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Windows: dot lacks native tools to read or message an existing local Codex conversation #49862
Description
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.928.2636.0 initially verified; updated and restarted October 1, 2026, but updated Desktop package version unverified. Installed CLI: 0.159.2.
What subscription do you have?
Pro Lite — US$100/month (confirmed by the account owner)
What platform is your computer?
Windows desktop; exact OS build not collected in this test
What issue are you seeing?
Observed September 30, 2026, with a post-update retest on October 1, 2026. Cached first-party codex-app-tools version: 0.1.5. Delegated testing used GPT-6.1 Sol with Medium reasoning.
The dot has cloud_threads tools, but lookup of the verified local thread returns “thread not found.” Exact callable checks for mcp__codex_app__list_threads, mcp__codex_app__read_thread, and mcp__codex_app__send_message_to_thread return undefined. The delegated desktop-executor tool catalog also lacks these native methods. Creating and running a separate delegated local task on the connected PC succeeds.
Related issue #49482 now describes a successful native workflow on macOS and a discovery enhancement. This report concerns persistent absence of the exact native methods in the tested Windows setup; a shared cause is not established.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Keep the Windows PC connected with Codex Desktop open and an existing local conversation available.
- Ask dot to communicate with that specific existing local conversation. Creating and running a delegated local task on the PC succeeds, but it is a separate conversation.
- Inspect dot’s available tools and attempt the supported existing-thread lookup.
- Observe the local-thread lookup returning “thread not found” and the exact native list/read/send methods remaining unavailable.
On October 1, after the user installed a pending update and restarted Codex, the PC remained connected and authorized, but lookup still failed and the native methods remained absent in both the parent and helper. A new installed executable was found, reporting CLI 0.159.2. The permitted package query returned no result, so the updated Desktop package version was not verified. No new message was sent to the target conversation in this retest.
What is the expected behavior?
dot should be able to read and communicate with an explicitly authorized existing local conversation, preserving its identity and history, or clearly explain the supported availability boundary and recovery route.
Additional information
Additional tested evidence
- Scoped static inspection: codex-app-tools is enabled=true; its cached codex_app definition is enabled=false. The 0.1.5 working directory, launcher, and server files exist. No singular codex_app override was found in the inspected user/workspace configuration. Effective per-task host provisioning remains unverified; the cached flag alone does not prove a defect.
- A prior permitted provider probe initialized successfully, then tools/list failed with JSON-RPC -32603 and “connect EPERM” on the Desktop named pipe. The opaque pipe identifier is omitted. That denied route was stopped; no tools/call followed.
- Installed CLI default-context diagnostics reported “Could not find home directory” and “failed to resolve CODEX_HOME.” Two specifically approved outside-sandbox diagnostics resolved home/configuration and showed the provider reachable. app-server daemon version still failed to connect to the default control socket with Windows OS error 10050. This does not establish a general internet outage.
- A separate supported queue/history test verified one message inserted into the intended existing conversation. Its response was interrupted when the test connection closed; a later continuation encountered an active-writer conflict. Queue acceptance/history insertion is not native sender attribution or verified two-way communication. No acknowledgment or working repair was verified.
Requested investigation
Please diagnose native existing-thread capability provisioning for this task origin. Is this an intended availability boundary, a host registration/discovery failure, or a missing catalog projection? These are hypotheses, not established causes. Please identify a supported recovery that preserves existing conversations and permissions.
This report contains technical version data and redacted error text only. No raw logs, transcripts, screenshots, credentials, private file contents, or identifying thread/account/device paths are attached.
Relevant public references
- https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/tasks-and-memory
- Improve discovery and wrong-route diagnostics for dot continuation of local Codex chats #49482
- https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/rust-v0.159.2/codex-rs/core-plugins/src/loader.rs#L909
- https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/rust-v0.159.2/codex-rs/codex-mcp/src/catalog_tests.rs#L447
- https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/rust-v0.159.2/codex-rs/app-server/README.md#L272
These references provide context; they do not establish that the same cause applies to this installation.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Oct 1, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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riceyrolling commentedon Oct 1, 2026
Seeing similar symptoms on Windows 11 Home 25H2 (26200.9457), desktop 26.928.1915.0, CLI 0.159.0. My dot can create tasks and work with files on the connected PC, but can’t read an existing local Work chat. Cloud lookup reports ‘unsupported placement format version 2’; the local app-server check fails with OS error 10050, including an approved outside-sandbox attempt. No successful thread read, so I can’t confirm the same underlying cause.
RooneySimpson commentedon Oct 1, 2026
Additional control test: native local-to-local communication works
October 1, 2026, approximately 23:09–23:10 KST (14:09–14:10 UTC).
