Codex 0.20.0 fails to login due to unable to find Python3.exe on Windows

Resolved 💬 8 comments Opened Aug 12, 2025 by doggy8088 Closed Aug 20, 2025

💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (Alb-O, contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

What version of Codex is running?

codex-cli 0.20.0

Which model were you using?

gpt-5

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.19045.0 x64

What steps can reproduce the bug?

npm i -g @openai/codex
codex login

What is the expected behavior?

Starting local login server on http://localhost:1455
. If your browser did not open, navigate to this URL to authenticate:

https://auth.openai.com/oauth/authorize?response_type=code&client_id=xxx&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A1455%2Fauth%2Fcallback&scope=openid+profile+email+offline_access&code_challenge=xxx&code_challenge_method=S256&id_token_add_organizations=true&codex_cli_simplified_flow=true&state=xxx
Successfully logged in

What do you see instead?

Python was not found; run without arguments to install from the Microsoft Store, or disable this shortcut from Settings > Apps > Advanced app settings > App execution aliases.
Error logging in: login_with_chatgpt subprocess failed:

If I disabled App execution alias for Python3.exe, the error will shown:

Error logging in: program not found

Additional information

It because I install Python here: C:\Python312

I only have python.exe, but Codex seems looks for python3.exe. I think look for python.exe should be accepted.

View original on GitHub ↗

8 Comments

Alb-O contributor · 11 months ago

I had to install python 3 from the Windows Store for it to work, but yes, that should ideally not be necessary and it should pick up other installations

lockster-at-secondskin · 11 months ago

same issue - don't they test this stuff?

lockster-at-secondskin · 11 months ago

This works: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/2057 basically make a copy of python.exe called python3.exe

MovGP0 · 11 months ago

I have the same issue:

>_ Welcome to Codex, OpenAI's command-line coding agent

> Sign in with ChatGPT to use Codex as part of your paid plan
  or connect an API key for usage-based billing

> 1. Sign in with ChatGPT
     Usage included with Plus, Pro, and Team plans
  2. Provide your own API key
     Pay for what you use

  Press Enter to continue

Python was not found; run without arguments to install from the Microsoft Store, or disable this shortcut from Settings > Apps > Advanced app settings > App execution aliases.

I have started the application without arguments and Python 3.11 is installed via the Microsoft Store.

nu> python

Python 3.11.9 (tags/v3.11.9:de54cf5, Apr  2 2024, 10:12:12) [MSC v.1938 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

Version infos:

Codex 0.20.0
Windows 11 (v 10.0.26100.4770)

mohghaderi · 11 months ago

Problem:
codex needs python3 (not just python).

Solution:

I copied python.exe as python3.exe in
C:\Users\mohgh\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python312

as commented by:
[lockster-at-secondskin](https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/2206#issuecomment-3177420671)

seratch member · 11 months ago

version 0.22.0 no longer uses python for this log in operation. Could you try the latest version? You can upgrade by npm -g i @openai/codex@latest.

fabiogaliano · 11 months ago

@seratch tried again and still doesn't quite work. Even uninstalled and reinstalled again in a totally clean wsl.

ae-openai contributor · 11 months ago

@seratch I'm closing this because we fixed the Python issue. Please open a new issue with the errors you're seeing now.