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Codex Issues / #18774

macOS Intel: broken desktop UI rendering (clipped workspace/sidebar, malformed Plugins page, and broken slash-command overlay)

Open 💬 10 comments Opened Apr 21, 2026 by MaxxxDong
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

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

26.417.40842 (1851)

What subscription do you have?

Pro

What platform is your computer?

macOS 15.7.4 (24G517), x86_64 Intel Mac
MacBook Pro (MacBookPro15,1)
6-Core Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM

What issue are you seeing?

On Codex Desktop for macOS Intel (x86_64), multiple parts of the app UI render incorrectly.

I can consistently observe at least these symptoms:

  1. The left sidebar / workspace area is clipped off-screen or partially hidden, so the workspace selector/navigation cannot be fully seen.
  2. The Plugins page renders incorrectly: large parts of the page are blank, plugin cards appear only partially rendered, and the layout looks truncated / skeletal instead of showing normal plugin content.
  3. After typing / in the composer, the slash-command / suggestion UI is also visually broken. The overlay appears malformed, with clipped side edges and incorrect container rendering instead of a normal command menu.

This reproduces across app restarts and is not fixed by resetting zoom or resizing the window.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open Codex Desktop on an Intel Mac.
  2. Observe the main app window / thread list area.
  3. Notice that the left sidebar / workspace region is partially clipped and the workspace selector is not fully visible.
  4. Open the Plugins page.
  5. Observe that the Plugins page renders with large blank areas and partially rendered cards.
  6. Open a conversation composer and type /.
  7. Observe that the slash-command / suggestion UI is also visually malformed.

What is the expected behavior?

  • The left sidebar and workspace selector should be fully visible and usable.
  • The Plugins page should render complete cards/content with a stable layout.
  • Typing / should open a normal, fully rendered slash-command / suggestion UI.
  • The bundled plugins marketplace should initialize normally.

Additional information

I collected local evidence suggesting this is not just a user preference / zoom issue.

Environment verified locally
  • Hardware: MacBookPro15,1
  • CPU: 6-Core Intel Core i7
  • Memory: 16 GB
  • OS: macOS 15.7.4 (24G517)
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Codex app bundle executable /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/MacOS/Codex is a native x86_64 Mach-O executable
Relevant desktop app logs

Log file:
~/Library/Logs/com.openai.codex/2026/04/21/codex-desktop-b457af4c-986f-493e-8530-fd7c1c3c997a-10749-t0-i1-001757-0.log

Relevant lines:

2026-04-21T00:17:57.955Z warning [BundledPluginsMarketplace] bundled_plugins_marketplace_resolve_failed errorMessage="Bundled plugins marketplace has no enabled plugins."
2026-04-21T00:17:58.848Z info [electron-message-handler] Features enabled enabledFeatures="enable_request_compression, collaboration_modes, personality, request_rule, fast_mode, image_generation, image_detail_original, primary_runtime_installer, apps, plugins, tool_search, tool_call_mcp_elicitation"

Additional related startup/runtime errors seen in 2026-04-21 logs:

error [electron-message-handler] Failed to sync experimental feature enablement error={"code":-32600,"message":"unsupported feature enablement `realtime_conversation`: currently supported features are apps, plugins, tool_search, tool_suggest, tool_call_mcp_elicitation"}

This suggests:

  • the desktop app has plugins / suggestion-related features enabled,
  • bundled plugin marketplace resolution fails during startup,
  • and there are also feature-sync errors during desktop initialization.
Bundled plugins directory state

I checked:

/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins

and only found:

  • browser-use

I also checked:

~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/plugins

and that path does not exist on this machine.

This seems consistent with the marketplace resolution failure above.

Attempts already made

  • Reset zoom (Cmd+0)
  • Restarted Codex
  • Resized the window / exited fullscreen

None of these resolved the issue.

Possible related issues

This may be related to existing Intel/plugin/UI issues, but the symptom here is broader: broken/clipped desktop UI across sidebar, Plugins page, and slash-command UI on macOS Intel.

  • #18404
  • #18341

Can you provide more data if needed?

Yes. I can provide:

  • full ~/Library/Logs/com.openai.codex/ logs
  • screenshots
  • screen recording
  • system info / architecture verification output

View original on GitHub ↗

10 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 3 months ago

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

  • #18497
  • #18341
  • #18404
  • #18258

Powered by Codex Action

Iden9 · 2 months ago

I also encountered the same UI bug. It actually seemed like there was a layer of frosted glass element covering it. I was able to make it disappear by resizing the Codex window, but I hope the developers can fix this bug as soon as possible.

iqdoctor · 2 months ago

solution / fix:

open -na "/Applications/Codex.app" --args --force_high_performance_gpu

source: https://x.com/colins_space/status/2048193500190318631

mandyzhou-dev · 2 months ago
solution / fix: open -na "/Applications/Codex.app" --args --force_high_performance_gpu source: https://x.com/colins_space/status/2048193500190318631

