diff --git a/.zellij-layout.kdl b/.zellij-layout.kdl
index e868007..219f4d7 100644
--- a/.zellij-layout.kdl
+++ b/.zellij-layout.kdl
@@ -39,9 +39,7 @@ layout {
     pane command="nvim"
 
     floating_panes {
-      pane command="claude" x="10%" y="10%" width="80%" height="80%" {
-        args "--ide"
-      }
+      pane command="codex" x="10%" y="10%" width="80%" height="80%"
     }
 
     pane size=1 borderless=true {
@@ -53,7 +51,7 @@ layout {
     pane command="zsh"
 
     floating_panes {
-      pane command="codex" x="10%" y="10%" width="80%" height="80%"
+      pane command="zsh" x="10%" y="10%" width="80%" height="80%"
     }
 
     pane size=1 borderless=true {
diff --git a/nix/users/ilkecan/llm/codex.nix b/nix/users/ilkecan/llm/codex.nix
index ca756b4..afd1340 100644
--- a/nix/users/ilkecan/llm/codex.nix
+++ b/nix/users/ilkecan/llm/codex.nix
@@ -1,8 +1,14 @@
 {
+  lib,
   pkgs,
   ...
 }:
 
+let
+  inherit (lib)
+    getExe
+    ;
+in
 {
   home = {
     sessionVariables = {
@@ -18,22 +24,38 @@
     codex = {
       enable = true;
       package = pkgs.llm-agents.codex;
-      enableMcpIntegration = true;
+      # enableMcpIntegration = true; # disable until lazy loading is implemented https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/9266
       settings = {
         model = "gpt-5.4";
-        model_reasoning_effort = "xhigh";
-        plan_mode_reasoning_effort = "xhigh";
+        model_reasoning_effort = "medium";
+        plan_mode_reasoning_effort = "high";
         personality = "pragmatic";
 
         features = {
-          guardian_approval = true;
+          # guardian_approval = true; # to prevent wasting tokens (?)
           js_repl = true;
           multi_agent = true;
           use_linux_sandbox_bwrap = true;
         };
 
+        notify = [
+          (getExe (
+            pkgs.writeShellApplication {
+              name = "codex-notify";
+              runtimeInputs = with pkgs; [
+                jq
+                libnotify
+              ];
+              text = ''
+                thread_id=$(echo "$1" | jq -r '."thread-id"')
+                last_message=$(echo "$1" | jq -r '."last-assistant-message"')
+                notify-send "Codex - $thread_id" "$last_message"
+              '';
+            }
+          ))
+        ];
+
         tui = {
-          theme = "solarized-dark";
           status_line = [
             "model-with-reasoning"
             "context-remaining"
@@ -51,6 +73,8 @@
             "total-input-tokens"
             "total-output-tokens"
           ];
+
+          theme = "solarized-dark";
         };
       };
     };
diff --git a/nix/users/ilkecan/utilities/zellij/layouts/code.nix b/nix/users/ilkecan/utilities/zellij/layouts/code.nix
index 5a50c5f..d34c7a3 100644
--- a/nix/users/ilkecan/utilities/zellij/layouts/code.nix
+++ b/nix/users/ilkecan/utilities/zellij/layouts/code.nix
@@ -16,15 +16,12 @@
           _children = [
             { pane._props.command = "nvim"; }
             {
-              floating_panes.pane = {
-                _props = {
-                  command = "claude";
-                  x = "10%";
-                  y = "10%";
-                  width = "80%";
-                  height = "80%";
-                };
-                args = [ "--ide" ];
+              floating_panes.pane._props = {
+                command = "codex";
+                x = "10%";
+                y = "10%";
+                width = "80%";
+                height = "80%";
               };
             }
             {
@@ -49,7 +46,7 @@
             { pane._props.command = config.home.defaultShell.meta.mainProgram; }
             {
               floating_panes.pane._props = {
-                command = "codex";
+                command = "zsh";
                 x = "10%";
                 y = "10%";
                 width = "80%";