Repository navigation
Remote-control Desktop projects missing from Mac sidebar, but remote threads are visible #31407
Description
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.623.141536 (4753)
What subscription do you have?
Pro 200$
What platform is your computer?
Darwin 25.4.0 arm64 arm
What issue are you seeing?
Codex Desktop on one computer can see and open Remote Control threads from another connected desktop host, but the left sidebar/project picker only shows projects from the controller/local computer. Projects from the connected remote host are absent.
Remote Control itself is working. The problem appears to be project/sidebar hydration: remote threads are available, but project enumeration only exposes local projects.
Observed:
- Thread enumeration returns remote-control threads from the connected host.
- Opening a remote thread by id works.
- Project enumeration returns only local projects from the controller computer.
- Projects that exist on the remote host are not listed in the sidebar/project picker.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- On computer A, enable Codex Remote Control and use Codex normally with local projects/threads.
- On computer B using the same account, connect to computer A through Remote Control.
- Confirm computer B can see remote threads from computer A.
- Open one of the remote threads; it opens successfully.
- Open the main Codex sidebar/project picker on computer B.
- Observe that only computer B's local projects are shown.
- Project enumeration returns only local projects, while thread enumeration returns remote-control threads.
What is the expected behavior?
The sidebar/project picker should show projects from connected Remote Control hosts, not only projects from the controller/local computer.
Ideally the UI should support grouping like:
Connection -> Project -> Thread
Alternatively, "Sort by Projects" should include remote host projects with a visible host label.
It sometimes work sometimes doesn't.
Additional information
This does not appear to be a Remote Control connection/auth issue, because remote threads are visible and openable from the controller computer.
The missing piece appears to be that the sidebar/project picker does not hydrate project inventory for connected Remote Control hosts.
Related issues:
- Mac-to-Mac remote control fetches remote thread/list but sidebar remains on local conversations #26640
- Codex desktop sidebar should support Connection → Project → Thread grouping for remote hosts #24295
- Codex App remote project conversations disappear from local sidebar, but still exist on the remote server #25092
- Codex App SSH remote project shows "No chats" while remote threads exist in state DB #27284
- threads / projects in sidebar missing #18640
- Codex Desktop project sidebar does not hydrate older project threads, even though thread/list with cwd can return them #27314
Activity
github-actions commentedon Jul 7, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
Powered by Codex Action
TiFcode commentedon Jul 23, 2026
I’m seeing a closely related issue with ChatGPT Remote on iOS controlling a Mac mini host.
My setup differs slightly: the controller is the ChatGPT iOS app, and the connected host is a Mac mini. In iOS Remote, I can see an older thread:
ExampleProject · ExampleProjectTest app on iPhoneBut on the Mac mini desktop app, the visible
ExampleProjectproject does not show that thread. Global search on the Mac for “Test app on iPhone” also returns no result.After starting a new chat on the Mac mini in the visible ExampleProject project, iOS Remote began showing a second entry with the same project name but a different secondary label:
ExampleProject · xcodeRead REMOTE_HANDOFF.mdThe original thread remains visible only in iOS Remote under the older project entry. The Mac mini sidebar shows only one ExampleProject project, containing only the new thread.
The repository had only one path at the time. This looks consistent with a project/sidebar hydration or project-identity mismatch: Remote can enumerate and open the original thread, but the desktop project sidebar no longer associates it with the visible project.
Environment:
TemPetrov commentedon Aug 20, 2026
I’m seeing what appears to be the same issue with Remote Control between two Macs.
Setup:
Behavior on iPhone/iPad:
Remote tasks from the iMac are displayed correctly and grouped by their respective projects.
Behavior on MacBook:
All remote tasks from the iMac are accessible, but they only appear under Recents. The Projects section does not show any of the projects from the remote iMac.
Interestingly, the MacBook clearly receives the project metadata: when I hover over an individual remote task, it shows the correct project name that the task belongs to. So the task-to-project relationship is available, but the macOS desktop UI does not use it to populate/group the remote projects.
I have already tried:
The behavior remains unchanged.
Subscription Pro 20x
The same iMac and the same remote tasks/projects display correctly on both iPhone and iPad, which suggests that the Remote Control connection and project metadata are working correctly and that this may be specific to project discovery/grouping in the macOS desktop client.
williamHappy commentedon Sep 9, 2026
Additional reproduction on a Windows desktop controller connected to a macOS host, using desktop app package version 26.903.8094.0 on the Windows side. The macOS app version has not been verified.
Observed behavior
Clean-client reconnection test
The connection was originally established while using a third-party launcher (CodexHost). To check this possible confounder, the user tested removing the Mac connection and pairing again through the native desktop app. The same flat-list behavior persisted. This makes the original launcher-created connection less likely to be the primary cause, but is not a fresh-profile isolation test.
Mobile comparison
The user's iOS Remote UI has host-selection tabs and shows projects with their chats nested underneath. The supplied mobile example selects the Windows host, so this is evidence of the desired UI behavior, not a same-Mac-host comparison.
Expected behavior
Preserve local project organization and provide a host selector or a host -> project -> chat hierarchy for connected computers, using their existing project inventory and chat assignments. Users should not need to recreate the remote host's project organization manually on each controller.
