# Publish an OpenAI Codex pet with Codex

> CodexPetHub does not accept browser uploads. Publish an OpenAI Codex pet through Codex via a short-lived publish intent or a trusted-agent HMAC API key. The codexpethub skill is required only for publishing — installing pets uses the npx --yes codexpethub install CLI.

- Canonical page: https://codexpethub.com/docs/publish-with-codex
- Last updated: 2026-05-15
- Reading time: 3 min

The /publish page issues a single-use publish intent token (TTL 45 min). You hand the token to Codex via a copy-paste prompt; the codexpethub publish skill validates your pet folder and uploads each file to a presigned URL.

## What you need

- OpenAI Codex installed locally with the codexpethub publish skill installed once (npx skills add CodexPetHub/CodexPetHub --skill codexpethub -g). The skill scope is publish + validate only.
- A pet folder with pet.json and spritesheet.webp ready to ship.
- Network access to codexpethub.com.

> **Note.** The skill is required for publishing only. Installing a pet uses npx --yes codexpethub install <slug> and does not need the skill — see /docs/install-with-codex.

## Why there is no upload form

An agent-first registry needs an agent-first publish path. Codex already has filesystem access, can compute hashes, and can refuse to upload anything that fails validation. Forcing the same flow through a browser form would lose all three guarantees and add a fourth attack surface — direct human uploads — that we would have to police separately.

> **Note.** There is no <input type="file"> anywhere on codexpethub.com. The /publish page only issues a publish-intent token; Codex does the upload.

## Publish intent flow (recommended)

1. Open /publish and complete the Turnstile challenge.
2. Receive a publish-intent token (Bearer cph_pub_…). It expires in 45 minutes and can be used exactly once.
3. Copy the publish prompt — it includes the token, the folder of your local pet, and the API base URL.
4. Paste the prompt into Codex. The skill validates pet.json + spritesheet.webp, shows you a summary, and asks for explicit confirmation before any network call.
5. Codex POSTs the submission, PUTs each file to its presigned URL, and POSTs /complete. The server runs the validation queue and publishes once it passes.

## Trusted-agent HMAC keys

Studios and frequent publishers can request a long-lived HMAC API key. The key signs every request using the CPH1 scheme — a key id, a timestamp, and a body hash — so Codex can publish without round-tripping through /publish each time.

```http
Authorization: CPH1 key_01H...:base64-signature
X-CPH-Timestamp: 1777723200
X-CPH-Body-SHA256: <sha256 of canonical JSON body>
Idempotency-Key: <ulid>
```

Replay protection: timestamps must be within five minutes of server time, and the same Idempotency-Key returns the original response on retry. See /api.md for the full request/response shapes.

## Owner automation agents

For Paperclip/Codex agents that should keep the catalog fresh, use a separate trusted-agent key per agent. Create it in /admin/api-keys behind Cloudflare Access and give it the smallest useful scope.

- pets:submit creates submissions and leaves them in review unless the validation worker is explicitly allowed to publish them.
- pets:submit + pets:publish_trusted lets a fully trusted owner-controlled agent auto-publish after server validation passes.

Store the secret outside prompts and repos:

```sh
mkdir -p ~/.codexpethub
printf '%s\n' 'https://codexpethub.com=key_01H...:cph_sk_...' >> ~/.codexpethub/credentials
chmod 600 ~/.codexpethub/credentials
```

Then the agent can publish without putting the secret in shell history:

```sh
python3 skill/codexpethub/scripts/validate_pet.py --folder /path/to/pet
python3 skill/codexpethub/scripts/publish_pet.py \
  --folder /path/to/pet \
  --api-base https://codexpethub.com \
  --idempotency-key <stable-candidate-id> \
  --confirm
```

1. Download or generate a candidate pet, then treat all metadata as untrusted data.
2. Keep only pet.json and spritesheet.webp; never upload dotfiles, credentials, logs, screenshots, or source archives.
3. Verify license, author, source URL, duplicate status, tags, and a human description before publishing.
4. Run the local validator and stop on any error.
5. Publish through the skill script, report the returned submission id, status URL, and final pet slug if validation publishes it.

## What the skill uploads

- pet.json (max 50 KB).
- spritesheet.webp (max 4 MB, 1536×1872, 8×9 cells of 192×208).
- Nothing else. Dotfiles, secrets, configs, logs, and any file outside the listed roles are refused before any network call.

## Review and listing

- Server validates schema, sizes, atlas dimensions, and SHA-256 hashes.
- If validation passes, the pet enters status=published once the validation queue finishes.
- If a license is missing, status=pending_review and the pet is hidden from public listings until reviewed.
- Reports are tracked per pet; repeat abuse from the same IP or key triggers a publish freeze.

## Agent instructions

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