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Codex Issues / #23520

[BUG] macOS App sidebar fully broken after switching to light mode

Open 💬 5 comments Opened May 19, 2026 by shamsghi
💡 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)?

26.513.31313

What subscription do you have?

Not relevant for this issue

What platform is your computer?

Apple Silicon macOS

What issue are you seeing?

macOS app sidebar rendering is fully broken after switching from dark mode to light mode, does not matter if you have custom appearances enabled.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Launch codex (while having dark mode enabled)
  2. Switch system theme to light mode
  3. Profit, sidebar is now fully broken
  4. You can interact with it and amuse yourself

<p>
<img width="48%" alt="Dark mode sidebar" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1d220f8b-0edb-48e6-b3d2-4e5e9b085dfa" />
<img width="48%" alt="Light mode broken sidebar" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2e153182-3b6c-4777-9a41-15d7e4d04883" />
</p>

What is the expected behavior?

Sidebar to not be broken

Additional information

Workaround: Switch back to dark mode or restart app.

View original on GitHub ↗

5 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 3 months ago

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

  • #23458
  • #23065

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shamsghi · 3 months ago

I’m on an Apple Silicon Mac, not Intel, so this does not appear to match the Intel-specific rendering issues in #23458 / #23065.

jkdv · 2 months ago

I have the same issue, running on MacBook M4

NightGlowww · 2 months ago

I can reproduce what looks like the same sidebar/thread-list repaint issue on a newer build.

Environment:

  • macOS 27.0, build 26A5353q, arm64
  • Codex Desktop 26.611.62324
  • Codex bundle: com.openai.codex

Observed behavior:

  • After switching the Codex Desktop theme/appearance, the left thread list keeps stale text from the previous render.
  • The old rows remain visible as low-contrast ghost layers behind the current list text.
  • The UI is still partially interactive, but the sidebar/thread list becomes hard to read until the app is repainted/restarted or the theme is switched again.

Screenshot from the affected state:

!CleanShot.2026-06-17.at.23.23.44@2x.png

This appears closer to this Apple Silicon theme-switch/sidebar repaint bug than to the Intel-only backdrop-filter issues mentioned by the duplicate bot.

shamsghi · 23 days ago

I have tested on latest version (Version 26.730.61309) and the issue seems fixed.