This also overlaps with #42321, which requests synchronization of saved remote projects and metadata. Could maintainers clarify whether the desktop behavior is an intended limitation or a project-inventory synchronization bug?
Privacy: original screenshots, project names, chat titles/content, filesystem paths, hostnames, host/thread identifiers, account information, logs, and credentials are intentionally omitted.
qivion commentedon Sep 20, 2026
I can reproduce this bidirectionally across Windows, macOS, and iOS.
Environment:
Reproduction:
noteon macOS and start a task in it.notefolder and the macOS remote host.notedoes not appear as a project in the Windows Projects sidebar.testing.The reverse direction behaves similarly:
testing2, targeting~/workspace/codexon the macOS host.Run testing.Interestingly, the iOS app shows all three remote project folders:
note,testing, andcodex. Thecodexproject contains theRun testingtask, although the Windows-side project alias wastesting2.This suggests that remote task synchronization and project metadata are working, but desktop project-list hydration/enumeration is not. iOS appears to build its project list from the remote folder metadata, while the Windows and macOS desktop clients only show locally registered project entries.
Expected hierarchy:
Remote host -> Project -> TaskActual behavior:
Remote tasks and their project metadata are visible, but the remote projects themselves are missing from the desktop Projects sidebar.
I have already tried restarting both apps, re-pairing the remote connection, confirming the same account/workspace, and re-saving the projects. The issue persists.
xuli500177 commentedon Oct 1, 2026
I’m experiencing the same issue. On iPhone, Remote correctly shows the projects on my Windows host and lets me start a new chat inside a selected remote project. On the macOS desktop app, I can see and open existing remote chats, but I can’t browse the remote projects or start a new chat under a specific remote project.
I hope this can be fixed in a future update. Thanks to the OpenAI/Codex team for your work!
cyanlink commentedon Oct 7, 2026
Additional controlled evidence from a MacBook and a Windows PC (7 Oct 2026):
projectId: nullon the Mac, with their remote host IDs and Windows working directories intact.projectId: nulland its Mac working directory intact.We backed up the Mac client's
.codex-global-state.json, removed its single savedremote-projectsentry, and restarted the client. The Mac's remote-project count changed from one to zero. Three pre-existing Windows threads that previously had non-null controller-side project IDs then returnedprojectId: null; their histories, host IDs, and working directories remained accessible. The same thread still had a non-nullprojectIdwhen listed locally on the Windows host, so its host-side assignment was not removed.We then fully quit the Mac client, restored the backed-up global-state file, and relaunched it. The original remote-project entry reappeared, and all three threads' controller-side
projectIdvalues recovered to the same non-null ID they had before removal. In the restored global state, we found the remote-project entry and five thread IDs undersidebar-project-thread-orders; we did not find a separate assignment record containing that project ID in the fields inspected.Historical context from the user: the surviving Mac-side remote-project entry was successfully added around May-June 2026 and still works in the current client, including returning its existing remote threads with a non-null
projectId. During the initial investigation, other existing Windows-host projects did not appear automatically on the Mac. The older entry shows that displaying saved remote projects and associating their threads is supported in Desktop. It does not, by itself, establish that Desktop is intended to import the host's entire project inventory automatically.UI detail from the user: the top-level Projects tab in Codex's left navigation lists saved projects, and remote-project entries carry a globe icon. The older Windows remote-project entry is still visible there with that icon and works today. Other host projects were absent from the Mac's saved-project list until manually added there. This is distinct from choosing a different sidebar sort or grouping mode.
Mac client:
26.1002.52244(build13536); macOS27.0.1(build26A434). We have not tested Windows-to-Windows or Mac-to-Mac on our devices. No replacement projects or threads were created during the remove-and-restore experiment above.Update, 8 Oct 2026: We subsequently created a remote project manually on the Mac by selecting a folder on the connected Windows host and assigning a Mac-side project name. The Windows-host conversations remained on Windows; this did not create a second copy of their histories. This changes our interpretation: Desktop's missing automatic host-project listing may be an intentional manual-registration workflow rather than a registration regression. The controlled remove-and-restore result still shows that the controller's saved remote-project entry affects the
projectIdit exposes for existing remote threads.In our mobile experience, the phone displays projects from the connected host but offers no remote-project creation flow. The desktop controller instead requires selecting the host folder and saving a controller-side project entry. We could not find an explicit explanation of this desktop-versus-mobile distinction in the product documentation. Could maintainers confirm whether this difference is intended, and document how remote project names, folder selection, and existing-thread association are meant to work on desktop controllers?
dustilayer commentedon Oct 10, 2026
I’m seeing the same missing-project behavior with a Mac controller connected to a Windows host through “Control other devices.”
I reached the Windows home folder in the picker, but have not saved a new remote project or verified whether manual folder registration restores the original chat-to-project assignments. I don’t yet have a confirmed workaround for this setup.
Could maintainers clarify whether this is a known limitation or a bug, and what supported steps will show the Windows host’s original project groups with the same existing conversations on the Mac? I want to preserve the existing threads and continue executing on Windows, without copying/recreating chats or selecting Mac-local folders. If manual remote-project registration is required, how should it recover the original project names and existing-thread grouping?