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Windows desktop notification click opens invalid WindowsApps path with type=click query #25197

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Windows desktop notification click opens invalid WindowsApps path with type=click query#25197
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appIssues related to the Codex desktop appbugSomething isn't workingwindows-osIssues related to Codex on Windows systems

Description

@natebeeman
natebeeman
opened on May 30, 2026

Summary

On Windows, Codex desktop turn-complete notifications can trigger an Electron launch error when the notification is clicked/opened. The error dialog shows Windows/Electron trying to launch a path under C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\... with notification click metadata appended, e.g. ?type=click&tag=..., and then reports that the Electron app/module cannot be found.

Disabling Windows notifications for the Codex app stopped the error immediately, which points to the desktop notification activation path rather than the CLI notify hook.

Environment

  • OS: Windows
  • Codex desktop package observed in logs: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
  • App-server version reported in logs: 0.135.0-alpha.1
  • Codex desktop build flavor: prod
  • Approx observed time: 2026-05-29 evening Pacific / 2026-05-30 UTC

Repro steps

  1. Run Codex desktop on Windows.
  2. Send a prompt and wait for the assistant turn to complete.
  3. Codex shows a desktop notification for the completed turn.
  4. Click/open the notification.
  5. An Electron error dialog appears.

Observed behavior

The dialog title is Error, with heading Error launching app. It says it is unable to find the Electron app at a path shaped like:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\...\?type=click&tag=...

It also reports Cannot find module for the same path shape.

Relevant redacted log sequence:

[desktop-notifications] show turn-complete conversationId=<redacted> turnId=<redacted>
[desktop-notifications] forward show kind=turn-complete notificationId=turn-<redacted>
[desktop-notifications] show notification actionCount=0 kind=turn-complete notificationId=turn-<redacted>
[desktop-notifications] emit action actionId=none actionType=open notificationId=turn-<redacted>
[desktop-notifications] notification click open notificationId=turn-<redacted>
[desktop-notifications] action actionType=open conversationId=<redacted> requestId=none

There were also repeated startup lines such as:

[desktop-notifications] service starting
[computer-use-native-pipe] computer-use notify config ensure finished platform=win32 reason=missing-helper-path status=skipped

Earlier, when the notify = [...] CLI config hook existed, it was removed/disabled. The error still reproduced on desktop notification click/open events, so the issue appears to be the app's built-in notification activation handling.

Expected behavior

Clicking a Codex turn-complete notification should focus/open the existing Codex desktop window and navigate to the relevant conversation without an Electron launch error.

Workaround confirmed

Disable Windows notifications for the Codex app registry entry:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\Settings\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App
Enabled = 0

After setting this, the turn-complete notification no longer appeared and the error stopped occurring.

Activity

  1. github-actions
    added
    bugSomething isn't working
    appIssues related to the Codex desktop app
    windows-osIssues related to Codex on Windows systems
    on May 30, 2026

  2. github-actions commented on May 30, 2026

    @github-actions
    github-actionsbot
    on May 30, 2026 – with GitHub Actions
    Contributor

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

    Powered by Codex Action

  3. aoaoaoao-wu commented on May 30, 2026

    @aoaoaoao-wu
    aoaoaoao-wu
    on May 30, 2026

    +1

  4. galaxywk223 commented on May 30, 2026

    @galaxywk223
    galaxywk223
    on May 30, 2026

    Additional local reproduction evidence

    The issue is reproducible on another Windows installation with the same Codex Desktop package version.

    Environment

    • OS: Windows 11 Pro x64
    • OS version: 10.0.26200
    • Codex package: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
    • Codex app version: 26.527.3686.0
    • AppX status: Ok
    • AppUserModelID: OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App

    Observations

    • Normal AppX launch works and creates Codex.exe processes.
    • The installed application files exist:
      • app\Codex.exe
      • app\resources\app.asar
      • app\resources\codex.exe
    • The failure is specific to Windows toast notification click activation.
    • The latest Codex toast notification stored by Windows Notification Platform used this launch payload:
    <toast launch="type=click&amp;tag=<notification-tag>" scenario="reminder">
    • Clicking the notification opens the Electron error dialog with the type=click&tag=... payload appended/interpreted as part of the Electron app path:
    Error launching app

Unable to find Electron app at C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527...\type=click&tag=...

Cannot find module 'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527...\type=click&tag=...'

    Result

    The evidence points to the Windows toast activation argument (type=click&tag=...) being passed through as an Electron app path instead of being handled as notification activation data. The main Codex app remains usable when launched normally.

