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Codex Issues / #14925

Windows app Settings no longer shows the WSL section, so I can't switch the agent runtime to WSL

Resolved 💬 2 comments Opened Mar 17, 2026 by lczanna Closed Mar 18, 2026

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

26.313.4956.0

What subscription do you have?

API based

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

The Codex Windows app no longer shows the "Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)" section in Settings, so I cannot switch the agent runtime from Windows native to WSL.

What I see:

  • The integrated terminal can be set to WSL.
  • The separate WSL settings section is missing from Settings.
  • Because of that, I can no longer change the agent runtime to WSL.

Why this looks like a bug:

  • The state file still contains a WSL runtime flag in %USERPROFILE%\.codex\.codex-global-state.json.
  • In my case, the relevant values are:
  • integratedTerminalShell: "wsl"
  • runCodexInWindowsSubsystemForLinux: false
  • This suggests the underlying setting still exists, but the Settings UI to control it has disappeared.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Open Codex on Windows.
  2. Open Settings.
  3. Look for the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) section.
  4. Observe that the section is not present.

What is the expected behavior?

Expected behavior:

  • Settings should show the WSL section and allow switching the agent runtime from Windows native to WSL.

Actual behavior:

  • The WSL section is missing.
  • I can set the terminal to WSL, but the agent still runs as Windows native.

Additional information

Additional context:

  • Attempts to force WSL execution from the current session fail with Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/E_ACCESSDENIED
  • This makes it impossible to move the agent runtime into WSL from the UI

<img width="967" height="886" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/878f35eb-37b8-40b9-99b1-9e56deaafa27" />

View original on GitHub ↗

2 Comments

lczanna · 5 months ago

this is now ok in the current version

CMadden8 · 4 months ago

Another reproducible case of this on Windows, with a likely related downstream consequence.

Environment:

  • Codex Windows app version 26.422.1952.0
  • Installed from Microsoft Store
  • Get-AppxPackage OpenAI.Codex install location:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.422.1952.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

What I see:

  • Settings does not show the WSL / agent runtime section.
  • The integrated terminal can still be pointed at WSL.
  • Because the WSL runtime setting is missing, I cannot try the documented Windows-native -> WSL workaround path from the UI.

Why this mattered in my case:

  • I was debugging a Windows in-app browser / Browser Use failure where the page itself loads, but Codex-side browser inspection/control fails with:

failed to start codex app-server: The system cannot find the path specified. (os error 3)

  • The natural workaround would have been to switch the agent runtime to WSL, but this Settings section is not present.

Potentially related local Windows symptom on the same install:

  • Get-Command rg resolves to bundled

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.422.1952.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\rg.exe

  • executing that bundled rg.exe fails with Access is denied

So there may be a broader Windows Store / WindowsApps runtime problem here, and the missing WSL runtime UI removes an important escape hatch for affected users.

Related issue for the browser-side failure: #19187.