Codex Windows Desktop sidebar and menus become transparent after web UI loads #25432

Codex Windows Desktop sidebar and menus become transparent after web UI loads

Body:

Summary

On Windows 10, the Codex desktop app initially renders the left sidebar as an opaque dark blue/black panel while the app is loading. After the web UI finishes loading, the app briefly becomes unresponsive, cycles through opaque blue, opaque black, transparent states, and then the left sidebar and menus remain transparent/unreadable.

Environment

• OS: Windows 10 Pro
• Codex app package: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Codex executable path observed: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe
• Chromium profile version observed: 148.0.7778.179
• GPU: Intel(R) HD Graphics
• Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0102&SUBSYS_1495103C&REV_09\3&11583659&0&10
• Driver provider: Intel Corporation
• Driver version: 9.17.10.4459
• Driver date: 2016-05-19
• Resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Refresh rate: 59 Hz
• Color depth: 32 bpp

Current Windows appearance settings checked

• EnableTransparency = 0
• AppsUseLightTheme = 0
• SystemUsesLightTheme = 0
• High contrast was tested with:
  • Flags = 127
  • High Contrast Scheme = High Contrast Black

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Codex Desktop on Windows.
2. Observe that the sidebar is initially opaque dark blue/black while the app starts.
3. Wait for the web UI/chat interface to load.
4. The app briefly shows "Codex is not responding" or appears to hang.
5. The sidebar cycles through dark blue opaque, black opaque, transparent.
6. The sidebar and menus remain transparent/unreadable.

Expected behavior

The sidebar and menus should remain opaque and readable. Codex should respect disabled Windows transparency and high contrast / dark mode settings.

Actual behavior

The sidebar and menus become transparent after the web UI loads. This persists after:

• Restarting Codex
• Restarting Windows
• Switching Windows apps/system theme between light and dark
• Disabling Windows transparency effects
• Enabling Windows high contrast mode
• Reinstalling Codex
• Resetting local Codex app data and Electron/Chromium caches
• Attempting launch flags such as disable GPU / compatibility rendering

Additional notes

The issue started suddenly after Codex had worked normally for several earlier sessions on the same machine. Reinstalling Codex did not fix it, likely because the same current Store package version is reinstalled.

This may be related to Chromium/Electron rendering/compositing on older Intel HD Graphics 2000 hardware, but Windows reports the current display driver as installed and working properly.
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