Desktop "Create branch" fails with Wsl/Service/E_UNEXPECTED on Windows/WSL even though git succeeds
Open 💬 1 comment Opened Apr 15, 2026 by iamhectorlopez
Summary
When I use the Codex Desktop "Work here" flow to create a branch on Windows with a WSL-backed workspace, the app shows:
Failed to set branch
$ git branch codex/test
Catastrophic failure
Error code:
Wsl/Service/E_UNEXPECTED
The underlying git repo is fine. Running the equivalent git commands directly in the WSL shell succeeds.
Steps to reproduce
- Open Codex Desktop on Windows against a repo in WSL mounted from a Windows path.
- In the desktop UI, choose Work here.
- Enter a branch name such as
codex/investigate-email-retry-errors. - Click Create.
- Observe the error dialog.
Expected behavior
Codex Desktop should create and switch to the branch, the same as git switch -c codex/investigate-email-retry-errors.
Actual behavior
The desktop app fails with Wsl/Service/E_UNEXPECTED and says it could not set the branch.
In the same workspace, these commands succeed from the WSL shell:
git branch codex/test
git switch codex/test
That makes this look like a desktop app / WSL integration failure rather than a repo-level git problem.
Environment
- OS: Windows 10.0.26200.8246
- WSL version: 2.6.3.0
- WSL kernel: 6.6.87.2-1
- Default distro: Ubuntu
- Git in WSL: 2.43.0
Additional notes
- The repo is under a OneDrive-backed Windows path mounted into WSL. I have not confirmed whether that is required for the bug, but it may be relevant.
- Possibly related to #16290, but this repro is narrower: the branch creation dialog fails even though plain git branch/switch works immediately in the same workspace.
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