Codex Desktop automation Run Now creates empty sessions and never executes prompt #22007

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1. stheologo

   added

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

   on May 10, 2026
2. github-actions

   added

   bugSomething isn't workingSomething isn't working

   automations

   on May 10, 2026
3. github-actions commented on May 10, 2026

   

   github-actionsBot

   on May 10, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

   Contributor

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

   • Desktop automations on Windows create thread but never submit automation prompt #21344
   • Windows Codex App automations create run/thread but never submit the prompt turn #21630
   • Desktop automations can silently stall or run read-only despite full-access config #20772

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4. Rovynhq commented on May 15, 2026

   

   Rovynhq

   on May 15, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

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   I am seeing the same failure pattern on Windows.

   Environment:

   • Codex Desktop: 26.506.31421
   • Codex engine/CLI observed in local session metadata: 0.130.0-alpha.5
   • Platform: Windows
   • Execution environment: local
   • Shell: PowerShell

   What works:

   • Normal Codex chats work.
   • Manually typing into the automation-created chat works.
   • The automation-created chat can access the intended workspace when prompted manually.

   What fails:

   • Both scheduled automation runs and manual "play/run now" runs create a new automation chat/session, but no assistant turn starts.
   • The prompt appears in the automation chat, but there is no assistant response unless I manually type a message into that chat.
   • This reproduces with a UI-created no-tool smoke test automation: Say "automation test ran" and then stop. Do not use tools.
   • It also reproduces with a harmless diagnostic automation that only lists files in a local input folder.

   Observed local state for failed automation-created threads:

   • model = null
   • reasoning_effort = null
   • has_user_event = 0
   • no model response
   • no tool calls
   • no output/result
   • logs show active_turn_present=false active_turn_id=None active_turn_status=None

   This does not appear to be a workspace permission or prompt issue, because the same automation chat responds normally when I manually type into it. It looks like the automation run creates the thread/chat but does not dispatch the configured automation prompt as a runnable model turn.
5. Rovynhq commented on Jun 2, 2026

   

   Rovynhq

   on Jun 2, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

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   Follow-up: this still reproduces after updating Codex Desktop and testing with the app launched as Administrator.

   Latest harmless smoke test result:

   • a new automation thread/session was created
   • the configured prompt was not dispatched as a runnable model turn
   • model = null
   • reasoning_effort = null
   • has_user_event = 0
   • tokens_used = 0
   • no assistant output, tool call, or completion event was produced

   Running as Administrator did not change the result. This is consistent with the newer matching report #24905, which notes that elevated launch can resolve Windows sandbox setup errors while the separate automation prompt-dispatch failure remains.

   The affected filing automation remains paused because the UI can otherwise show an indefinitely spinning run even though no actual work has started.