Regression: iOS Remote only lists projects with recent chats

What variant of Codex are you using?

ChatGPT mobile app on iOS, using Remote Control with a paired macOS ChatGPT/Codex desktop host.

Versions and environment

ChatGPT desktop for macOS: 26.721.81911 (build 5973)
macOS: 26.5.2 (build 25F84)
Mobile device: iPhone 17 Pro
Mobile OS: latest available iOS 27 developer build as of July 29, 2026
Same ChatGPT account and workspace on the phone and Mac
The Mac host is online and Remote Control otherwise works normally

What happened?

The iOS Remote project list shows only two of the four saved local projects available on the connected Mac host.

Local inspection confirms that all four projects:

remain registered as local projects in the desktop app;
point to existing, accessible folders;
are valid Git repositories;
have existing Codex threads associated with them.

The visible and missing projects correlate exactly with recent chat activity:

Project	Latest associated chat activity	Visible on iOS Remote
A	July 29, 2026	Yes
B	July 20, 2026	Yes
C	June 16, 2026	No
D	June 16, 2026	No

Restarting/refreshing the Remote connection without new project activity did not
cause the older two projects to appear.

Confirmed trigger and workaround

The activity correlation is reproducible:

Start with an older saved project that is present on Desktop but absent from
the mobile Remote project list.
Send a new message in one of that project's existing chats.
Pull down to refresh the Remote view in the iOS app.
The project is immediately added to the mobile project list.

Repeating this with the missing projects made them appear. This provides a
workaround, but it also confirms that mobile project discovery is coupled to
recent chat activity.

Expected behavior

Remote should list all saved projects available on the selected desktop host, regardless of when their most recent chat was updated.

Actual behavior

The mobile project list appears to be derived from recent thread activity rather
than from the host's complete saved-project inventory. Older projects remain
valid and visible to Desktop but are omitted from the mobile Remote project
selector until new chat activity makes them recent.

Related report

This appears to be a regression or incomplete fix for:

Codex Mobile only shows projects with recent chats #23952 — Codex Mobile only shows projects with recent chats

That report was closed on June 5 after the reporter said it appeared fixed. No linked pull request was shown. The same behavior is reproducible here on desktop build 26.721.81911 as of July 29.

Suggested diagnostic

Compare the project inventory returned to the mobile client with the complete desktop saved-project list. Project visibility should not depend on a project having a thread in a bounded/recent thread/list result.

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

Codex Mobile only shows projects with recent chats #23952

Powered by Codex Action

Still reproducible on August 14, 2026, and currently makes the iOS Remote project selector unusable after projects are moved or renamed.

Environment:

ChatGPT/Codex desktop: 26.810.50856
macOS: 26.5.2 (25F84)
iOS Remote client identified by the host: codex_chatgpt_ios_remote 1.2026.209

Direct host-side evidence:

Every project shown by iOS Remote matched a distinct non-archived threads.cwd value in the host's ~/.codex/state_5.sqlite, including two same-named projects disambiguated by their parent directory.
The desktop's current saved-project catalog in ~/.codex/.codex-global-state.json (local-projects / project-order) had already been updated before capture and differed substantially from the mobile list.
Several historical directories displayed by iOS no longer exist, ruling out a live filesystem scan.
Host logs for the iOS remote connection show initialize followed by two thread/list calls. There was no project-inventory, workspace-root, filesystem-read, or watch request.
The current app-server protocol exposes thread/list (whose thread objects include the recorded cwd) but no project/list or project-change notification.

This indicates that pull-to-refresh is contacting the host, but refreshes historical thread metadata rather than the authoritative Desktop project catalog. Consequently, deleted/moved/renamed working directories remain as ghost projects while valid saved projects can be absent until chat activity changes the bounded thread result.

Expected: Remote should consume a canonical project inventory from the selected host, refresh it on view/host selection/reconnect/pull-to-refresh, and invalidate it when Desktop projects change. A last-known snapshot is reasonable only while the host is offline.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-08-15 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.810.50856 (build 6644)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-08-16 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.810.50856 (build 6644)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-08-17 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.810.52044 (build 6662)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Request for a focused coordination/debugging channel

Would it be possible for OpenAI maintainers to create a focused GitHub Discussion, private support thread, or small affected-user cohort for the Codex Mobile Remote project-list / Remote Control issues?