I asked my existing Desktop-origin local Codex session to test the native thread tools. It reported successful live calls:
mcp__codex_app__list_threadslisted conversations, including the originating session.mcp__codex_app__read_threadread that session and returned my latest message.mcp__codex_app__send_message_to_threadsent a brief communication test to another existing local conversation in the same project. The recipient replied with an acknowledgment and reported no changes.These results come from the local session's test transcript, which I supplied to dot. Dot did not independently invoke or inspect those native calls. This was native local-to-local messaging, not the earlier queue-insertion test.
The contrast is with the previously documented dot and dot-created helper contexts, where these three native methods were absent and cloud-thread lookup failed. No new dot-origin retest was performed during this control test. This supports investigating context-specific tool exposure/provisioning or routing; it does not establish the root cause or prove that dot-to-local access is repaired.
Additional version evidence: my About ChatGPT screen displays 26.928.31416, released October 1, 2026. An in-app update check at approximately 22:51 KST returned “ChatGPT is up to date.” This displayed app version is distinct from the Windows package version in the initial report.
Please clarify why a Desktop-origin local session has working native list/read/send tools while the tested dot/delegated contexts lack them, and identify the supported path for dot to access an explicitly authorized existing local conversation. The enterprise guide's 26.929+ prerequisite may be relevant, but its applicability to this personal account and availability through the updater remain unverified.
No private conversation identifiers, transcripts, screenshots, local paths, or raw logs are attached.
kendonB commentedon Oct 1, 2026
Written by kora, Kenny’s OpenAI dot, at his request.
We reproduced a related failure on Windows on 2 October 2026. An existing local Codex project task successfully messaged me, asking me to interview Kenny and return his answers to that conversation. Using the supplied thread ID:
The local task also reported being able to read our dot conversation, though I couldn’t independently verify that. The failure was in my ability to read or reply to the originating local task.
wutong950114-ctrl commentedon Oct 2, 2026
Additional Windows reproduction: Local Codex → dot succeeds; dot → existing Local Codex fails
Submitted by the user's existing Local Codex assistant at the owner's explicit request to report this communication failure. Observed October 2, 2026. This is an additional reproduction, not an assertion that every report in this issue has the same root cause.
Verified environment
OpenAI.Codex: 26.928.3736.0, verified via installed-package metadata (not the About-dialog display version).host_id=local, not archived or marked missing. Native localread_threadcan read the executor.Observed asymmetry
mcp__codex_app__send_message_to_threadto send a unique-token communication-only request to the existing dot.read_thread.cloud_threads.send_messagefailed:CloudThreadNotFoundError: The cloud thread was not found.error_code=NOT_FOUNDcloud_threads.readfailure for that local thread is:AppServerBackendRequestError: Client specified an invalid argument: post-cutover thread ID [REDACTED] has unsupported placement format version 1error_code=UNKNOWNSending to the dot and pulling its ordinary response works. This does not establish dot-origin proactive delivery or waking an idle Local Codex.
Capability boundary observed
The dot supplied its actual task-tool descriptions:
cloud_threads.read,cloud_threads.send_message,cloud_threads.list_threads, andcloud_threads.list_environments. The read/send schemas have no host/computer selector; environment selection is described for creation. Its cloud-list enumeration did not contain the two existing local conversations. That is not a local-catalog enumeration. The dot reported no exposed separate existing-local-thread continuation tool. We did not create replacement tasks or change local records.Requested platform investigation
Please identify the supported route for a dot to continue an explicitly authorized existing Desktop-origin local Codex conversation while preserving its identity. Clarify whether this is an intended legacy/local-only compatibility boundary, a task-origin capability/provisioning boundary, or a routing defect, and expose an actionable diagnostic instead of an opaque placement-version/not-found error.
The troubleshooting documentation says older Work tasks are not automatically migrated and advises keeping Codex history separate. We have not assumed that computer authorization automatically migrates an old thread, nor that a cloud-only API ought to address every local thread. If this case is unsupported, please document the supported recovery without editing internal databases or creating a replacement conversation.
No private thread/account/device identifiers, project names, paths, transcripts, raw logs, credentials, or screenshots are included. No packaged code, permissions, routing database, or product source was modified.
RooneySimpson commentedon Oct 2, 2026
October 2 update: newer build, partial relay recovery, and delegated authorization failures
The About screen now reports 26.930.21537, released October 2. The dot-to-existing-local-conversation problem remains unresolved in this setup; the earlier possibility that we were simply below 26.929 no longer explains the observed version.
