lead. What it has really captured is the position of the "Codex for Chrome" name in store search results.

Growth tactics (ranked by strength of evidence)

Squats the official product name and feeds on store search (confirmed).
- Timeline: 05-07 OpenAI releases "Codex for Chrome" (MacRumors, The New Stack, OpenAI's announcement on X) → 05-13 this product is listed under the name "Codex for Chrome ChatGPT Sidebar" → 07-09 Codex is folded into the ChatGPT desktop app and the official extension is renamed "ChatGPT" (openai.com/index/chatgpt-for-your-most-ambitious-work and browser-use.com both write "OpenAI's Codex Chrome extension, now named ChatGPT").
- 2026-11-06 live test: searching "codex" in the Chrome Web Store, the first result is this product, and the official extension isn't in the top few. OpenAI's docs and the Codex app prompt users to "install the Chrome extension," and people in the store have reported the official extension "can't be found" or "won't open" (OpenAI community threads, GitHub openai/codex #21700). Those users searching "Codex Chrome" in the store land here.
- The description is written for SEO and stuffs in keywords: "If you're looking for a ChatGPT sidebar extension, Codex Chrome extension, ChatGPT helper…"
- The reviews show many people treat it as ChatGPT itself. Reviews on 11-06 include "Codex in the ChatGPT sidebar has become my go-to helper" and "Chat GPT is a life savior…It has to be checked whatever it says," which are praising ChatGPT, not this extension.
Google Ads paid acquisition (confirmed they're running it; spend size unknown). A comment in background.js reads: "Fresh install → welcome page (fires the Google Ads install conversion)." After install, the extension opens the calc-tech.com welcome page, which is used to send Google Ads conversion data back. Our googleads database only tracks products on our list, and this one isn't in it, so we can't see its creatives or ad spend.
Scratch-card giveaway for reviews, rolled out in stages (confirmed; this is the reason ratings have surged recently). review-ask.js is 55KB, several times larger than the extension's actual feature code. The mechanism works like this:
- A "🎁 A gift for you" pops up beside ChatGPT's input box. Opening it shows a scratch card with the button "Enter the draw: leave an honest review"; the prize is "a year of ChatGPT pane Plus ($240)," with 1 winners per month. The user clicks through to the store's "Write a review" page, returns, clicks "Confirm my entry," and submits an email to enter the draw.
- The fine print reads "Honest reviews only; any star rating counts. No purchase or review necessary." It looks like a compliant giveaway, but the flow in practice trades a prize for a review (Chrome Web Store policy prohibits rewarding reviews; we did not look up any enforcement record from the store).
- RAMP_START = '2026-10-17', RAMP_PER_DAY = 3: each install is randomly assigned a number between 1 and 100, and from 10-17 onward, an additional 3% of installs are opened up each day until 11-20 when all are included. Users also must have been active for 5+ days, have had the extension installed for a full week, or have pasted a prompt from the sidebar 2+ times.
- A comment notes that the "gift" approach won after A/B testing tooltip, wheel, banner, and faces variants on the sister product Codex Pane ("The gift won Codex Pane's A/B test").
- So the rise in rating count from 553 to 820 has nothing to do with user growth; it's driven by this rollout pace. At this rate, ratings will keep climbing quickly until 11-20.
Launch directory listing (confirmed, minimal effect): submitted to ExtensionLaunch (extensionlaunch.com), with a matching Facebook post, "I just launched on ExtensionLaunch."
No discussion found on X (0 posts in the last 60 days per x-radar), Reddit, HN, or in the media. Only AppGazers' "Trending Chrome Extensions" lists it, again because of its rising ratings.