Several open reports seem to describe the same broader failure family:

Regression: iOS Remote only lists projects with recent chats #36040 - iOS Remote only lists projects with recent chats
iOS Codex remote project picker does not mirror Desktop Codex projects #24271 - iOS Remote project picker does not mirror Desktop projects
Android Codex shows stale local project threads despite connected desktop until remote-control enrollment reset #24749 - Android shows stale local project threads despite a connected Desktop host
Feature request: create/register a new local Codex project and first thread from mobile #28127 - Mobile cannot create/register a new local host project and first thread

Affected users can help validate candidate fixes quickly if there is a single place to coordinate sanitized diagnostics and before/after checks. Right now the evidence is split across several issues, and the same symptoms keep getting re-reported in slightly different forms.

Happy to provide or verify, without exposing local paths/account identifiers publicly:

Desktop app build, bundled CLI version, and mobile client version.
Host logs showing Remote initialize / thread-list behavior.
A sanitized comparison of Desktop saved-project catalog vs mobile-visible project list.
Reproduction checks for empty projects, renamed/moved projects, stale/ghost projects, and projects whose visibility depends on recent thread activity.
Before/after validation against a candidate fixed build.

A temporary coordination channel would reduce duplicate reports and make it easier to confirm whether a fix covers the full project-catalog path, not only one stale-cache or thread-list symptom.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-08-18 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.810.52044 (build 6662)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-08-19 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.810.52044 (build 6662)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Still reproducible after the advertised project-picker improvement in ChatGPT for iOS 1.2026.223 (released 2026-08-18):

Improved the New Thread project picker to reflect the selected host’s current projects.

Environment:

ChatGPT for iOS: 1.2026.223
Selected host: Linux SSH remote
Remote Codex CLI/app-server: 0.148.0
The same SSH projects are present in the desktop app
Remote Control and starting/continuing tasks otherwise work

Additional host-side evidence:

The iOS New Thread picker shows exactly five projects.
Project enumeration from the same selected host also returns exactly those same five projects.
The remote state_5.sqlite contains many more valid non-archived project CWDs.
Ordering distinct CWDs by their latest threads.recency_at produces exactly the same five projects, in exactly the same order, as the mobile picker/project enumeration.
The sixth and older project CWDs are valid, accessible directories and are saved/visible in the desktop app, but are absent from iOS.
The app-server is launched through a restricted wrapper, but representative missing projects are inside the running namespace and allowed roots, so filesystem visibility does not explain the five-project cutoff.

This strongly suggests that 1.2026.223 fixed which host the picker queries, but the selected host’s project feed is still derived from a bounded recent-thread result (apparently the five most recent distinct cwd values) rather than the host’s complete saved-project inventory.

Expected: the selected host’s full saved-project catalogue should be available in the New Thread picker, independently of thread recency.

Same behavior for me with Codex Desktop on macOS and ChatGPT iOS Remote Control. Desktop shows several saved project labels (apps, portfolio, others, and chrome extensions), but iOS Remote groups the chats under the Mac account/home-directory label instead of those project names. The projects are visible on Desktop, but the Remote sidebar does not match after refresh. Creating or reopening activity can make entries appear, but the grouping remains incorrect. I also renamed a project in Desktop, and Remote still shows the underlying folder/home-directory name. No local paths or logs attached.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-08-20 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.810.52044 (build 6662)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-08-21 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.810.52044 (build 6662)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-10-10 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.1007.21159 (build 20052)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-10-11 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.1007.21159 (build 20052)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Additional confirmation on 11 Oct 2026 with a Windows host:

Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex 26.1007.2314.0.
Host: Windows 11 Home, build 26200.
Client: ChatGPT phone app connected to Codex. Mobile operating system and app version were not captured.

A newly saved local Git project was absent from the phone's project picker while other projects appeared. Desktop project enumeration and the app server's project registry both contained the project. Pinning the project on desktop did not resolve mobile visibility.

Workaround confirmed in this session:

Create the project's first Codex chat on the Windows host.
Run the read-only PowerShell command Get-Location and receive a completed response.
Check the phone: the user confirms the project now appears.

Expected: saved projects appear before their first chat. This observation supports the activity-dependent visibility report; the implementation cause remains unverified.

Also seeing this on Android (no projects available for new tasks unless they have at least one unarchived task).

Still reproducible on 12 October 2026 with Windows Codex 26.1007.2314.0 and iOS Remote.

