[macOS][Desktop 26.908.70816] Parent conversation becomes blank when opening Subagents; app restart restores messages inconsistently #45920

Summary

Opening the Subagents panel to monitor running agents makes the parent conversation content disappear in the macOS desktop app. The app shell and right-side Subagents panel remain visible, and agent activity continues, but the user cannot see the main chat history or new assistant responses.

This is a serious usability blocker: the user cannot supervise the active work or read its outcome and must watch the task status in the sidebar to know when it finishes.

Environment (verified locally on 2026-09-16)

• Desktop app: 26.908.70816, build 9275.
• Installed bundle: ChatGPT.app, bundle identifier com.openai.codex (Codex task interface).
• Bundled Codex CLI: 0.154.0-alpha.6.2.
• Bundled Codex Framework: 152.0.7977.83 (framework version read from its Info.plist; not an inferred Electron version).
• macOS: 27.0, build 26A428, arm64.
• Hardware: Apple M4 Pro, 48 GiB RAM.
• UI language: Turkish; timezone: Europe/Istanbul.
• These are the installed versions; no claim is made that every component is the latest release.

User-reported reproduction sequence

1. Continue an existing, long-running Codex task that uses subagents.
2. Open Alt ajanlar (Subagents) to inspect the running agents.
3. The main/parent conversation area becomes completely blank.
4. The right-side agent list still displays running agents and changing progress text, while the main chat remains unreadable, including newly generated responses.

In the supplied screenshot, the Subagents panel shows 2 active and 22 completed agents. The central conversation region is blank. The screenshot documents the affected state; a minimal fresh-task reproducer has not yet been established.

Expected behavior

Opening or monitoring subagents should preserve the parent conversation and continue rendering its messages. If a panel or renderer fails, the app should provide a visible, recoverable error rather than silently hiding the conversation.

Recovery observed by the user

Initially, the user reported restarting the whole computer twice, with chat visibility returning after each restart.

User follow-up on 2026-09-16: In the latest occurrence, the user only closed and reopened Codex, without restarting the computer, and could see the previous messages again. The user clarified that closing and reopening the app had not worked in earlier attempts.

Recovery through an app restart is therefore inconsistent across occurrences. Neither an app restart nor a computer reboot is a verified permanent fix. These recovery outcomes are user-reported; they were not independently instrumented. No specific root cause is established.

Additional evidence and scope

Work and tool calls continued after the blank state was reported. This establishes that at least some task execution remains active; it does not establish whether the root cause is layout, rendering, routing, or persisted UI state.

Potentially related reports:

• Codex Desktop can remain blank indefinitely when opening tasks with stale subagents #38250 — existing parent tasks remain blank with stale subagents.
• [App][Subagents] Child thread opens as a blank white view on macOS and iPhone #33562 — a child-agent conversation opens blank.

This report concerns the parent conversation becoming blank when monitoring running subagents, on the newer build above. The same root cause is not assumed.

Prepared and submitted by Codex at the affected user's explicit request. The user supplied a screenshot for this report. Raw logs, credentials, repository contents and full conversation transcripts are not included.

Screenshot attachment status

The original screenshot is retained locally. Attaching it from this session was blocked because the browser extension did not have file-URL access. The screenshot itself is therefore not attached to this GitHub issue yet; its visible state is described above.