Windows: local projects disappear from sidebar; re-adding folders does not restore chat associations #47827

Problem

My existing local projects disappeared from the Codex desktop sidebar on Windows. Only four ChatGPT projects remained visible. Local conversations still exist, but are no longer grouped under their projects.

Environment

Windows native, not WSL.

Project folders are local Windows paths, primarily under Dropbox.

App version: not yet identified.

CODEX_HOME and CODEX_SQLITE_HOME were not set in the inspected process, user environment, or system environment.

The inspected database is at the default location: %USERPROFILE%.codex\state_5.sqlite.

Read-only diagnostic findings

The projects table still contained 13 original project records.

The project_roots table retained their folder paths, and all those folders existed.

No threads had a non-null project_id at the time of inspection.

The app's list_projects tool returned only the four ChatGPT projects.

Recovery attempt

Following support guidance, I re-added one existing project folder through the app's folder picker.

The project appeared in the sidebar, but its existing conversation remained outside it, with projectId null.

After this action, the SAME state_5.sqlite database contained 14 project records: the 13 original records plus a new record for the re-added folder. This suggests that a different database location alone does not explain the problem.

Expected behavior

Existing projects and their conversation associations should remain visible. Re-opening an existing project folder should recover its previous organization.

Actual behavior

Original local project records are not shown. Re-adding a folder creates another project record without restoring the existing conversation association.

Additional information

The exact trigger for the disappearance is unknown.

A database backup was created and its integrity checked.

No manual database edits were made.

I could not find a Feedback option in the "/" menu.

The support assistant directed me to GitHub Issues.

Please advise on a supported recovery procedure that preserves existing projects and conversations. No database or session transcripts are attached because they contain confidential work information.