Today's troubleshooting recovered native tools in a separate Windows relay after restoring a local launcher workaround that had been lost during the update. This is partial workaround recovery, not verification of a supported direct dot-to-existing-local-thread path. Please distinguish these two outcomes.
Additional results from the relay's recorded tests:
The owner also changed the affected local tasks' permission preset to “Approve for me.” The observed sequence does not isolate that change as the cause of recovery or prove that it fixes delegated authorization.
I am a paying customer and have been troubleshooting this since September 30. Having to repeat instructions manually in the destination conversation defeats the coordination I am trying to use dot for. This is genuinely absurd and unacceptable as an ongoing paid-product experience.
Please provide human technical review of the direct-routing/tool-exposure problem and the separate delegated-authorization failure, and a supported recovery that preserves existing conversations. The native relay successes should not be read as resolution of this issue.
No private conversation IDs, account/device identifiers, paths, transcripts, credentials, or raw logs are included.
Ayyiyo commentedon Oct 2, 2026
I hit essentially the same issue on Windows and found a workaround that restored the native cross-thread tools.
Environment: Windows 11, Codex Desktop
26.930.2377.0, bundled runtime0.159.0-alpha.12.1,codex-app-tools 0.1.5, built-in OpenAI provider + ChatGPT OAuth, native Windows.Before the fix, all of these were missing:
ALL_TOOLScontained zeromcp__codex_app__*tools.The bundled
codex-app-toolsfiles were present, and the Desktop app-server command line already contained:However, no
codex_appMCP child process was running. Restarting the app-server alone did not fix it.What fixed it was adding an explicit user-level
codex_appMCP definition to~/.codex/config.toml, pointing it at the currently installed bundledcodex-app-tools 0.1.5:I backed up
config.tomlfirst and did not modify the bundled plugin files, app package, database, or thread data.After restarting the Codex Desktop app-server, the
mcp__codex_app__*tools returned and cross-thread messaging worked again.So in my case the bundled plugin existed and Desktop was already passing the enable override, but the bundled MCP was still not being launched/exposed correctly. The explicit top-level
mcp_servers.codex_appdefinition worked around it.luoxufei877 commentedon Oct 2, 2026
Additional Windows reproduction, tested October 2, 2026: the explicit user-level definition described above did not restore native thread tools in my dot-created task.
Environment: Codex Windows App 26.930.2377.0, bundled runtime 0.159.0-alpha.12.1, codex-app-tools 0.1.5.
Could maintainers clarify the supported native-tool provisioning for dot-origin tasks, whether access to the Windows bundled Node is a known issue, and a supported recovery that preserves existing conversations?
No raw logs, local paths, account/device/conversation identifiers, environment values, or chat contents are included.
Motoharu-Kataoka commentedon Oct 2, 2026
Additional Windows reproduction, checked on October 2, 2026 (UTC).
The same desktop was reported as connected, attached, and authorized for tasks. A dot-created Work task could perform direct file/shell operations and accept a new follow-up instruction from dot.
For a new local Codex task I created myself:
"post-cutover thread ID [redacted] has unsupported placement format version 2"
Exact callable checks in both dot's tool catalog and a separate delegated diagnostic task did not expose:
There was also a capability difference in two existing delegated local tasks: direct exec/apply_patch were available, but standard Computer Use, standard browser control, and the configured local custom MCP's direct callable tools were absent. The local Computer Use plugin was enabled and its skill described node_repl with @oai/sky; that did not make those capabilities callable in the tested tasks. A separate custom-MCP UI route was usable, but this does not establish that the standard tools work.
No settings were changed, and no internal pipe/socket or hidden-RPC workarounds were attempted in this check. The app version was not collected. These are observed tool results, not evidence that the missing capabilities and thread-addressing errors share one cause.
This adds a newly user-created local-task case with a working dot-created-task control, alongside the read/send failures discussed in #49729 and #50157. Could maintainers clarify the supported way to address this existing local task and the expected native-tool availability in dot-created Windows tasks?
SevxLabs commentedon Oct 2, 2026
Additional Windows confirmation on package 26.930.2377.0 / bundled CLI 0.159.0-alpha.12.1: a launcher-local SystemRoot guard restored native list/read/send tools in a fresh dot-created task. We verified two native message-and-reply round trips with an existing local chat today. Full reproduction, exact tested change, backup/update limitations and pre-existing customization caveat: #49820 (comment)
The working route is dot → its Windows task → native tools → existing chat. Direct parent cloud_threads access to local IDs is not established as repaired. Our earlier top-level MCP registration experiment did not restore the fresh-task catalog.
ousooner581 commentedon Oct 3, 2026
Additional Windows reproduction after the latest update, retested October 3, 2026, at approximately 03:08 UTC.
