Couldn't set up admin sandbox

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

• #14409
• #14585
• #14675
• #14729
• #13378

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@KissSheep-yq You published your OPENAI_API_KEY in a public repository. If this wasn't intentional, please reject this key and generate a new one.

Can confirm, it's 100% bricked in all environments. VSCode, and standalone app. It seems Codex was the only dev at openAI, now that it broke itself, it seems it's turned off permanently. I guess AI was fun while it lasted.

https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/14729#issuecomment-4108219251
私の環境では、StandAloneAppは未インストールでした。
この状態でインストールしてSandbox環境がReadOnlyになっていたのをWrite権限に切り替えることが出来、VSCodeでも動くようになりました。

Possible cause:
When Codex updates between versions (in my case v0.113.0 → v0.116.0), on next launch the new binary validates the existing sandbox_users.json and setup_marker.json. If the stored state is considered incompatible, it triggers a full re-setup with elevation via ShellExecuteExW with runas. The elevation failed silently instead of prompting the user to re-run setup manually with admin rights, falling back to the non-admin sandbox with the "Couldn't set up admin sandbox" message.

Workaround:
Rename/delete ~/.codex and re-login in the extension. This forces a clean first-time setup, which goes through elevation correctly.

Possible cause: When Codex updates between versions (in my case v0.113.0 → v0.116.0), on next launch the new binary validates the existing sandbox_users.json and setup_marker.json. If the stored state is considered incompatible, it triggers a full re-setup with elevation via ShellExecuteExW with runas. The elevation failed silently instead of prompting the user to re-run setup manually with admin rights, falling back to the non-admin sandbox with the "Couldn't set up admin sandbox" message. Workaround: Rename/delete ~/.codex and re-login in the extension. This forces a clean first-time setup, which goes through elevation correctly.

there is not a button to reinstall the sandbox without reloggin in?

This fixed it for me:
Open C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml
Replace:

[windows]
sandbox = "elevated"

with:

[windows]
sandbox = "unelevated"

Essentially replace "elevated" with "unelevated"

Reload vscode.

keep vibing

Rename C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml to C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config-backup.toml, then restart Codex to let it regenerate C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml

My approach is to open the .codex folder, and if I find there is no config.toml file, I create one myself and then restart Cursor. That should work.

Rename C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml to C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config-backup.toml, then restart Codex to let it regenerate C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml

[6th April 2026] This worked for me and it was perfect. Thank you:)

Rename C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml to C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config-backup.toml, then restart Codex to let it regenerate C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml

Very OK!!!!!

I have the same question and delete '.codex' dir seems like not resolve this problem.

https://docs.onlinetool.cc/codex/docs-zh/sandbox.html
See this to modtfy your config.toml
[sandbox_workspace_write]
!

https://docs.onlinetool.cc/codex/docs-zh/sandbox.html See this to modtfy your config.toml [sandbox_workspace_write] !

One possible way to solve it?

将 C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml 重命名为 C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config-backup.toml，然后重启 Codex 以使其重新生成 C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml。

这个方法在4.9日同样对我有用，感谢

Rename C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml to C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config-backup.toml, then restart Codex to let it regenerate C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml

This did not work for me, who else got another way?

I had this issue. I had to allow network access so that the administrator sandbox could actually be set up properly. Without this line added to the configuration, I could only use the fallback sandbox, and was heavily limited.

model = "gpt-5.3-codex"
model_reasoning_effort = "low"
personality = "pragmatic"

approval_policy = "on-request"
sandbox_mode = "workspace-write"

[sandbox_workspace_write]
network_access = true

[profiles.full_auto]
approval_policy = "on-request"
sandbox_mode = "workspace-write"

[profiles.readonly_quiet]
approval_policy = "never"
sandbox_mode = "read-only"

[windows]
sandbox = "elevated"

I had this issue. I had to allow network access so that the administrator sandbox could actually be set up properly. Without this line added to the configuration, I could only use the fallback sandbox, and was heavily limited. model = "gpt-5.3-codex" model_reasoning_effort = "low" personality = "pragmatic" approval_policy = "on-request" sandbox_mode = "workspace-write" `` [sandbox_workspace_write] network_access = true `` [profiles.full_auto] approval_policy = "on-request" sandbox_mode = "workspace-write" [profiles.readonly_quiet] approval_policy = "never" sandbox_mode = "read-only" [windows] sandbox = "elevated"

I just enabled Full Access and dropped strong warning in AGENTS.md that it should only do file reading, every other action must take my permission. It's been working so far.

> Rename C:\Users\UserName.codex\config.toml to C:\Users\UserName.codex\config-backup.toml, then restart Codex to let it regenerate C:\Users\UserName.codex\config.toml [6th April 2026] This worked for me and it was perfect. Thank you:)

2026年4月15号，还有用兄弟

Check your config.toml to see if it overrides the default OpenAI provider. If it does, remove it and restart.

Rename C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml to C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config-backup.toml, then restart Codex to let it regenerate C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml

Worked for me!

你这个报错的核心原因基本确定了：Windows 本地 Codex Agent 模式需要 WSL，但你这台机器现在没有安装 WSL。我刚查到扩展配置里明确写着：

Agent mode on Windows currently requires WSL

而你本机运行 wsl --status / wsl -l -v 的结果是：提示要执行 wsl.exe --install，说明 WSL 还没装好。所以 VS Code 里的 Codex 想设置 Windows admin sandbox 时失败，就报了 Couldn't set up admin sandbox。

解决办法

以管理员身份打开 PowerShell。

执行：

wsl --install
如果你想指定 Ubuntu，可以执行：

wsl --install -d Ubuntu
安装完成后重启电脑。

打开 VS Code 设置，搜索：

Run Codex In Windows Subsystem For Linux
把这个选项打开。对应 settings.json 是：

"chatgpt.runCodexInWindowsSubsystemForLinux": true
重载 VS Code，或者完全退出 VS Code 后重新打开。
你现在的环境里还有一个现象：你的账号属于 Administrators 组，但当前 VS Code 不是管理员提升状态，所以管理员权限处于 deny only。不过更推荐走 WSL 方案，不建议长期用“管理员身份运行 VS Code”来解决 Codex，因为扩展自己也写了 Windows 上 Agent 模式推荐/需要 WSL。

codex可以自己解决

Rename C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml to C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config-backup.toml, then restart Codex to let it regenerate C:\Users\UserName\.codex\config.toml

谢谢，问题解决的，thanks

This happens after updates; I just delete the config file (you can find it when you go to settings > configuration.