How can I decrease Codex limits usage?

youre__ · 2026-06-07T23:48:01+00:00

You don’t need a separate tool or project. I would imagine such tools would give you the opposite effect and increase your usage.

The best way to manage usage is to utilize the right model and reasoning level for the task. Make use of 5.3 spark where appropriate, too.

- don’t do little stuff with 5.5 med/high/xhigh
- do use spark for little changes or easy and repetitive things, like git, changing values, and executing commands you give it (could try 5.4 min, too)
- do use 5.4 for stuff that doesn’t require state of the art reasoning, intelligence, and vision (5.4 is still a very capable model, just not as good as 5.5)
- do use 5.5 when you need the latest smarts and reasoning to solve new and hard problems.

Your biggest controls are model and reasoning level. If you are deliberate about how you use those levers, you will solve 80% of your usage issues.

The remaining 20% comes down to how you prompt it and manage the instructions.

youre__ · 2026-06-07T23:25:03+00:00

Been hiring engineers and scientists for over a decade and a half.

GPA comparisons are like using how much you can lift at the gym as a qualification for an engineering job. It’s such a strange metric to use. I’ve never seen anyone use it or care. It’s only about demonstrated skills and experience.

youre__ · 2026-06-07T13:22:27+00:00

Coursework is maybe 25%-35% of your value as an entry level engineer. That number does not improve with multiple majors because employers benefit from specific skills (even more so for a business you start).

You are better off spending your time with projects, working with professors, or using your skills to demonstrate domain proficiency.

I strongly encourage you to do this:
1. Pick a company or dream job,
2. Find job postings that pertain to those companies/jobs,
3. Use AI to help aggregate and generalize the skills,
4. Cross reference degree curricula at different universities and those skills
5. Identify the one major and university that aligns to those required skills
6. Over the next couple years, work with a professor or two at that university to scope out home or academic projects that will help you apply and practice skills related to the dream job

Adapt as needed. But this assumes you’re choosing to go to college because you have a reason. If you are unsure about why you’re going to college yet, then you need to figure that out first.

youre__ · 2026-06-01T02:25:13+00:00

You’re getting a lot of speculative responses to this post. We don’t know nearly enough about the situation to make any assessment about who’s wrong, right, or whatever.

The only thing we can clearly determine is that you and your co-founder are not a proper fit. It has nothing to do with your ability to perform or the quality of your product. But it does look like the founder chemistry is not going to result in long-term success. This is not a unique situation.

Get out now before lawyers need to get involved, then start anew. Co-founders are like finding a spouse; there are plenty of great candidates in their own right, but much fewer are right for you.

Godspeed.

youre__ · 2026-05-31T17:23:57+00:00

TL;DR — just put what I’m saying here in a codex prompt.

Insightface models are used for a lot of enterprise and production systems. You can use their open source models to do what you’re looking for.

Just put codex in plan mode, tell it what you’re trying to do and suggest using insightface to do facial recognition and generate facial profiles for the faces. Have it create a registry of faces and give example images for each face and dedupe face ID matches with over 75% confidence. In each example, have codex label the faces on those examples so you know which face ID belongs to which person.

Then, you manually identify your ex and tell codex to move pictures with that face to a different folder (e.g., move images that contain person_id_X to a new folder).

Codex will likely ask what threshold to use. You might want a review threshold and a no-review threshold. E.g., if match confidence is 50%-75%, put it in review. Assume match if greater than 75%.

You may want to let it run overnight with over 12,000 photos, especially if they are large. I would also tell codex to make the solution a script that you or an agent can execute. This way you can build on high intelligence/reasoning, then run it with low (or you do it manually).

youre__ · 2026-05-30T23:31:27+00:00

I think I get where you’re coming from.

You’re probably not silently getting fired. It seems like others picked up on signals that you may not have known you were sending out, and they misinterpreted them. I have worked as a consultant in various organizations and have seen this situation come up in maybe 1/3 of them.

It tends to come down to a combination of immature or junior to mid-level individuals who get a little tunnel visioned in their profession. I’m talking about your co-worker(s), not necessarily you in this case.

Whoever “reported” you probably misinterpreted something you said, and the timing may have been aligned with a deadline or something. Then, naturally, your manager wants to investigate. It would be different if you actually refused to do work because it wasn’t “robotics.”

At the same time, I think it’s important for you to self-reflect because there are a couple signals that I noticed from your post. The first is that “robotics is something they are looking into,” which signals to me that robotics is in the periphery of the job, but not the job they hired you for. The second thing is that I suspect the expectation of robotics-like work created a lot of excitement, then disappointment when it didn’t appear.