  5. selaquik commented on May 30, 2026

    @selaquik
    selaquik
    on May 30, 2026

    +1

  6. Thxnks commented on May 30, 2026

    @Thxnks
    Thxnks
    on May 30, 2026

    +1

  7. wolfgadeok commented on May 31, 2026

    @wolfgadeok
    wolfgadeok
    on May 31, 2026

    +1

  8. brigcam commented on May 31, 2026

    @brigcam
    brigcam
    on May 31, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

    I can confirm this still reproduces on Windows with Codex desktop 26.527.3686.0 / package OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0.

    Additional troubleshooting data:

    • Re-registered the installed MSIX/AppX package with Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -ForceApplicationShutdown -Register <AppxManifest.xml>.
    • The re-registration completed successfully and Codex relaunched normally.
    • After that, clicking a new Codex Windows notification still opens the same Electron error dialog.
    • The failing path shape is still the WindowsApps package path with notification activation metadata appended, for example ...?type=click&tag=4097135412003327338.

    So this does not appear to be a stale/corrupt local AppX registration on this machine. It looks like the notification activation payload is still being delivered to Electron as an app/module path after a clean package re-registration.

  9. takagibit18 commented on Jun 1, 2026

    @takagibit18
    takagibit18
    on Jun 1, 2026

    I reproduced the same notification-click failure and found one additional local data point that may help narrow it down.

    In %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Notifications\wpndatabase.db, Codex notifications are registered under the handler OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App.

    The stored toast payloads use launch arguments in the exact shape type=click&tag=.... Some reply-capable notifications also use foreground action arguments like type=reply&tag=....

    That matches the invalid Electron path shown in the dialog, where the bare activation payload appears as ...\type=click&tag=....

    I also checked the installed AppX manifest. The app entrypoint is Application Id="App" Executable="app/Codex.exe" EntryPoint="Windows.FullTrustApplication", with the packaged AppX codex protocol extension declared. So this appears to be going through the packaged AppX activation path, not a traditional HKCR\codex\shell\open\command Win32 protocol command.

    One more observation: at the time of the dialog, Windows AppModel logs showed a new process being created for OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App while an existing Codex desktop instance was already running. The Codex desktop log files created around that failed launch were 0 bytes, which suggests the failure occurs before the main app code has a chance to log or handle the activation.

    So the likely failure point seems to be before Codex's own notification/deep-link handling, where the bare toast activation string type=click&tag=... is being passed to Electron in a way that Electron treats as an app/module path.

  10. NemuKei commented on Jun 2, 2026

    @NemuKei
    NemuKei
    on Jun 2, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

    Additional observation from Windows Codex Desktop 26.527.7698.0:

    • Package: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.7698.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
    • OS: Windows 10 Home, WindowsVersion reported as 2009 by PowerShell Get-ComputerInfo
    • Scenario: opening a side chat directly appeared to be treated as a main chat launch, then showed the Electron launch error.
    • Important distinction: opening the original main chat still worked, and the side chat was visible correctly from inside that main chat. The side chat content/association did not appear to be lost.

    Observed dialog text shape:

    Error launching app

Unable to find Electron app at C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.7698.0_...#type=click&tag=14499304364271169122

Cannot find module 'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.7698.0_...#type=click&tag=14499304364271169122'

    This looks consistent with the activation payload #type=click&tag=... being interpreted as part of the Electron app/module path. The side-chat-specific detail is that a direct side chat entry point can trigger the same failure, while opening the parent/main chat remains a viable workaround.

  11. davidgilbertson commented on Jun 2, 2026

    @davidgilbertson
    davidgilbertson
    on Jun 2, 2026
    Contributor

    As far as I can tell, it's actually impossible to install the Linear plugin with this bug, because it requires going to the website and then bouncing back to the app, which fails. I assume it's the same for other plugins as well.

  12. ChinaChiao commented on Jun 2, 2026

    @ChinaChiao
    ChinaChiao
    on Jun 2, 2026

    same question

  13. ggyda commented on Jun 3, 2026

    @ggyda
    ggyda
    on Jun 3, 2026

    I can still reproduce this on a newer Windows Codex Desktop package.

    Environment:

    • OS: Windows x64
    • Codex Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.7698.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
    • AppX status: Ok
    • AppUserModelID: OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App

    Observed:
    Clicking a Codex Windows notification still opens an Electron error dialog.

    The dialog shows a path shaped like:

    C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527...?type=click&tag=

    and reports:

    • Unable to find Electron app
    • Cannot find module

    Troubleshooting tried:

    • Fully rebooted Windows
    • Re-registered the Codex AppX package with Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register
    • Confirmed the Codex app launches normally when opened directly
    • The issue still reproduces with fresh notifications

    This still looks like the Windows toast activation payload is being interpreted as an Electron app path instead of notification activation data.

  14. Pankozin commented on Jun 3, 2026

    @Pankozin
    Pankozin
    on Jun 3, 2026

    +1

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