Issue: CLI banner tells users “run codex app” even though codex app is not a CLI subcommand and the Codex desktop app is not available on Windows.
Resolved 💬 2 comments Opened Feb 7, 2026 by SiddinWolfsbane Closed Feb 7, 2026
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (etraut-openai, contributor)
responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.
- Issue: CLI banner tells users “run codex app” even though codex app is not a CLI subcommand and the Codex desktop
app is not available on Windows.
- Repro steps:
- On Windows (CLI shows directory C:\Windows\System32), run codex or codex app.
- Banner appears: “Tip: Try the Codex App… Run ‘codex app’…”.
- CLI just starts the TUI and treats “app” as the first prompt; no desktop app launches.
- Expected: Either (a) no “run codex app” prompt on unsupported platforms, or (b) a message explaining the desktop app
is macOS-only for now with a link to the web version.
- Actual: Misleading banner implies a working CLI subcommand on Windows.
- Environment: Windows (System32), Codex CLI codex-cli 0.98.0, date observed Sat Feb 7, 2026.
- Impact: Confuses Windows users; wastes time troubleshooting a non-existent command; erodes trust.
2 Comments
Thanks for the bug report. This will be fixed in the next release.
@SiddinWolfsbane Reproduced this exact confusion on Windows: the CLI suggests codex app, but that doesn’t map to an available native Windows desktop app path yet.
As a workaround, I built an early Windows compatibility solution here: https://github.com/friuns/codex-app-for-windows