Add Delete option for Codex desktop threads and archived threads

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

• #13018
• #23837
• #23991
• #24343

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Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate. Allow to delete threads in the Codex app #13018 Delete conversations from the left sidebar #23837 Codex Desktop delete leaves local session index, logs, and desktop-state residues #23991 there should be an feature to delete some chat? #24343 _Powered by Codex Action_

It's not a duplicate; it's the same thing but poorly implemented, fragmented, and with steps that discourage users from deleting. It involves privacy, security, and trust in the platform.

This issue should not be closed as solved until users can delete an active/current thread directly from the thread UI, without archiving it first.

Deleting archived sessions is useful, but it is only one subset of the requested behavior. A complete fix should include:

• Delete current/active thread
• Delete archived thread
• Delete all archived threads
• Clear the associated local session data, indexes, and logs, or explicitly document what remains
• Show a confirmation explaining what will be removed
• Avoid requiring users to inspect internal folders manually

Archive should remain a non-destructive hide action. Delete should be a direct destructive action.

Tangentially relevant:

• https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/23991

I’m adding another user report for this because the current behavior is confusing and insufficient.

In Codex Desktop, archiving a thread is not the same as deleting it. Users expect a clear Delete action for the current/active task from the sidebar or task menu. Requiring users to archive first, then find a separate archived-chats screen, is not discoverable and does not answer the common privacy/data-retention expectation: "remove this chat/task now".

Observed problem:

• The visible task menu exposes Archive, but not a direct Delete action.
• Users reasonably interpret Archive as hiding, not deletion.
• The UI does not clearly explain whether deletion removes local session files, indexes, workspace metadata, or only hides the entry.
• On Windows, this is especially frustrating because users should not have to inspect .codex folders manually to clean up task history.

Requested behavior:

• Add a direct Delete task/thread action to the active task menu.
• Make deletion semantics explicit: local-only vs synced, session data vs workspace files.
• Remove the task from the UI immediately after deletion.
• Keep Archive and Delete as separate actions, because they mean different things to users.

It's not that bad now because at least now there is a "trashcan" of sorts:

1. Archive
2. Go to settings and Delete All (archived)

I can also reproduce this separately on Windows.

Environment:

• Codex app version: 26.721.41059
• Platform: Windows 11 x64
• Subscription: ChatGPT Plus

This report specifically concerns native Codex threads, not regular ChatGPT conversations displayed in the desktop app.

Observed behavior:

• The active Codex thread menu provides an Archive action.
• It does not provide a direct Delete action for the current individual thread.
• Archiving and deleting are semantically different operations.
• Requiring the user to archive a thread first and then manage archived chats elsewhere does not provide direct deletion from the thread UI.

Expected behavior:

• Provide a separate Delete thread action in the active thread/sidebar menu.
• Keep Archive as a non-destructive hide action.
• Require confirmation before permanent deletion.
• Remove the deleted thread from the UI immediately.
• Clearly explain whether deletion removes synced conversation data, local session files, indexes, logs, and other thread references.

This remains distinct from #33589. That issue concerns ordinary ChatGPT chats shown inside the combined desktop app; this issue concerns native Codex thread management.

Additional Windows reproduction supporting this feature request:

• Codex Desktop currently exposes archive behavior, but the user could not find a manual permanent-delete action for a local thread.
• A third-party session manager permanently removed the thread's rollout JSONL.
• Codex Desktop still retained the thread in the sidebar/session index.
• Opening the orphaned entry then failed with: failed to resolve rollout path '<redacted>': file does not exist.

This shows why deletion should be a first-class, atomic Desktop operation rather than requiring users to manipulate internal session files.

Suggested behavior:

1. Provide Delete thread for both active and archived threads.
2. Delete the rollout body and all associated index/state references atomically.
3. Allow deletion of an orphaned sidebar entry even when its rollout file is already missing.
4. Run startup reconciliation for stale indexes whose rollout paths no longer exist.
5. Show a clear confirmation describing which local data will be removed.

Environment: Codex Desktop on Windows. No conversation content, account identifiers, or local user paths are included here.