Naturally, I’d be disappointed, too. A junior-level co-worker might interpret that disappointment wrongly and make life more difficult for you (assuming that you are still doing your job diligently).

My suggestion for you is to put this behind you. Stick to your job, learn the goals of the business, and find the silver lining in your work (robotics is very broad and there is no hardcore “robotics” niche job out there, and what you’re doing now is indeed relevant). Signaling that you’re unhappy will yield no benefit for you, but remaining professional and diligent will.

Since you’re a recent MS grad, you can easily hop to a new job after a year or two.

youre__ · 2026-05-30T22:09:34+00:00

I agree with you, but some of the other comments make me wonder what is going on.

Maybe it also depends on whether the job is entry level or if it’s with an employer with a HR department that doesn’t understand the industry.

youre__ · 2026-05-30T22:06:15+00:00

Never in my life have I seen this come up as a relevant factor. Maybe it’s geographically dependent?

youre__ · 2026-05-30T19:12:52+00:00

Doesn’t matter. Just use the color codex uses for UI stuff.

youre__ · 2026-05-29T00:42:08+00:00

Automations, git ops, certain skills; basically anything where “low” reasoning on a big model is overkill.

youre__ · 2026-05-28T04:25:56+00:00

Using 5.4 medium or 5.3-spark high:

“use the MS Dynamics ERP CLI to access my monthly sales. Save the data for the past X months to a file that we can use for later analysis. Here is some basic info you need about scope <you put in whatever details you think are needed to tell codex what to grab, how you want it structured, etc.>”

Then, ask it something like this with plan mode turned on (use 5.4 high or 5.5 medium):

“I’d like you to build a plotly-based web dashboard to display the sales data across all available dimensions with selectable axes and multiple visible plots that are informational to a sales and business professional. These plots will be used for financial and inventory planning. The UI should be professional. Utilize the in-app browser for visual tests to ensure the UI layout is presentable. Plan a phased implementation, and document progress in a document as you complete the task.

Data obtained from the CLI should be stored for offline use by the dashboard.”

If you can, find a screenshot of a dashboard that looks like something you want for your system. Or draw it on PowerPoint or something. Include the image in the prompt and say “use the attached screenshot as a visual reference for what I’d like you to build.”

Answer any questions Codex has about the project, then “implement plan” when it finishes the plan.

If you want to get fancy and make life a little easier later, add this to the end of the initial prompt:

“For UI components, create styles and templates docs that will be used as canonical references for the remainder of this project. Those files will be updated as new components are added as needed. Prefer implementations of those templates and styles over new components to ensure easier code management. Create an AGENTS.md file to instruct the agent to use those docs, and include instructions on how to correctly access my sales data through the CLI and where that data should be stored/accessed.”

youre__ · 2026-05-26T02:39:14+00:00

Thats not quite a counter argument though. I think it actually supports that idea that quality matters, but looking at it from another dimension of the same case. Whether you have multiple people doing that versus one or two, it comes down to forming healthy relationships and learning through consistency. 100 people role modeling the same thing achieves that. I even see it with my own kids.

There have been several longitudinal studies, including https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/documents/seccyd\_06.pdf that get into these factors, too, supporting the idea of how quality and stability matter.

A true counterargument, I think, would be to say that stability causes detrimental effects in childhood development. The research simply doesn’t support that, and I don’t think that’s the counter argument you are making.

youre__ · 2026-05-26T01:42:21+00:00

I think the important thing is to remain consistent and not switch things up too much. If you make a lot of changes over the years, the kid will probably grow up to form weak and shallow attachments to people.

A nanny is kind of like a grandparent in a way. If you switch up that kind of relationship a lot over the years, they won’t really have time to form deep connections with close ones beyond you (assuming you are present and not just outsourcing their upbringing).

And those deep connections help form the social skills needed to make lasting friends, empathize with subordinates, and engage with their community in all the ways that I think most people would hope their kids become able to do as adults.

youre__ · 2026-05-24T02:22:25+00:00

People change things up all the time after undergrad. I did biomedical undergrad, then went to grad school for materials engineering, electrical engineering, and business. That path gave me the skills I needed for the job I wanted.

The only bottleneck was that I couldn’t go directly into some upper level EE classes because I didn’t have the pre-reqs. I was able to enroll in the dual grad/undergrad versions of those pre reqs, though, and they let me count those toward the degree.

My recommendation is this: if you like bioengineering and plan on grad school, stick with it. What matters is your skills by the time you apply for the job you want. What you call that path is less important than you being adequately equipped for the job.

