Chat History Deleted #20506

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1. bestlux

   added

   appIssues related to the Codex desktop appIssues related to the Codex desktop app

   on Apr 30, 2026
2. github-actions

   added

   bugSomething isn't workingSomething isn't working

   sessionIssues involving session (thread) management, resuming, forking, naming, archivingIssues involving session (thread) management, resuming, forking, naming, archiving

   on Apr 30, 2026
3. github-actions commented on Apr 30, 2026

   

   github-actionsbot

   on Apr 30, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

   Contributor

   More actions

   Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

   • Windows Desktop: sidebar/project list lost after update; search still finds threads; projectless-thread-ids workaround restores flat chats but project grouping remains broken #19873
   • Windows Desktop: Sidebar shows No chats and no projects after update, but Search can still find/open existing chats #19290
   • All my projects and conversations are missing after Computer restart #19615
   • Windows Codex Desktop sidebar hides valid local project threads while SQLite and rollout files are intact #20254
   • Codex Desktop: chats disappear after update/import; imported threads open blank despite JSONL turns #20493

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4. AndersAdmin commented on May 2, 2026

   

   AndersAdmin

   on May 2, 2026

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   I’m seeing what appears to be the same issue on Windows with WSL projects after a recent Codex Desktop update.

   Environment:

   • Codex Desktop on Windows
   • Project is inside WSL:
     /home/user1234/projects/Servicenowreports
   • Same project is also accessible from Windows as:
     \wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\user1234\projects\Servicenowreports

   Observed behavior:

   • The project still appears in the Codex Desktop project/sidebar UI.
   • The old project chats do not appear under the project chat list.
   • Switching/opening the project via the alternate WSL/UNC path did not restore the old project chat list.
   • However, in-app Search still finds the old chat title.
   • Clicking the old chat from Search opens the thread successfully, and the assistant can respond in that old thread.
   • Even after sending a new message in that old thread, it still does not reappear in the project chat list/sidebar.

   Local data observations:

   • The old thread still exists in the local Codex database.
   • In C:\Users\user.userlastname\.codex\state_5.sqlite, the threads table contains the old thread.
   • The thread is not archived (archived = 0).
   • The old thread has this cwd:
     \?\UNC\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\user1234\projects\Servicenowreports
   • The rollout/session file still exists at:
     C:\Users\user.userlastname\.codex\sessions\2026\04\28\rollout-2026-04-28T23-56-20-019dd617-da60-76a2-a36f-d5ab72d3bc05.jsonl
   • The thread title is:
     Planera ServiceNow-rapportimport

   This suggests the chat data itself is still present and loadable, but the project chat list/sidebar no longer associates existing threads with the project correctly. It looks more like a project/thread indexing or path normalization regression than actual data loss.

   One possible contributing factor is WSL path identity/normalization. The current workspace may appear as:
   /home/user1234/projects/Servicenowreports
   while older stored threads use:
   \?\UNC\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\user1234\projects\Servicenowreports

   But opening the project through the alternate path did not fix the project chat list.
5. LeeeeTX commented on May 10, 2026

   

   LeeeeTX

   on May 10, 2026

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   We built a small open-source macOS tool for managing local Codex App/CLI conversation history:

   https://github.com/LeeeeTX/codex-history-cleaner

   It provides a terminal UI to list, search, preview, and delete local Codex sessions from ~/.codex. Deletion is recoverable by default with backups, and permanent deletion is also available with an extra confirmation step.

   Hope this is useful for anyone who wants local controls for Codex history cleanup.
6. huajiexiewenfeng commented on May 31, 2026

   

   huajiexiewenfeng

   on May 31, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

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   I ran into a similar class of issue after a Codex Desktop update, where the UI made it look like history was gone but local session data was still present.

   I documented the recovery workflow I used here:

   https://github.com/huajiexiewenfeng/codex-session-recovery

   This is an unofficial workaround, not an upstream fix. It is intended for cases where sessions/**/*.jsonl / state_5.sqlite still contain the missing sessions, but the Desktop app no longer shows them because local index, project/sidebar state, SQLite cwd, or exact path matching became inconsistent after an update.

   It starts with a dry-run, backs up before writing, and verifies the recovery afterward.