VS Code sidebar: assistant markdown file links render differently from identical user markdown links

What version of the IDE extension are you using?

openai.chatgpt-26.409.20454

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

Which IDE are you using?

VS Code 1.116.0

What platform is your computer?

Linux 6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2 x86_64 x86_64

What issue are you seeing?

Summary

In the Codex sidebar in VS Code, local markdown file links behave differently depending on whether they appear in a user message or an assistant message.

The same markdown works when posted by the user, but breaks or is inconsistently rewritten when rendered from the assistant output.

Environment

• VS Code: 1.116.0
• Codex extension: openai.chatgpt-26.409.20454
• Remote: WSL
• Workspace root example: 2Repos

Expected behavior

Assistant-rendered markdown links like:

[A](api2/tests/test_main.py:2)

[B](api2/AGENTS.md:8)

[C](AGENTS.md:1)


### What steps can reproduce the bug?

Repro:
1. Open the Codex sidebar in VS Code under WSL.
2. Ask Codex to output:
   [A](api2/tests/test_main.py:2)
   [B](api2/AGENTS.md:8)
   [C](AGENTS.md:1)
3. Click the assistant-rendered links.
4. Paste the exact same markdown manually as a user message.
5. The user-authored links work, while the assistant-rendered ones do not.


### What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

### Additional information

_No response_