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[Windows][26.901.31953] All Projects disappeared after update, threads moved to Recents — incomplete project assignment migration #42867

Closed as duplicate
Closed as duplicate
[Windows][26.901.31953] All Projects disappeared after update, threads moved to Recents — incomplete project assignment migration#42867
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appIssues related to the Codex desktop appbugSomething isn't workingsessionIssues involving session (thread) management, resuming, forking, naming, archivingwindows-osIssues related to Codex on Windows systems

Description

@Takanashi-Rikka1
Takanashi-Rikka1
opened on Sep 4, 2026

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

26.901.31953

What subscription do you have?

Pro - 100$

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Codex version

Codex Desktop for Windows
Powered by Codex & OWL
Version 26.901.31953
Released September 4, 2026

Issue

Immediately after the latest Codex Desktop update, all of my existing Projects disappeared from the left sidebar.

The Projects section now shows:

"No projects"

However, none of the conversations appear to be lost. Existing chats are still visible under Recents, open normally, and retain their original working directories/context.

I had 6 local Projects before the update.

Local diagnostic findings

I performed a read-only inspection of the local Codex state.

SQLite (state_5.sqlite) still contains:

  • 6 project definitions
  • all 1,115 thread rows
  • original cwd values for all threads
  • valid project roots
  • valid legacy project ID -> SQLite project UUID mappings

However:

  • all 1,115 threads currently have project_id = NULL
  • local-projects in .codex-global-state.json is empty
  • thread-project-assignments is missing

Most importantly, the migration state is:

projectsMigrated: true
threadAssignmentsMigrated: false

A valid pre-migration snapshot still contains 6 projects and 89 exact thread-to-project assignments.

This appears to be an incomplete migration where project definitions were migrated successfully, but thread/project assignments were not.

No local state has been modified or repaired.

Expected behavior

Existing Projects and their thread assignments should survive an application update and remain grouped in the Projects sidebar.

Actual behavior

Projects disappear from the sidebar and all existing conversations appear individually under Recents.

Related issues

#27906
#41874
#39124

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Reproduction:

  1. Have existing Projects in Codex Desktop for Windows.
  2. Update to version 26.901.31953.
  3. Relaunch Codex.
  4. Check the sidebar.

After the update, Projects shows "No projects", while all previous chats remain accessible under Recents.

Local read-only diagnostics show:

  • projectsMigrated: true
  • threadAssignmentsMigrated: false
  • existing projects still present in SQLite
  • all threads have project_id = NULL

No code snippet is applicable; this appears to be a local migration/state regression.

Session ID / token usage / context usage: N/A

What is the expected behavior?

No response

Additional information

No response

Activity

  1. Takanashi-Rikka1
    added
    appIssues related to the Codex desktop app
    on Sep 4, 2026
  2. github-actions
    added
    bugSomething isn't working
    windows-osIssues related to Codex on Windows systems
    sessionIssues involving session (thread) management, resuming, forking, naming, archiving
    on Sep 4, 2026

  3. github-actions commented on Sep 4, 2026

    @github-actions
    github-actionsBot
    on Sep 4, 2026 – with GitHub Actions
    Contributor

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

    Powered by Codex Action

  4. Takanashi-Rikka1 commented on Sep 4, 2026

    @Takanashi-Rikka1
    Takanashi-Rikka1
    on Sep 4, 2026
    Author

    Closing as duplicate of #42739.

    Confirmed the same Windows project/thread assignment migration regression on version 26.901.31953. I added my additional diagnostic findings to #42739.

  5. Takanashi-Rikka1
    closed this as a duplicateof Bug report: Local projects disappear from sidebar after Windows desktop update #42739 on Sep 4, 2026

  6. Pancat009 commented on Sep 24, 2026

    @Pancat009
    Pancat009
    on Sep 24, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

    I reproduced this on Windows and was able to recover the original Projects sidebar without recreating projects manually.

