Codex desktop renders identical-looking file cards when multiple edited files share a basename (e.g. README.md)

Open 💬 1 comment Opened May 1, 2026 by liby

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

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Version 26.429.30905 (2345)

What subscription do you have?

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ChatGPT Pro

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.4.0 arm64 (macOS)

What issue are you seeing?

When a single turn touches multiple files that share the same basename, the desktop app's auto-rendered file panel below the assistant message shows one card per file, but each card displays only the basename and the label Document · MD. Cards for distinct files become visually indistinguishable.

<img width="903" height="747" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/762449d5-6c30-4a34-8a4a-4e31f0e7a505" />

In the screenshot, four README.md cards stack under a single assistant turn. The footer reads 12 files changed +16 −199. The four cards correspond to four README.md files in different subdirectories of a repo. The panel renders only the basename, with no path. The only way to identify which README.md is which is to click Open on each card.

Expected behavior

Any of:

  • Show the path (full or directory-prefixed) on the card so identical basenames are distinguishable.
  • Deduplicate by basename and collapse repeats into a single expandable summary.

Actual behavior

Multiple identical-looking cards stack vertically with no path context.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Open a repo containing multiple README.md files (or any other whitelisted-extension files) in different directories.
  2. Ask the agent to make a multi-file edit that touches several of those files in one turn.
  3. After the turn completes, observe stacked cards in the chat with the same basename and no path information.

Additional context

Static read of the bundled webview suggests the card list is built from turn.artifacts.editedFilePaths ∪ turn.artifacts.referencedFilePaths plus paths extracted from assistant text, then filtered by an extension whitelist that includes md, mdx, and doc/spreadsheet/image types (composer-CNnjHdHK.js, artifacts-Bcx1U0Rd.js). Not verified at runtime.

Related issues

  • #19891, opposite-direction request: users want edited file names visible by default. Showing the path on each card would help both issues at once.
  • #18508, verbose tool-trace rows in chat; same desktop-readability theme.
  • #12482, VS Code extension request to collapse the Edited File panel; different surface.

View original on GitHub ↗

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