Connect Looker to Codex
Give Codex governed access to Looker’s 30 tools through Runlayer, with identity, policy, scanning, and audit on every call.
Set up
Add Looker to Codex in four steps
Admins approve the server once. Everyone in Codex then gets it through the same governed connection.
- 1
Approve Looker in Runlayer
Add Looker from the catalog and choose who can use it and which of its tools are allowed.
- 2
Connect Codex to Runlayer
Runlayer’s CLI adds the Runlayer Plugin to Codex’s local plugin marketplace, and users then enable it in Codex. With direct tool listing turned on for your deployment, Looker’s 30 tools show up in Codex’s own tool list (Codex 0.122 or newer, installed through the Runlayer CLI).
Codex setup guide - 3
Sign in to Looker
Each user signs in to Looker with OAuth. Runlayer keeps the tokens out of the client’s configuration.
- 4
Use Looker from Codex
Looker’s approved tools appear in Codex. Every call is checked against policy and recorded.
Tools
30 Looker tools in Codex
Runlayer policy decides which of these Codex users can call.
Dev mode
Allows toggling the Looker IDE session between Development Mode and Production Mode.
Generate embed URL
Generates a signed, private embed URL for specific Looker content, allowing users to access it directly.
Get connection databases
Retrieves a list of databases available through a specified Looker connection.
Get connection schemas
Retrieves a list of database schemas available through a specified Looker connection.
Get connection table columns
Retrieves a list of columns for one or more specified tables within a given database schema and connection.
Get connection tables
Retrieves a list of tables available within a specified database schema through a Looker connection.
Get connections
Retrieves a list of all database connections configured in the Looker system.
Get dashboards
Searches for saved dashboards in a Looker instance.
Control
What Runlayer can see and stop in Codex
Some controls apply to every client at the gateway. Others depend on what Codex exposes to Runlayer.
Gateway policy (available)
Every Looker call from Codex passes through Runlayer, where your policies can allow, alert, mask, or block it.
Audit trail (available)
Each call is recorded with the user, Codex as the client, the tool, and the policy and scanner decisions.
Client hooks (available)
Capture supported prompts, reasoning, local and MCP tool calls, responses, and scanner decisions in real time.
Stop a call before it runs (available)
Runlayer can deny a tool call or permission request before Codex runs it.
Block output after it runs (available)
Runlayer can block a tool’s output before Codex’s model sees it.
Redact output in place (not available)
Codex cannot take masked output, so Runlayer can block a tool’s output but not mask it. The gateway still applies policy to the call.
Frequently asked questions
Connect more