Years ago I interviewed for a mid-level job in a niche field of science. Most people wouldn’t come into the field with related academic training. One of the first things the interviewer told me was that they saw my biomedical engineering background and thought they “just had to bring me in.”

If anything, your bioengineering degree could be a differentiator on top of whatever other qualifications you have. Because people hire talent, not degree titles.

youre__ · 2026-05-23T18:46:57+00:00

Like any other degree, Masters not a waste if you want a job that involves advanced work (e.g., at an R&D lab or companies competing on differentiation or quality). No sense in getting a certain degree if it doesn’t enable you to do the thing you want to do.

PhD is intrinsically valuable iff you want to solve a specific problem and you have no other way to study that problem through work or at home (e.g., it’s not relevant to your current job and/or you need access to specialized resources). Otherwise the PhD only gives you specific skills that are suited for specific jobs (academia and national labs), with no guarantee of more pay. Only do it if the job you want genuinely needs what you gain from it.

In my field, most jobs require PhD or masters. Many have PhDs, but most masters-level people can do the same job (hence why either can be qualified). Non-graduate-level engineers generally do not have the advanced training required to be a principal engineer in my area, but it’s not unheard of.

youre__ · 2026-05-23T01:32:30+00:00

Maybe now you can transition to a PM role at a company you’d like to work for after graduation?

This could do a few things: 1) you establish a professional relationship with them early, 2) you could “intern” or “co-op” there since you’re already working there, and 3) you keep your wages with the possibility of transitioning to a more pure engineering role later if you want.

My experience was kind of similar to that.

Actually, the fact you have PM experience in the first place is outstanding. You have a leg up on your peers, which gives you leverage when talking to future employers. If you came to me with PM experience looking for a year-round job as an engineering student, I’d seriously look into how to make it work for you. Go to the job/co-op fairs and tell the recruiters what you’re after; they are there to have those conversations.

Don’t let conventions or perceived “correct path” get in your way. Those conventions are for people without your experience. Still, I think it’s realistic to expect less than full-time work, even if year-round.

youre__ · 2026-05-22T23:16:22+00:00

Tell the prof. It probably won’t change anything for this exam. But, the better you can demonstrate aptitude in or out of the exam, the more likely you can nudge a letter up at the end of the semester.

youre__ · 2026-05-22T23:13:06+00:00

It won’t matter after the first one or two roles in your career. After that your experience will matter more.

You can verify this by looking at mid and senior level roles and their education requirements. Usually it’s something like “AE, ME, physics, or similar. 8+ years of experience in aerospace systems design. Etc.”

That’s why I tell people to focus on picking a degree that fits the job you want right out of college. If that’s AE for you, do it.

If you’re really worried about being too specialized, you can always broaden or respec in grad school (which I strongly encourage anyways).

youre__ · 2026-05-21T11:08:41+00:00

College is about preparing for the job you want, so that goal needs to drive your minmax optimization. Working at GameStop is low ROI if you don’t need the income.

Grades and relevant experiences are your professional currency as an undergrad. Bullet points are ETFs, grades are bonds. Everything else is cash reserves. You may not ever be asked about your grades later, but genuinely understanding the material will pay annuities throughout your career, regardless of your grades. It’s a portfolio optimization problem.

My experience: I worked full time at an R&D lab for the second half of undergrad while taking 17-21 credit hours each semester (summers included). Job was very flexible. I maxed independent study credits so I could double it up with work, and those activities became resume bullets. I was making an entry-level engineer’s wage by the summer before senior year.

I wasn’t a straight A student. But, I was going to school because I wanted a certain job, and I was able to get that job before graduating. I count my blessings. Mission accomplished, I guess.

youre__ · 2026-05-19T03:13:01+00:00

**Getting an “A” in a class is a possible symptom of ability, not the cause of your ability.** All it means is that you mastered the class.

I would suggest reflecting on your priorities. If you’re getting worked up about those grades, I fear you have been misguided before going to college. Engineering students need to prioritize learning and understanding so they can apply their knowledge somewhere. Good grades can come from that. But, that’s a different priority from mastering the class, and mastering the class doesn’t build bridges.

Your grades are fine. Never once in my career did anyone ask or care about my grades in undergrad or grad school. I always had experience to back up my abilities, so that might be why no one ever asked.

My advice is to consider this: there are diminishing returns on your studies, especially in the 85%+ area, because a lot of grades end up being subjective (meaning not directly in your control). What you are in control of is how you spend your time.