    Environment:

    • Windows
    • OpenAI.Codex package: 26.917.8451.0
    • SQLite integrity: OK
    • state_5.sqlite contained 28 projects / 28 project_roots and 426+ threads
    • initially all threads had project_id = NULL
    • migration state was:
      • projectsMigrated = true
      • threadAssignmentsMigrated = false

    Important finding: project_idempotency_keys still contained the legacy project ID -> app-server project ID mapping for the original projects.

    I also found an older temporary global-state snapshot:
    .codex-global-state.json.tmp-1789809340415-...

    That snapshot still contained:

    • local-projects: 28
    • project-order: 28
    • thread-project-assignments: 46
    • app-server-project-id-by-legacy-project-id-by-host: 28 mappings

    The current global state had lost the original registry.

    Recovery that worked:

    1. Fully exit Codex Desktop.
    2. Back up the current .codex-global-state.json and state_5.sqlite.
    3. Restore only the project-related fields from the last known-good temporary global-state snapshot into the current .codex-global-state.json:
      • local-projects
      • project-order
      • project-writable-roots (when present)
      • sidebar-project-thread-orders
      • thread-project-assignments
      • app-server-project-id-by-legacy-project-id-by-host
      • pinned-project-ids
    4. Reopen Codex Desktop.

    After that, the original Projects sidebar returned.

    One extra warning: a cwd-based sidebar recovery helper inferred 109 "projects" from thread working directories even though SQLite contained only 28 real projects. Many were ordinary one-off working directories / new-chat folders. So cwd inference should be a last-resort fallback. A safer recovery priority seems to be:

    1. historical .codex-global-state.json.tmp-* / .bak snapshot with matching legacy project IDs
    2. project_idempotency_keys + projects/project_roots
    3. cwd-based inference only as a final fallback

    This incident strongly matches the incomplete migration signature already reported here: projectsMigrated=true while threadAssignmentsMigrated=false.

  7. Ignignokt commented on Sep 30, 2026

    @Ignignokt
    Ignignokt
    on Sep 30, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

    Additional Windows reproduction with a surviving app-server project but an empty desktop project registry.

    User-visible symptom

    Codex Desktop shows No projects. Existing chats still exist and some UI surfaces still show the prior project association.

    Read-only forensic findings

    • .codex-global-state.json:
      • local-projects exists but is empty
      • thread-project-assignments missing
      • project-order missing
      • electron-saved-workspace-roots missing
      • app-server-project-id-by-legacy-project-id-by-host missing
    • Migration state for local CODEX_HOME:
      • projectsMigrated: true
      • threadAssignmentsMigrated: false
      • 3 pendingThreadAssignmentIds
    • Those same 3 pending IDs are also present in projectless-thread-ids.
    • .codex-global-state.json.bak is already post-failure and has the same empty project/assignment state as the live file.
    • state_5.sqlite passes PRAGMA quick_check: ok
    • SQLite counts:
      • projects: 1
      • project_roots: 1
      • project_idempotency_keys: 1
      • threads: 2566
    • Surviving project:
      • name: Simulation-Engine
      • root: C:\Code\Simulation-Engine
    • All 2566 thread rows currently have project_id = NULL.
    • The 3 pending thread IDs have generated Codex workspace CWDs under Documents\Codex\2026-09-28\..., so CWD alone is not safe evidence for reassignment.
    • sidebar-project-thread-orders contains no reference to the surviving project UUID, project name, or the 3 pending IDs.

    Interpretation

    This appears to be the same split-state failure described in this issue:

    1. project definition/root migration succeeds into state_5.sqlite
    2. thread-assignment migration does not complete
    3. desktop/global-state registry is empty
    4. durable project record survives but is not enumerated in the sidebar

    Recovery concern

    Please provide a supported reconciliation/reindex path that:

    • re-enumerates surviving projects / project_roots into the desktop UI without creating a duplicate project
    • does not infer historical membership from cwd alone
    • preserves existing thread/session data
    • can safely complete or reset a stuck threadAssignmentsMigrated=false state

    No local state was modified during diagnosis.

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