UI does not repaint during background agent work until window is clicked (desktop app + VS Code extension)

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

26.227.1113.0 (Microsoft Store, updated 2/27/2026)

What subscription do you have?

Pro

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26220.0 x64 (Windows 11 Pro, Insider)

What issue are you seeing?

After the 2/27/2026 update, the Codex UI stops updating in real-time while the agent is working in the background.

Symptoms:

• Agent runs commands, reads files, produces output — but the UI stays frozen on the last rendered state
• The "Thinking" indicator may still animate, but no new tool calls or text appear
• As soon as I click anywhere inside the app window, all accumulated progress instantly appears (all tool calls, text output, etc.)
• This is not a backend issue — the work IS being done, the UI renderer just doesn't repaint until a focus/click event

Affected surfaces:

• Codex Desktop App (MS Store) v26.227.1113.0
• Codex VS Code Extension (openai.chatgpt) v0.5.79 pre-release — same behavior: UI does not update until I click inside the panel

Before the update (prior to 2/27) everything worked fine — UI updated in real-time as the agent worked.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Open Codex Desktop App (or VS Code with Codex extension)
2. Start any task that involves multiple tool calls
3. Do NOT interact with the window — just watch
4. Observe: UI stays frozen, no new content renders
5. Click anywhere inside the Codex window
6. Observe: all pending output instantly appears at once

What is the expected behavior?

The UI should update in real-time as the agent executes tool calls and produces output

Additional information

_No response_