The operator behind it and monetization

The opening of this product's review-ask.js reads: "ported from Codex Pane 1.2.5 (ai-assistants/codex-for-chrome-pane - michael)." Both extensions share downloads.services analytics and giveaway backend (/api/cfp/*; this product sends the tag ext=cch). So "moshikporat" and "Michael K" are the same team, with one codebase shipping two store listings: one went live in May, the other in July. Code comments also mention files like memory/growth/review-nudges.md and IMPLEMENTATION-NOTES.md, and the phrase "owner's call," suggesting a small team with a growth playbook that likely relies heavily on AI-written code.
Monetization: this product has no in-app purchases and no ad code yet. The sister product already ships offer.js, which places a Surfshark VPN affiliate button beside ChatGPT's input box, A/B-tests styles and copy, groups by language (Chinese, Japanese, English), and is toggled remotely from the server (disclosed in the privacy policy 2026-10-21 update). The giveaway prizes read "ChatGPT pane Plus," "Lifetime Pro," and "Premium," suggesting they plan to sell a paid tier. In addition, install and update both send users to calc-tech.com, and that calculator site may itself earn ad revenue (unverified). As for how paid acquisition money comes back, the current read is affiliate commissions plus traffic to the owner's own site; this product will most likely copy the sister product's Surfshark button.

Visibility

Very few people know about it yet. Revenue isn't public, and nobody has written about it on X, Reddit, or in the media; it only appears on AppGazers' trending list and in launch directories. But "using Codex as the name" is already being done by a crowd: the same-name sister product, plus Codex authentication helper, Codex Dev, Codex Usage, various Codex quota trackers, and Surecut's "Codex/ChatGPT Ai sidebar" (scale unverified).

Why it took off

Naming timing: it grabbed "Codex for Chrome" just 6 days after the official launch; after the official rename on 07-09, it held the top "codex" search position (confirmed by live store search).
The demand was created by OpenAI: OpenAI kept telling users to "install the Codex Chrome extension," then the official extension changed names, users couldn't find it, and search traffic leaked to this one (there are "can't find the extension" threads in the OpenAI community and on GitHub).
Paid acquisition on top: Google Ads install conversion tracking is already wired up (background.js).
The social proof is manufactured: the scratch-card giveaway for reviews, rolled out at 3% per day, took rating count from about 5 to 820 over 4.9 months, and the 1-star rating in turn makes it look better in search ranking and conversion.
Light features, low risk: no account needed, few permissions, 30KB; installing it won't cause problems, and there are few reasons to uninstall.

Differentiation

It has no real feature edge. A prompt template plus shortcut sidebar has existed since 2023, and Meomni and Promptly are both stronger. Its only "difference" is the name and brand position: it's the one extension in the store named literally "Codex for Chrome" that ranks first for the search "codex". That's really why it took off, but the advantage is fragile: if OpenAI renames its official extension back to include "Codex", or the store acts on it for misleading naming or review-baiting, the traffic dries up.

What others can borrow

Watch big companies' new product launches and renames. Register that product name plus a category word in the store the moment it appears, and ship a companion tool that doesn't conflict with the official features, to catch the search traffic.
Cold-starting ratings: A/B test several rating prompts (tooltip, wheel, banner, faces, gift) on one product, then move the winner to the next. Ramp up by percentage day by day so ratings don't spike overnight and look abnormal. Users who already declined are permanently suppressed via storage.sync.
One codebase, two store listings, one backend. This lets you A/B test and spreads the risk.
The affiliate promo button is configured remotely from the server (on/off, copy, grouped by language), so you can adjust it without shipping a new version. Users who have already converted no longer see it.

Uncertain

Our ad library doesn't track how much Google Ads it runs or how much it spends.
30,000 is a rounded figure from the store, so you can't see the daily change. You also can't tell how many users came from search versus ads.
Whether this product will later add Surfshark affiliate promotion, and whether a paid version will launch.
Whether the store will pull it for misleading naming or review-baiting, and whether OpenAI will rename the official extension back to "Codex".
The relationship between moshikporat and calc-tech.com (the same person, or one company using two personas). Not verified.

This article was written by AI from public data and the data we collect daily. Numbers are sourced, and inferences are labeled.