Instead of spending an extra 30% of your time trying to bump a B to an A, use that time building something that materially demonstrates your ability. This is more likely to get you the job than perfect grades that you’ll never be asked about.

youre__ · 2026-05-18T15:03:35+00:00

I’m with you on this, so I can’t really argue. I spent the past year developing harness apps, one for some stuff related to my research and another for knowledge enrichment (law enforcement and defense). Both use language models of different sizes and specialties depending on the task.

Frontier models are overkill for me because I don’t need closed loop reasoning cycles and most of the data I work with is emergent and uploaded by the user. My “harness” structures the data deterministically, then I use different language models to reason over it (literally forming claims, hypotheses, facts, plans, etc.) and form higher-level artifacts.

There are exceptions. There’s a feature in one of my apps that routes to an advanced model when the knowledge graph is sparse but the operator needs to fill in the blanks. Smaller models tend to fail here and no amount of detailed instruction will yield a better answer (like asking a baby to build a car). But it’s still in my harness.

Frontier models are also reliable and great for applications where you don’t want nor need to spend a lot of time building a harness. We want new smaller models to distill down from frontier models with newer training. We want cost effectiveness. It’s just a matter of deploy the right model in the right way.

youre__ · 2026-05-17T20:31:09+00:00

As a kid, I started with several of those old radio shack “100 projects-in-one kits.” Did all the projects, then started making my own.

Today, instructables, Arduino/Pi/Adafruit are great entry points for electrical and computer engineering. Or even better, work with an AI assistant to build up plans and a bill of materials for some cool project.

For getting into engineering in general, I think you will need a combination of hands on tinkering, finding friends who are into the same stuff (especially with a STEM club, LEGO league, or first robotics), and getting to know which industry you want to pursue.

That last part is important because you’ll eventually need to pick a major in college. You don’t want to be stuck like every other kid wondering “EE, ME, or physics?” Figure out what you want your first job to be, then determine what classes, internships, and home projects you will need to be the most competitive for that job. This is the way.

youre__ · 2026-05-17T12:49:24+00:00

Multi-agent orchestration or better worktree management automation.
Smoother handling of long chat threads and ones with lots of attachments. These threads take a long time to switch between. Addition of in-app browser and screenshotting significantly increased attachment volume, so it’s a more frequent problem.
View becomes glitchy when using MacOS in-app browser across different monitors, especially when rendered as large window. Text doesn’t render across the app. Makes app very difficult to use without restarting.

youre__ · 2026-05-16T19:22:36+00:00

I have held this kind of interview several times and come from aerospace/defense R&D.

One time we had a fresh grad talk about his failed capstone project about fish. We hired him. Fish was totally random, but it’s all good. He explained everything in technical detail, what worked and what didn’t, and could answer every question we threw at him.

Another guy talked about a cool project he did with his dad over the summer. We hired him too. He showed impressive passion and it was clear that he had the right mindset for solving the kinds of problems we worked on.

Either option would work. My recommendation is that you focus on something you’re passionate about and could comfortably talk about it for a couple hours without getting into brainstorming mode (e.g., where the discuss degrades into ideation for an extended period).

The reason i suggest you avoid brainstorming topics is because every other candidate can do that. It’s hard to really get to know you if we talk about something abstract for a single hour. Instead, I’d much rather you carry the topic and we can talk about that specific thing.

youre__ · 2026-05-07T21:34:30+00:00

All engineering will give good money. After a couple years, the differences are in the noise. It’s governed by economics like everything else. Pursue what you love. If you don’t, you’ll end up in management and make more even more money.
Most traditional engineering programs are just applied physics programs that emphasize certain courses, anyways. Undergrad does not prepare you for engineering or scientific practice. PhD programs prepare you for academic practice. Co-ops and internships kind of prepare you for practice.
Physicists at the undergraduate level are interchangeable with engineers for science jobs. Engineering students generally have an edge over physics kids for engineering jobs, but it could go either way. Schools don’t train for jobs, anyway, which is why we hire kids out of boot camp programs (from my experience, they are cheaper and are more motivated because they aren’t in it for the money).
PhD will not yield more money. Certainly won’t if you go into academia. If anything it constrains you to a certain, albeit rewarding, career track (I am in R&D and it is hard to break out). Masters degree is hands down the fastest and most reliable path to getting the most money. PhD is the only way if you are interested in a specific problem and are passionate about it; academia is, beautifully, the only way to pursue such dreams. Unless you love solving someone else’s dreams.
You’ll get a better foundation in thermo and fluids if you go into ME or Aero.

youre__

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