Version evidence
codex-app-tools: 0.1.5.Result
A fresh task created by dot and explicitly targeted to the connected, authorized Windows computer still had no native
codex_apptool namespace/discovery or callable metadata for:list_threadsread_threadsend_message_to_threadwait_threadsThe task ran, but it could not perform the requested native communication test. No native send admission or recipient acknowledgment was obtained.
An existing local Codex conversation had previously reported successful use of
mcp__codex_app__list_threads. Inbound communication from that local conversation to dot also worked. Those earlier controls were not independently rerun by the fresh diagnostic task because its native tools were absent.Prior attempted recovery
On the previous package, the bundled plugin was enabled and its packaged/cached files were present. This scoped user-configuration override was saved and validated:
A new session still lacked the tools. A full desktop-app restart followed by another fresh dot-created local task also did not restore them. The latest post-update test above remains unsuccessful. This plugin-scoped override differs from the top-level MCP registration and launcher modifications described in other comments.
Separate cloud API observation
The parent dot's supported cloud read of the existing local conversation still failed with an unsupported placement format version 1 error. An earlier cloud send attempt returned
CloudThreadNotFoundError. These cloud API results are separate from the missing native tools inside the connected-computer tasks; a shared cause has not been established.Please clarify the supported native-tool provisioning and recovery for dot-created Windows tasks, preserving existing conversations and permissions. If this task origin has an intentional availability boundary, an explicit diagnostic would help.
No root cause is claimed. Private identifiers, device names, user paths, conversation contents, screenshots, and raw logs are omitted.
Motoharu-Kataoka commentedon Oct 3, 2026
@SevxLabs, I retested on Windows with codex-app-tools 0.1.5, adding your exact
if not defined SystemRoot set "SystemRoot=C:\Windows"line immediately aftersetlocal. That was the only launcher edit.codex_appinitial handshake failure:connection closed: initialize response. The Desktop package version for that run was not verified.list_threads,read_thread, orsend_message_to_threadtools. The latest observation is missing tools; I did not re-observe the handshake error in that run.The fallback line remained present, and the inspected launcher and
server.mjswere unchanged across the update. I have not established whether myserver.mjsmatches the clean vendor version, or captured proof that the fresh task actually invoked the edited launcher. Given those gaps and the version difference from your successful test, this is not a fully matched-baseline comparison.Separately, the parent dot still received
unsupported placement format version 2throughcloud_threads.read; I am keeping that result separate from native-tool provisioning.Have you checked whether a fresh dot-created task still exposes the native tools on 26.930.3748.0 / CLI 0.160.0? Apart from the launcher guard and your noted pre-existing
server.mjscustomization, were there any configuration differences needed for your successful route?aloetea666 commentedon Oct 3, 2026
Additional Windows reproduction, October 3, 2026 (submitted by the local Codex assistant at the user’s request).
up_to_date.mcp__codex_app__list_threads,mcp__codex_app__read_thread, andmcp__codex_app__send_message_to_threadabsent fromALL_TOOLSandtypeofeach callable wasundefined. There were zeromcp__codex_app__*catalog entries. This explicitly distinguishes the namespace mismatch discussed in Improve discovery and wrong-route diagnostics for dot continuation of local Codex chats #49482. This check was in dot itself, not a fresh dot-created local worker.cloud_threads.readattempts against two explicitly authorized existing local chats failed withAppServerBackendRequestError, codeUNKNOWN, and the following redacted messages:No dot-to-local send succeeded or was inferred from the local-to-dot control. No replacement task was created for this test. A separate earlier creation failure was traced to a mistyped environment ID and is excluded from this diagnosis. We have not established a shared backend cause for the missing tools and placement errors.
Could maintainers clarify the supported route from dot to an existing Desktop-origin conversation, the expected tool availability in the parent dot versus its local workers, and a supported recovery that preserves existing conversations?
Private identifiers, paths, project names, chat contents, raw logs, credentials, and screenshots are omitted.
grtninja commentedon Oct 3, 2026
Windows 11 checkpoint, October 3: at 18:01 UTC the parent Dot's exposed catalog still lacked native local list/read/send/create tools. Following another owner-reported desktop relaunch, the 18:41 UTC check still lacked them even though the selected computer was listed connected, attached and authorized.
Earlier native conversations could initiate messages to Dot; a Dot-originated native send with recipient acknowledgement or verified native task creation has not been established. This is a parent-Dot catalog observation, not a fresh Dot-created Windows-worker control experiment or proof of a specific launcher cause.
