Codex Desktop App does not display existing local sessions from shared CODEX_HOME

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

0.114.0

What subscription do you have?

Plus (free trial)

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x26

What issue are you seeing?

Title:
Codex Desktop App does not display existing local sessions from shared CODEX_HOME

Summary
When the Codex Desktop App and the Codex VS Code extension share the same CODEX_HOME directory, the VS Code extension correctly lists all sessions (including those created by the Desktop app), but the Codex Desktop App only shows the most recent session and ignores earlier ones, even though they exist on disk and in the app database.

Environment
OS: Windows 11

Codex Desktop App: current release as of March 2026
VS Code: latest release with Codex extension

Authentication: ChatGPT account login

CODEX_HOME configuration:

CODEX_HOME=L:\codex-home

L: is a drive letter mapped to:

C:\gb\codex-home

This mapping is used because some applications cannot reference the mount point directly.

Directory structure:

L:\codex-home
sessions\
sqlite\
skills\
memories\
config.toml
auth.json
state_5.sqlite

Evidence

Five Desktop sessions created on 2026-03-11 exist on disk:

L:\codex-home\sessions\2026\03\11\rollout-2026-03-11T00-04-17-019cdb11-1b11-7323-aaf3-edaac90171b5.jsonl
L:\codex-home\sessions\2026\03\11\rollout-2026-03-11T00-17-42-019cdb1d-65ce-7090-856f-9ffb272f4033.jsonl
L:\codex-home\sessions\2026\03\11\rollout-2026-03-11T00-29-34-019cdb28-4233-78f2-ad2e-952b15e23e1c.jsonl
L:\codex-home\sessions\2026\03\11\rollout-2026-03-11T10-12-36-019cdd3e-0983-7c32-8d95-f5aed921d85d.jsonl
L:\codex-home\sessions\2026\03\11\rollout-2026-03-11T15-09-49-019cde4e-26e3-70c1-aac1-aa7c101d8c1f.jsonl

Verification

SQLite verification confirms all sessions exist in the database:

select count(*) from threads where id in (
'019cdb11-1b11-7323-aaf3-edaac90171b5',
'019cdb1d-65ce-7090-856f-9ffb272f4033',
'019cdb28-4233-78f2-ad2e-952b15e23e1c',
'019cdd3e-0983-7c32-8d95-f5aed921d85d',
'019cde4e-26e3-70c1-aac1-aa7c101d8c1f'
);

Result:

5

Therefore:

• JSONL session files exist
• database thread records exist
• only the UI fails to display them

Additional observations

VS Code Codex extension:

• lists all sessions correctly
• can open sessions created by the Desktop app

Codex Desktop App:

• lists only the most recent session
• ignores earlier sessions even though they exist in storage

This suggests a problem with the Desktop app history/sidebar enumeration logic rather than a persistence or indexing issue.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Steps to reproduce

1. Set a shared Codex home directory.

PowerShell:

1. setx CODEX_HOME L:\codex-home
2. Move \Users\<username>\.codex contents to CODEX_HOME
3. Reboot the system.
4. Install Codex Desktop App
5. Launch Codex Desktop App.
6. Launch VS Code with the Codex extension.
7. Create several sessions in the Codex Desktop App.
8. Restart the Codex Desktop App.

Observed behavior

Only the most recent Desktop session appears in the Codex app UI.
All

Older Desktop sessions do not appear in the sidebar.

However:

• JSONL session files exist on disk
• session rows exist in the SQLite database
• VS Code Codex extension can see and open all sessions

What is the expected behavior?

Expected behavior

All sessions stored under CODEX_HOME should appear in the Codex Desktop App history list, just like they do in the VSCode Codex Extention side panel.

Additional information

_No response_