Bug: shell/apply_patch broken in Desktop App 26.429.61741 — command array serialized as string
Open 💬 2 comments Opened May 7, 2026 by immerzu
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
Codex Desktop App: 26.429.61741 (Microsoft Store)
What subscription do you have?
Pro
What platform is your computer?
Windows 11
What issue are you seeing?
Environment:
- Codex Desktop App: 26.429.61741 (Microsoft Store)
- Windows
- CLI 0.128.0: NOT affected
- Local DeepSeek relay on localhost:8787
Symptom:
shell fails with: "failed to parse function arguments: invalid type: string, expected a sequence"
apply_patch fails with: "unsupported call"
Other tools (update_plan, view_image) work fine.
Root cause:
The Desktop App serializes the command array as a JSON string instead of a native array.
Wrong: "command": "[\"cmd\", \"/c\", \"echo test\"]"
Correct: "command": ["cmd", "/c", "echo test"]
Relay-side workaround has no effect on Desktop App.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Open Codex Desktop App 26.429.61741 on Windows
- Open any project workspace
- Type: "Run echo test" or any prompt that triggers a shell command
- App attempts to call shell tool
- Error: "failed to parse function arguments: invalid type: string, expected a sequence"
- Same for apply_patch: "unsupported call"
Uploaded thread: fdc9a3fd-a649-4a92-809d-3159755f3925
What is the expected behavior?
shell and apply_patch should execute successfully like they do in CLI 0.128.0 with the same relay configuration.
Additional information
Already tested and proven: the bug is in the Desktop App client, not in the relay. CLI 0.128.0 with identical localhost:8787 relay works perfectly. Relay-side workaround was applied and confirmed working - but Desktop App still fails because it rejects the calls before they reach the relay.
No workaround available. App is unusable for coding tasks without shell/apply_patch.
2 Comments
Update vom 08.05.2026: Bug weiterhin vorhanden.
Die heute installierte neue Version der Codex Desktop App (Microsoft Store) behebt das Problem NICHT. shell und apply_patch schlagen weiterhin mit identischen Fehlermeldungen fehl:
Getestet mit cmd, powershell und echo. Alle schlagen fehl.
Update vom 08.05.2026, Version 26.506.21252:
Der shell-Bug ist in dieser Version behoben – shell-Befehle (powershell, cmd) funktionieren wieder.
apply_patch ist jedoch weiterhin nicht verfuegbar: Das Tool fehlt komplett in der Tool-Liste des Agents. Es erscheint nicht als natives Tool, wodurch Dateiaenderungen nur ueber Shell-Workarounds moeglich sind.
Getestet mit Codex Desktop App 26.506.21252 (Microsoft Store) auf Windows 11, Relay localhost:8787 -> DeepSeek.