Reinstalling the iOS app and re-pairing did not resolve it. After archiving idle, unpinned chats outside projects, more project folders became visible. Project chats were preserved. Creating a short chat in another missing project also made that project appear with some existing history.

Visibility has improved, but mobile still shows folder names instead of desktop project names, and a custom section remains empty, despite having projects listed, matching #42315.

These are observations; I haven’t confirmed whether archiving triggered the improvement.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-10-12 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.1007.30912 (build 20156)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Additional macOS/iPhone reproduction, 2026-10-12. Posted at the affected user's explicit request; project labels are anonymized.

Environment:

ChatGPT/Codex desktop for macOS: 26.1007.21159, build 20052.
Bundled CLI/app-server: 0.162.0-alpha.17.2.
ChatGPT iOS: 1.2026.272, build 37078235773, read from the connected device.
The user reports the same account on both devices. The selected desktop host is connected and other Remote functionality works.

Confirmed host-side inventory:

13 existing local projects, 144 non-archived interactive desktop chats. Six archived chats were excluded from the active-list comparison.
For every project, read-only thread/list probes with its native projectId and with its current cwd returned identical ID sets matching the desktop inventory. Each project fit in a single response with nextCursor=null at limit=100.
Representative totals: project A has 15 chats, B has 20, C has 6.
Project directories and referenced history files exist. Restoring missing native memberships on recently created chats did not resolve the reported mobile omission. Chat names, content and working paths were preserved.

Latest physical-iPhone observation, reported by the user:

A shows 4 chats, B shows 2, C shows 1.
The exposed subset reportedly changes between entries/reopens; older chats remain usable on Desktop.
A read-only host calculation of the first 25 non-archived desktop chats ordered by recency_at descending produces exactly A=4, B=2, C=1.
Complete database-backed pagination returns all 144 unique chats across six pages.

Evidence limits:

Host logs identify codex_chatgpt_ios_remote 1.2026.272 and show actual thread/list requests and history-metadata reads.
This capture does NOT retain the actual iPhone request parameters or full response payloads. The first-page/recency explanation is therefore a strong matching hypothesis, not a proven mobile request shape or final root cause.
Separate isolated-copy probes found duplicate records in filesystem-backed listing, while database-only listing was unique. That is a separate observation, not proof that duplicates explain this UI symptom.

Requested product correction:
Please make Remote enumerate the complete authoritative host project inventory and paginate each project's chats independently. A bounded global recent-chat page should not determine which existing chats can be found within a project. Show an explicit incomplete/loading/error state if enumeration fails.

Acceptance for this reproduction: all 13 projects and all 144 active original chats remain discoverable and openable on iPhone, with matching project membership, after repeated reopens and changes in recent activity. This must not require sending artificial messages, renaming/recreating chats, adding duplicate sidebar sections, or interrupting ongoing desktop work.

No private project/chat names, local paths, thread/account/device identifiers, conversation contents, screenshots, credentials, or raw logs are included. End-to-end recovery has not been confirmed.

Workaround: Archiving all "Recent" chats and waiting overnight allowed the mobile app to properly refresh/list all my projects. A manual refresh by pulling down the screen on the iOS app, immediately following archiving all recent chats, did not resolve it immediately. There must be some other background refresh happening that works differently.

However they still do not honour section grouping within the iOS app. Sections remain visible, however their child projects remain outside the section.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-10-13 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.1007.30912 (build 20156)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-10-14 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.1007.30912 (build 20156)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-10-15 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.1007.71326 (build 20398)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-10-16 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.1007.71326 (build 20398)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-10-17 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.1007.71326 (build 20398)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-10-18 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.1007.71326 (build 20398)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

Daily affected-user follow-up — 2026-10-19 (America/New_York)

This regression is still blocking usable iOS Remote project selection for this affected setup, and no fix has been confirmed on this issue.

Installed desktop app: 26.1013.31256 (build 20586)
Bundled CLI: codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.9

This is an automated once-daily follow-up requested by the affected user. It includes no prompts, local paths, account identifiers, databases, or diagnostic logs.

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Regression: iOS Remote only lists projects with recent chats #36040

What variant of Codex are you using?

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What happened?

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Expected behavior

Actual behavior

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Regression: iOS Remote only lists projects with recent chats #36040

Description

What variant of Codex are you using?

Versions and environment

What happened?

Confirmed trigger and workaround

Expected behavior

Actual behavior

Related report

Suggested diagnostic

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