Same UI issue on my Macbook Pro, 8-Core Intel Core i9, 32 GB RAM, macOS 14.8.1,
Tried your solution and finally it works.

boilingstar · 2 months ago

Here is my temporary solution until codex fix it:
Press "Cmd" + "-" several times until the overlay disappear.

stefanie0722 · 2 months ago
solution / fix: open -na "/Applications/Codex.app" --args --force_high_performance_gpu source: https://x.com/colins_space/status/2048193500190318631

it doesn't work on my side
my mac info:
CPU: 1.4 GHz x4 Intel Core i5
Graphic: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 1536 MB
Memory: 8 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
OS: Sequoia 15.7.5

Biubiubiu-sudo · 2 months ago

I can reproduce the Intel macOS desktop UI rendering issue described here.

Environment:

  • Mac: Intel MacBook Pro (x86_64)
  • macOS: 14.4 (23E214)
  • GPU: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655, Metal 3
  • Built-in display: 2560 x 1600 Retina
  • Codex app binary: /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/MacOS/Codex: Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64
  • Codex CLI version: codex-cli 0.130.0-alpha.5
  • The app reports that it is already on the latest version via "Check for Updates".

Symptoms:

  • The main Codex desktop UI renders partially clipped/obscured.
  • In the first-run/build prompt screen, lower content appears hidden behind a large translucent/white overlay.
  • The plugins/workflow screen also appears partially blank or cropped: cards and text are only partly visible, with large empty regions where UI should be shown.
  • The issue persists even though the installed app is the Intel/x86_64 build.

Expected behavior:

  • Desktop UI should render normally on the Intel macOS build without clipped panels, blank regions, or overlay artifacts.

Actual behavior:

  • Multiple Codex screens are visually unusable because important UI regions are clipped, hidden, or rendered as blank/white blocks.

I can provide screenshots if helpful. This looks consistent with the Intel macOS rendering/compositor issue already described in this thread.

ramkumarkb · 2 months ago

I can confirm that this issue persists in the below version:

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

  • Version 26.513.20950 (2816)

Suggestion by @boilingstar works (as a workaround) - the issue is more pronounced in the Skills tab than in the Plugins tab

The other suggestion by @iqdoctor did not work, unfortunately - 

2.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 1536 MB
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
jiagenli · 2 months ago

Codex Desktop UI rendering issue on macOS Intel

Related existing issue: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/18774

I am seeing the same or a very similar rendering issue on a newer Codex Desktop build.

Environment

  • Codex Desktop version: 26.513.20950 (CFBundleVersion 2816)
  • Bundle identifier: com.openai.codex
  • macOS: 15.7.5 (24G624)
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Machine: MacBookPro16,1
  • CPU: Intel Core i7, 2.6 GHz, 6 cores
  • Memory: 16 GB
  • App path: /Applications/Codex.app

Symptoms

  • The Home / New chat page renders with a large incorrect white/translucent block or ghost layer below the composer.
  • The Plugins page renders incorrectly: large blank regions, clipped cards, partial text, and controls appearing out of place.
  • The issue persists after restarting Codex.
  • The issue is not limited to plugin marketplace data, because the Home page is also affected.

Attempts

  • Restarted Codex: issue persists.
  • Cleared/renamed temporary plugin sync cache:
  • ~/.codex/.tmp/plugins
  • ~/.codex/.tmp/plugins.sha

This did not fix the rendering issue.

  • Tried launching a new instance with GPU-related flags:
  • open -na /Applications/Codex.app --args --disable-gpu --disable-features=Accelerated2dCanvas,VizDisplayCompositor

This did not open successfully; the Dock icon kept bouncing.

Notes

This looks like a broader Electron/UI compositor rendering bug on macOS Intel, rather than a plugin manifest or local cache problem.

ImHShen · 1 month ago

Codex macOS Intel UI rendering regression still reproduces

This is still reproducing on a newer Codex App build.

Environment

  • Date observed: 2026-05-27
  • Codex App: 26.519.41501
  • Build: 3044
  • macOS: 15.7.7 (24G720)
  • Architecture: x86_64 / Intel
  • Hardware: MacBook Pro (MacBookPro16,3), Intel Core i5, 16 GB RAM

Symptoms

  • The Plugins page is still clipped/shifted: large blank areas, partially rendered plugin cards, and floating right-side controls.
  • The composer/slash-command/suggestion overlay is visually malformed and clipped.
  • The UI remains broken after normal app usage; this does not appear to be a zoom-only issue.

Notes

This appears to be the same Intel macOS rendering class described in:

The important new data point is that the issue still occurs on Codex App 26.519.41501 / build 3044, newer than the builds reported in those issues.

I am not attaching screenshots here because the available screenshots include private sidebar/chat context, but the observed visual state matches the existing screenshots/descriptions in the linked reports.