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[Windows][26.1111] Local Codex projects disappear after update while existing chats remain accessible #61294
Description
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
- Desktop app version from installed app metadata:
26.1111.21308 - Installed Windows package:
OpenAI.Codex 26.1111.2228.0(x64) - Bundled CLI:
codex-cli 0.169.0-alpha.11.1
What subscription do you have?
Not provided.
What platform is your computer?
Windows 11 Home 25H2, x64, build 26200.9974.
What issue are you seeing?
After updating the Windows desktop app, the local projects I had manually added in Codex disappeared from the Projects sidebar. Existing chats remain accessible, but their previous project grouping is missing. This affects local folder projects in Codex.
Read-only diagnostics on November 13, 2026:
state_5.sqlitepassedPRAGMA quick_check. It contains 53 project records and 63 project-root records. All 55 distinct registered folder paths still exist.- Both
.codex-global-state.jsonand its immediate.bakcontain an emptylocal-projectscatalog. - All 1,059 indexed thread rows have a NULL
project_id. This is the current database state. The database check alone cannot establish where each pre-update association was stored. - The saved migration checkpoint reports
projectsMigrated: trueandthreadAssignmentsMigrated: false. - Seven normalized folder paths are shared by more than one project, so the working directory alone cannot uniquely recover every historical chat assignment.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Observed sequence on this installation:
- Use Codex on Windows with manually added local projects and existing chats grouped under them.
- Update the Windows desktop app.
- Open Codex and inspect the Projects sidebar and the existing chats.
The sidebar no longer shows the local projects. Existing chats can still be opened individually. The update preceded the disappearance on this installation. A deterministic reproduction and the underlying trigger have yet to be established.
What is the expected behavior?
An app update should preserve manually added local projects and their existing chat groupings. If the sidebar catalog is empty while the original project records survive, please provide an app update or a supported recovery procedure that restores the original project IDs and folder mappings, and recovers historical chat assignments where the original data is available.
Additional information
Related reports: #54538 (empty desktop project catalog with surviving SQLite records), #58397 (projects missing after an update), and #59895 (similar symptoms after an account switch). This report adds a verified occurrence on Windows package 26.1111.2228.0.
The checks above were read-only. I am looking for an official recovery path that avoids direct edits to the application's internal database or state files.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Nov 13, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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byronbuzz commentedon Nov 15, 2026
Same issue on Windows 11, Codex
26.1111.2228.0(15 Nov 2026).Symptoms
config.tomlcontaining 16,139 NUL bytes. Codex would not start.state_5.sqlitewas intact: 14 projects, 20 project roots, 1,604 threads..codex-global-state.jsoncontained an emptylocal-projectscatalog.projectsMigrated: true,threadAssignmentsMigrated: false.Recovery steps (successful)
ChatGPT.exeand Codex app-server processes.config.toml,.codex-global-state.json, its.bak, andstate_5.sqliteusing a consistent SQLite backup.config.tomlfrom a valid backup if corrupted. Validate with Python'stomllib.state_5.sqliteusingPRAGMA quick_check. Extract:projects: original project IDs, names, ordering, timestamps.project_roots: original directory associations.project_idempotency_keys: mapping of original desktop project IDs to SQLite project IDs..codex-global-state.json:local-projects, keyed by original desktop project ID. Each entry containsid,name,rootPaths,createdAt,updatedAt.project-orderusing those same IDs.app-server-project-id-by-legacy-project-id-by-host, mapping original IDs to SQLite IDs under the existinglocal:<CODEX_HOME>host key.thread-project-assignmentsfrom historical backups and unambiguous directory matches. Leave ambiguous associations unassigned..bakwhile Codex is closed, then relaunch.Result
The original project IDs were essential. Do not reset the database or create replacement projects.
This suggests a Windows project-state persistence/migration defect. The relationship between the crash, corrupted TOML and empty project catalog remains unproven. A supported, non-destructive recovery mechanism would be valuable.