Allow forking conversation open in another app #44764

Activity

1. tsoernes

   added

   enhancementNew feature or requestNew feature or request

   on Sep 11, 2026
2. github-actions

   added

   CLIIssues related to the Codex CLIIssues related to the Codex CLI

   sessionIssues involving session (thread) management, resuming, forking, naming, archivingIssues involving session (thread) management, resuming, forking, naming, archiving

   on Sep 11, 2026
3. nickname55 commented on Sep 19, 2026

   

   nickname55

   on Sep 19, 2026

   More actions

   Additional reproducible UX case on Linux:

   Environment

   • ChatGPT/Codex Desktop package: 26.818.31338
   • Bundled Codex: 0.149.0-alpha.4
   • Standalone Codex CLI: 0.155.0
   • Linux x86_64, kernel 6.17.0-35-generic

   Steps

   1. Open/use a Codex conversation through the desktop-hosted app, including from the mobile remote client.
   2. Run codex resume <session-id> in a standalone terminal.
   3. The TUI shows: This conversation is open in another app. Close it there and press R to continue here.
   4. Fully power off the phone/mobile client and retry.

   Actual result
   The lock remains because the desktop app/app-server is still running. The message does not identify which client/host owns the writer lock, so it leads the user to close the wrong client. There is also no explicit “close/release this conversation” action in the mobile conversation UI, and the blocked TUI offers only Retry or Exit. The practical recovery is to terminate the desktop app or leave the TUI and run codex fork <session-id>.

   Expected result

   • Identify the lock owner, e.g. Codex Desktop on <host>, instead of generic another app.
   • Offer Fork conversation directly on the blocked screen (as requested by this issue).
   • Ideally offer a safe explicit handoff/release action, or clearly explain that closing the remote phone client does not release a writer still owned by the desktop host.

   This is more than a missing shortcut: the current ownership message makes recovery ambiguous and sends the user to the wrong device.