Codex app crashes silently during task execution on MacBook Pro (M2 Pro)

Update: Crash occurs even when idle

I just experienced another crash with a new finding:

What happened:

• Opened the Codex app
• Did absolutely nothing - just left it running in the background
• After some time, the app crashed silently on its own
• Still no crash dialog or error messages from macOS

Key observation:
The crash is not limited to active task execution. The app crashes even when completely idle, which suggests this may be a memory leak, background process issue, or automatic sync/update mechanism problem.

This makes the issue even more severe as I can't keep the app open at all on my MacBook Pro.

it's about two releases that it's pretty unstable for me, Codex Helper (Renderer) at full blast, unresponsive UI, these crashes, but was pretty stable few hours ago

I have the exact same issue. Is the project directory a large file? That seems to be the issue here: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/10996

Just waiting on a update

I also have the exact same issue, tried many things and hours of Codex app itself to fix this, it still happens very randomly. Using M3 Max Macbook pro.

Same issue for me. Starts work and then just freezes though isn't it is more hanging.

same, my app crashes about every 15 seconds with nothing running

I'm on the M4 Mac mini as well, and I'm having crashing issues too.

I have the same issues on mac air m3

I also encountered the same problem. The CPU and memory usage was extremely high. Currently, it is completely unusable.

Unusable state right now. For every 3-4 mins crashing.

It seems that they released a new update and fixed it.

Still doesn't work on Version 260208.1016 (571), keeps crashing

Update: Got actual error dialog this time!

The app just crashed again, and this time I actually got an error dialog (instead of silent crash). Here's the error:

Error Message:

A JavaScript error occurred in the main process

Uncaught Exception:
Error: dlopen(/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar.unpacked/node_modules/better-sqlite3/build/Release/better_sqlite3.node, 0x0001): 
tried: '/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar.unpacked/node_modules/better-sqlite3/build/Release/better_sqlite3.node' 
(code signature in <CE73FAC6-3E95-396F-A8D5-54D93722043C> not valid for use in process: library load denied by system policy)

Key Finding:

The error is related to better-sqlite3 library being blocked by macOS system policy due to invalid code signature.

This explains:

• Why it's specific to certain machines (different security settings)
• Why it started suddenly (possibly after a Codex update that broke code signing)
• Why Mac Mini works but MacBook Pro doesn't (different security configurations)

Root Cause:

macOS is rejecting the better_sqlite3.node native module due to code signature validation failure.

Another error: App running but no window visible

Now experiencing a different error pattern:

Symptoms:

• Codex is running (visible in menu bar at top)
• But no window is visible at all
• When I try to quit via right-click, get this error:

Error Message:

A JavaScript error occurred in the main process

Uncaught Exception:
ReferenceError: Cannot access 'Vt' before initialization
at EventEmitter.<anonymous> (/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar/.vite/build/main-BLcwFbOH.js:558:14213)
at EventEmitter.emit (node:events:520:35)
at o.emit (/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar/.vite/build/main-BLcwFbOH.js:514:5950)

This is a different issue from the better-sqlite3 error:

• JavaScript variable initialization order problem
• App process starts but UI fails to initialize
• Completely unusable - can't even see the window

The app is now in a worse state than before.

encountered the same issue since friday's update on m1pro macbook pro, persisted even after switching to a brand new m4max mbp. did not fix after applying all fixes found here, and today's update didn't help as well. wish there is an older snapshot I could just revert back to.

same issues on Mac air m4

I’m seeing the same issue as well.

• Crashes happen even when the app is idle (no task running).
• The app can’t stay open for more than ~5 minutes before it disappears.
• Silent crash: the window/app vanishes with no macOS crash dialog.

System

• MacBook Pro M4
• macOS Tahoe 26.2 (25C56

I still have this issues even after the yesterday update

Version 260208.1016 (571) keeps silently crashing // Tahoe 26.2 (25C56) // m4 pro - 48 gb.

Version 260208.1016 (571) keeps silently crashing

losing work

Same at macbook m1 pro

Same behavior on MacBook Air M4 2025 (macOS version 15.6.1) with Codex version 260208.1016 (571).

same issue here. mostly if i start more than 2 processes at the same time, the agents just stop working and ic ant put more requests into it. this makes the app pretty much useless.

I just updated to Version 260210.1703 (602), but the issue still persists. Codex stops working after some time, whether I’m actively using it or simply leaving it open. It seems to crash more quickly when I use it actively.

Same issue on Mac Os 26.2 Tahoe Macbook Pro M1 Max, newest version

We think that we've addressed the primary cause of the crash that most users were seeing, but it's quite possible that there were multiple causes.

@KiuIras, please update to the latest version and see if that fixes it.

@danielauriginal, which version are you running? Do you have any other repro steps or details that could help us isolate the cause?

@etraut-openai I am running on Mac OS, Macbook Pro M1 Max, I am running other codex instances parallel on a different IDE (Antigravity) as an extension and I don't know if it is colliding with that. I run the latest version (Version 260210.1703 (602)) On Tahoe 26.2. I also feel major lags sometimes (freezes, hanging, etc.)

@etraut-openai Hi i am still having crash issue even in the latest update (Version 260210.1703 (602)) On Tahoe 26.2. I have macbook air m3

@etraut-openai app has been quite stable for, has not aborted in the past 3 hours. Looks like fixed for me, thanks!

I don't know what causes it, but if you get, like @wailii library load denied by system policy errors, a solution is to run:

security unlock-keychain

In a terminal, then enter your password and then everything works again.

Codex Version 260210.1703 (602) still silently crashes in few minutes after app started. Often while I still entering some (long) task description. Happens on Macbook Pro M1 Max running Tahoe 26.2.

@SS-42, do you have a reliable way to repro it, or does it appear somewhat random? When you say "long" task description, are you talking about a thousand characters? Tens of thousands?

@SS-42, do you have a reliable way to repro it, or does it appear somewhat random? When you say "long" task description, are you talking about a thousand characters? Tens of thousands?

No exact steps. Just launch an app and in new thread I started to entering some text, less than 2000 characters is what I managed to enter until app silently crashed last time.
I think it depends more on time since launched rather than how many characters are entered. As I started Codex again leaved it running on background and it again exited silently while I was in the middle of writing this message.

Any specific log I can provide to the team for troubleshooting?

Same issue with Macbook Pro Max 2. Codex is practically unusable!

This is a new issue that I see past 2-3 days. When Codex was released, first 7 days it had no such issues

It is still crashing, even when the app is just open. I simply open it and do nothing, and after a couple of minutes it silently crashes and closes.

No crashes anymore on Version 26.212.1823 (661). Great job.

@wailii, are you still seeing a crash? If not, I'd like to close this issue.

etraut-openai yeah so crashing is over. However, if i switch conversation tabs its pretty ugly. So it sometimes takes up to 20s to switch to another conversation. This issue is also in the vs code extension. pls fix that :3