Codex stuck on Dark Theme
Resolved 💬 12 comments Opened Mar 24, 2026 by ashimdahal Closed Mar 25, 2026
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (shijie-oai, contributor)
responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.
What version of the IDE extension are you using?
issue identified on version:: 26.323.20928
What subscription do you have?
personal plus
Which IDE are you using?
vs code
What platform is your computer?
linux
What issue are you seeing?
Codex VS Code sidebar/webview is stuck in dark styling while VS Code is in a light theme.
This happens only on one Remote-SSH host; the same local VS Code setup works on other SSH hosts.
Tried reload, reinstall, clearing VS Code server/cache/workspace storage, reconnecting, and switching themes. No change.
<img width="2429" height="1440" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/15fba482-5bd0-4584-bead-f632bc4c49f3" />
What steps can reproduce the bug?
remote ssh on a headless machine and install codex extension
What is the expected behavior?
be light theme
Additional information
_No response_
12 Comments
downgrading extension version to 26.318.11754 works, seems like some bug with the version 26.323.x
Just got this too on macos, but just in normal vs code, not in remote ssh
the same issue
I can reproduce this too on VS Code with the Codex extension.
What version of the IDE extension are you using?
openai.chatgpt 26.323.20928
What subscription do you have?
Plus
Which IDE are you using?
VS Code
What platform is your computer?
Linux x64
What issue are you seeing?
When I switch VS Code from a dark theme to a light theme, the Codex chat/sidebar does not update its background correctly. The rest of VS Code updates, and other chat extensions like Claude and Copilot Chat respect the theme, but Codex stays dark. This results in black text on a black background, making the chat unreadable.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
What is the expected behavior?
Codex should follow the active VS Code theme the same way other chat extensions do.
Additional information
I already tried:
Developer: Reload WindowNone of those changed the behavior.
Claude and Copilot Chat do not have this issue in the same VS Code installation, so this appears specific to the Codex extension webview/theme handling.
Same here, on macos: version 26.323.20928 renders panel text as dark grey on black, unreadable/useless. Rolling back to 26.5318.11754 fixes it. I am NOT on an ssh host - just regular vscode triggers it for me already.
Same here, Windows.
<details>
<summary>Before/after screenshots</summary>
<img width="972" height="996" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/04b1aa19-159e-49d8-b966-c50ad4eb71f1" />
<img width="1070" height="952" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a180e19c-ef2a-460b-8e9c-f96d085d8a07" />
</details>
Same issue after upgrading of Codex extension to 26.323.20928 on VS Code on Windows 11.
The issue is reproducible on both local and remote WSL sessions.
<details>
<summary>The problem is critical for light themes users, because the text in the Codex panel becomes completely unreadable.</summary>
<img width="1010" height="677" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/70cb4bbe-13e1-4e44-a7e6-e71068bff58b" />
</details>
+1. same issue
Codex 26.5323.20928
Windows 11 (dark theme)
+1. same issue
Codex extension on VS Code (WSL), v26.323.20928
Windows 11 (dark theme)
I used VS Code in light mode on purpose, the dark mode is unreadable for color-blind
Same issue here on
openai.chatgpt@0.4.62in VS Code: Codex theming no longer matches the editor theme consistently. It was perfect before; this looks like a regression.Hi all! Thanks for flagging - we are currently working on a fix for this.
We have released 26.324.21329 mainline and 26.5324.21329 pre-release to address the issue. Please let us know if you are still seeing it. Sorry about the inconvenience. Thanks!