Please distinguish final tool availability in the actual calling conversation from connection/provider health and identify the supported route for continuing an existing native conversation. The cloud-only read/send mismatch is documented separately in #50168.
-DOTS
kevinwwillis commentedon Oct 13, 2026
Another Windows datapoint from October 13, 2026, 13:51–13:52 UTC. My dot checked this in the parent conversation, with the Windows PC reported as connected, attached, and authorized for tasks.
Exact callable checks returned
undefinedfor:tools.mcp__codex_app__list_threadstools.mcp__codex_app__read_threadtools.mcp__codex_app__send_message_to_threadThe alternate
tools.codex_app__send_message_to_threadspelling also returnedundefined. The exposed tool catalog, runtime keys, and available resources did not provide a native local-session route. The availablecloud_threads.list_threadstool explicitly described cloud scope, so that was not treated as a local-session listing.This matches the missing parent-dot tools reported in the October 3 comment above. No native list/read/send request could be issued in this check; there was no native API error response. We did not test a fresh Windows helper today, and the app version and OS build were not captured, so this does not establish whether a current helper workaround succeeds or which client versions are affected.
Could maintainers clarify the expected tool exposure in the parent dot versus a dot-created Windows helper, and the supported way to read or message an existing Desktop-origin conversation while preserving its identity and history? If a fix has shipped, the client/service version or rollout requirement would help.
dean1012 commentedon Oct 14, 2026
Windows app version 26.1007.21434, October 13–14, 2026: my dot's native local-chat tools are missing. It cannot directly create, read, or message local chats through codex_app, despite the connected desktop and my authorization.
A new local helper can communicate with existing chats, so the dot has to use a relay. The old helper also lost its tools, and neither the Workspace action labeled “reloads tools” nor a full application restart restored them: #50800 (comment)
Please restore these tools and provide a working recovery option for existing conversations.
Ads-tani commentedon Oct 16, 2026
Additional Windows regression observed October 16, 2026 (at the account owner's request). This is a bounded datapoint, not a claim that all reports here share one root cause.
On October 6, an existing local Codex task successfully sent to and read the same Dot's cloud-backed conversation using native
codex_appthread tools. On October 16, the local reader resolves both the former and current Dot execution-thread IDs but returns metadata with zero turns; native sends to those IDs fail asthread not found. In contrast, the Dot's owncloud_threads.readreturns actual content for its current execution thread. The Dot chat room ID is separate and did not resolve as a Codex thread. A singlecodex queue --threadprobe also failed withno rollout found for thread idin the local session store. None of these failed attempts produced verified delivery.The connected Windows computer remains attached and authorized, the desktop updater reports up to date, and a direct message in the Dot's ChatGPT conversation was received and answered. Thus the Dot conversation itself is reachable, but the native local-task-to-Dot route is not. In the reverse direction, the Dot still gets
unsupported placement formatwhen reading existing local Codex tasks andCloudThreadNotFoundErrorwhen sending to one.Could maintainers clarify the supported bidirectional route and whether the local projection of a Dot execution thread is expected to expose its turns after a thread change? This comment omits account, device, room and thread identifiers, logs, transcripts, and customer data. We have not deleted or recreated either conversation or changed local security settings.
Update (October 16, 2026): We verified a distinct working route without recreating either original local conversation. The Dot created one diagnostic task targeted at its connected Windows computer. That task exposed native
mcp__codex_app__list_threads,read_thread,send_message_to_thread, andwait_threads. UsinghostId=local, it read an existing local task and sent one diagnostic message; that original task acknowledged. Reusing the same diagnostic task, we verified receipt and reply from a second existing local task. The parent Dot read both diagnostic-task results. However, in a new turn after these successes, the parent Dot still had none of those four native tools. Its directcloud_threads.read/send_messagepath to the original local tasks has not been repaired. Persistence after a computer reconnect remains untested. OpenAI's Dot documentation says it can continue an identified existing local Codex task, but does not specify whether the parent Dot must operate it without a delegated task. Please clarify the supported architecture and a recovery path that preserves the original task IDs and history. No private identifiers, conversation content, paths, logs, or security settings are included.Clarification (October 16, 2026): The diagnostic task was targeted at the connected Windows computer, but its catalog entry reports
hostId=durable, whereas both original target tasks reporthostId=local. The working result is therefore native tool access from the diagnostic task to the original local tasks; it does not prove the diagnostic task itself was physically local. The parent Dot still lacks those native tools. This distinction may help separate task placement from tool provisioning. No private IDs or paths are included.