[Windows][Pets] Transparent overlay captures a large screen area, blocks Codex controls, and pet cannot be dragged #41596

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1. github-actions

   added

   bugSomething isn't workingSomething isn't working

   appIssues related to the Codex desktop appIssues related to the Codex desktop app

   windows-osIssues related to Codex on Windows systemsIssues related to Codex on Windows systems

   pets

   on Aug 30, 2026
2. github-actions commented on Aug 30, 2026

   

   github-actionsBot

   on Aug 30, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

   Contributor

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

   • Windows: Pet overlay reacts to hover but ignores clicks, dragging, and voice controls #41506
   • [Windows][Pets] Built-in and custom floating pets become click-through and cannot be dragged #41513

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3. zoe-he9214 commented on Sep 3, 2026

   

   zoe-he9214

   on Sep 3, 2026

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   The pet still cannot be clicked or dragged, already updated to 26.901.1978.0 on Windows...
4. 77kio commented on Sep 5, 2026

   

   77kio

   on Sep 5, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

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   I can reproduce this pet interaction/dragging failure on the Windows Microsoft Store version of Codex. I found a repeatable workaround that may help narrow down the native overlay/composition problem.

   On my machine, the pet is visible but cannot be dragged. Running the following PowerShell reset once immediately restores dragging. After restarting Codex, the issue returns because a new pet overlay window is created.

   The workaround finds the visible Codex Chrome_WidgetWin_1 overlay with WS_EX_TOPMOST | WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW | WS_EX_LAYERED, temporarily removes WS_EX_LAYERED, forces a window refresh, waits 450 ms, then restores WS_EX_LAYERED and refreshes again.

   This does not require changing WS_EX_TRANSPARENT.

   Reset-Codex-Pet-Window.ps1

   param([switch]$Quiet)
   $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
   try {
       $codexProcesses = @(Get-Process ChatGPT -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { $_.Path -match '\\WindowsApps\\OpenAI\.Codex_[^\\]+\\app\\ChatGPT\.exe$' })
       if ($codexProcesses.Count -eq 0) { throw 'No running Store version of Codex was found. Open Codex and its pet first.' }
       Add-Type -TypeDefinition @"
   using System;
   using System.Text;
   using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
   using System.Collections.Generic;
   using System.Threading;
   public static class CodexPetLayerReset {
       delegate bool EnumCallback(IntPtr hwnd, IntPtr arg);
       [DllImport("user32.dll")] static extern bool EnumWindows(EnumCallback callback, IntPtr arg);
       [DllImport("user32.dll")] static extern uint GetWindowThreadProcessId(IntPtr hwnd, out uint processId);
       [DllImport("user32.dll")] static extern int GetClassName(IntPtr hwnd, StringBuilder value, int max);
       [DllImport("user32.dll")] static extern bool IsWindowVisible(IntPtr hwnd);
       [DllImport("user32.dll")] static extern bool IsWindow(IntPtr hwnd);
       [DllImport("user32.dll")] static extern int GetWindowLong(IntPtr hwnd, int index);
       [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError=true)] static extern int SetWindowLong(IntPtr hwnd, int index, int value);
       [DllImport("user32.dll")] static extern bool SetWindowPos(IntPtr hwnd, IntPtr after, int x, int y, int width, int height, uint flags);
       [DllImport("user32.dll")] static extern bool RedrawWindow(IntPtr hwnd, IntPtr rect, IntPtr region, uint flags);
       public static string Run(uint[] processIds) {
           var ids = new HashSet<uint>(processIds);
           var matches = new List<IntPtr>();
           EnumWindows((hwnd, arg) => {
               uint pid;
               GetWindowThreadProcessId(hwnd, out pid);
               if (!ids.Contains(pid) || !IsWindowVisible(hwnd)) return true;
               var name = new StringBuilder(256);
               GetClassName(hwnd, name, name.Capacity);
               int style = GetWindowLong(hwnd, -20);
               if (name.ToString() == "Chrome_WidgetWin_1" && (style & 0x80088) == 0x80088) matches.Add(hwnd);
               return true;
           }, IntPtr.Zero);
           if (matches.Count != 1) throw new Exception("Expected one visible Codex pet overlay; found " + matches.Count + ". No window was changed.");
           var target = matches[0];
           uint originalPid;
           GetWindowThreadProcessId(target, out originalPid);
           int original = GetWindowLong(target, -20);
           try {
               SetWindowLong(target, -20, original & ~0x80000);
               SetWindowPos(target, IntPtr.Zero, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0x37);
               RedrawWindow(target, IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero, 0x185);
               Thread.Sleep(450);
           } finally {
               uint currentPid;
               GetWindowThreadProcessId(target, out currentPid);
               if (IsWindow(target) && currentPid == originalPid) {
                   int current = GetWindowLong(target, -20);
                   SetWindowLong(target, -20, current | 0x80000);
                   SetWindowPos(target, IntPtr.Zero, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0x37);
                   RedrawWindow(target, IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero, 0x185);
               }
           }
           if (!IsWindow(target)) throw new Exception("The pet window closed during the reset. Reopen the pet.");
           if ((GetWindowLong(target, -20) & 0x80000) == 0) throw new Exception("Layered style restoration could not be verified. Close and reopen the pet.");
           return "Pet window composition reset. Layered style restored. Try clicking and dragging the pet. This does not prove interaction is fixed.";
       }
   }
   "@
       [CodexPetLayerReset]::Run([uint32[]]($codexProcesses | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Id))
   } catch {
       Write-Host $_.Exception.Message -ForegroundColor Red
   }
   if (-not $Quiet) { Read-Host 'Press Enter to close' | Out-Null }

   Since toggling only the layered/composition state reliably restores interaction for the current overlay HWND, it may be useful to inspect the pet overlay initialization/recreation path and whether the native hit-test/input shape is being refreshed after the layered window is created.

   — Don

   👍React with 👍1Reacted by zoe-he9214
5. mxwu619-ship-it commented on Sep 7, 2026

   

   mxwu619-ship-it

   on Sep 7, 2026

   More actions

   I can reproduce this on Codex App 26.901.6511.0 (Windows x64, ChatGPT Plus) at 150% display scaling (GetDpiForWindow = 144; renderer processes use --device-scale-factor=1.5).

   Additional diagnostics from the click-through variant:

   • The overlay is Chrome_WidgetWin_1 / ChatGPT, normally ExStyle=0x000800A8.
   • Clearing only WS_EX_TRANSPARENT changes it to 0x00080088 and stops complete Win32 click-through, but does not restore the renderer pet hit target.
   • Direct WM_NCHITTEST returns HTCLIENT.
   • When hiding/showing or switching pets, the grab cursor can briefly appear far above/left of the rendered pet, then disappears.
   • During those layout transitions the overlay changed between about 772x720, 422x720, and 434x720, while DPI remained 144.
   • Changing pet size makes the offset worse.
   • Once the transient state expires, scanning the entire overlay yields only arrow/text-selection cursors and no active grab region.

   This looks consistent with stale or incorrectly converted renderer hit-region rectangles (CSS px / DIP / physical px) being reapplied after pet-size, hide/show, or layout changes, plus divergence between pointerInteractive, setIgnoreMouseEvents, and the native input shape.

   The WS_EX_LAYERED composition-reset workaround in the comment above is especially relevant: it suggests recreating/refreshing the layered surface also refreshes the missing or stale native input shape. A durable fix may need to recompute regions on DPI/display/pet-size/layout changes and reject stale region updates using a layout generation/revision.