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Interactive workflow chooser · official docs checked Nov 3, 2026

Choose a local, cloud, or CI coding-agent workflow

Choose a coding-agent workflow from your hard requirements: local files and tools, close interactive control, async handoff, or repeatable CI automation.

How do I choose between a local, cloud, or CI coding agent?

Start with a hard constraint. If the task needs files, tools, or services available only on your machine or private network, choose an environment that can reach them, such as a local session or a suitably configured self-hosted runner. Otherwise, choose local for close interactive steering, cloud for a well-scoped handoff you will review later, or CI when a defined event or schedule should run the same bounded task with preset permissions and credentials. The interactive chooser below applies this method; these are workflow patterns, not interchangeable product guarantees.

What does the chooser use to make its recommendation?

It asks whether the task depends on machine-local resources, then asks how the work should run: interactively with you, asynchronously with a reviewable change, or automatically from a repeatable trigger. A local-resource requirement takes priority because a cloud or hosted runner may not be able to reach that resource. If multiple requirements conflict, use the recommendation as a starting point and validate the actual host and access path with a small task.

Which official documentation supports these workflow choices?

OpenAI documents Codex CLI for interactive project work and `codex exec` for scripts and CI with explicit sandbox and approval settings. GitHub documents cloud agents as asynchronous task delegation that can create a pull request for review, and automated workflows as event- or schedule-triggered tasks. These examples establish workflow boundaries; they do not show that all products expose the same features or controls. Documentation checked November 3, 2026.

How should I validate the selected workflow?

Use a disposable branch and a small task with one harmless file change and a known validation command. Record the agent and version, where it ran, which files and services it could access, how credentials were supplied, what checks ran, and whether the result can be reviewed before merge. Inspect the diff and run the checks yourself. This tests fit with your repository; it does not measure general coding quality or security.

Sources

Methodology and limitations

The chooser first checks for machine-local inputs or tools: if they are required, use an execution environment that can reach them (local or a self-hosted runner). Otherwise it maps the selected task shape to local interactive work, cloud delegation for later pull-request review, or repeatable CI. This is a decision aid based on documented workflow boundaries, not a product ranking or a claim that every agent supports every environment. When requirements conflict, test a small disposable-branch task and record setup, credentials, validation, and the resulting diff.

Explore more

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