Codex App: projectless threads cannot be created reliably via MacBook Air remote connection #28194

Component

Codex app / projectless threads / remote connection

Summary

Projectless Codex threads can be created from the iPhone mini environment through ChatGPT/Codex, but cannot be created reliably through a MacBook Air remote connection to the Mac host. As a workaround, I route new projectless work through an organizer thread, but that workaround is also unreliable, so projectless work orchestration becomes fragile.

Environment

• Codex app host: macOS Mac accessed remotely
• Client with problem: MacBook Air remote connection
• Client where creation works: iPhone mini environment via ChatGPT/Codex
• Date observed: 2026-06-14
• Local CLI version: codex-cli 0.140.0-alpha.2
• Bundled Codex app CLI version: codex-cli 0.140.0-alpha.2
• Feedback session ID: 019ec0ec-8be4-7800-a7b0-5c166eaa2353

Expected behavior

Creating a new projectless Codex thread should work reliably from the MacBook Air remote connection, matching the behavior available from the iPhone mini environment.

Actual behavior

Creating projectless threads through the MacBook Air remote connection fails or is unreliable. I have to use an existing organizer thread to coordinate or bootstrap new projectless work, but that organizer thread is itself not reliable enough.

Impact

The organizer thread becomes a bottleneck for starting and coordinating new projectless work. This makes task splitting, thread recovery, and general projectless Codex usage fragile from the MacBook Air remote setup.

Related issues found before filing

These look adjacent but do not seem to cover the exact MacBook-Air-remote creation failure:

• Codex mobile remote does not persist or re-list projectless conversations after reconnect #22819
• Mobile remote connection misses Mac Codex App threads in project list #23152
• Mac-to-Mac remote control fetches remote thread/list but sidebar remains on local conversations #26640
• Codex App SSH remote project shows "No chats" while remote threads exist in state DB #27284

Diagnostics

A feedback report was submitted separately and can be correlated with session ID:

019ec0ec-8be4-7800-a7b0-5c166eaa2353

Logs are available locally under the documented Codex locations if maintainers need them, after review for sensitive content:

• ~/Library/Logs/com.openai.codex/YYYY/MM/DD
• ~/.codex/sessions
• ~/.codex/archived_sessions