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Codex Issues / #25231

Windows Codex Desktop notification click launches Electron with type=click&tag as app path

Open 💬 8 comments Opened May 30, 2026 by Nortoz
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

What version of Codex App are you using?

26.527.3686.0

What platform is your computer?

Windows x64

What issue are you seeing?

Clicking a Windows toast notification from Codex opens an Electron error dialog instead of focusing/opening the Codex app. The Codex app itself can run normally; the failure is specific to clicking the Windows notification.

The error dialog says:

Error launching app
Unable to find Electron app at C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.52...\type=click&tag=<notification-tag>

Cannot find module 'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.52...\type=click&tag=<notification-tag>'

This looks like the toast activation payload (type=click&tag=...) is being appended/interpreted as an Electron app path rather than being handled as notification activation data.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Install/run Codex Desktop for Windows from the Microsoft Store package.
  2. Wait for a Codex Windows toast notification.
  3. Click the notification in the bottom-right toast/notification center.
  4. Observe the Electron "Error launching app" dialog.

Expected behavior

Clicking a Codex notification should focus/open Codex and route to the relevant conversation/message, or at minimum do nothing gracefully. It should not launch Electron with the notification click payload as an app path.

Troubleshooting already attempted

  • Verified the AppX package is installed and Codex launches normally.
  • Verified the AppUserModelID is OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App.
  • Cleared Codex notification history.
  • Attempted AppX re-registration, but it was blocked while Codex background processes were still running.
  • New notifications can still reproduce the same type=click&tag=... error.

Additional information

This report intentionally omits local usernames, local file paths outside the standard WindowsApps package path, notification tag values, screenshots, and machine-specific identifiers.

View original on GitHub ↗

8 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 1 month ago

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

  • #25227
  • #25197

Powered by Codex Action

lightcoloror · 1 month ago

I can confirm this still reproduces after clearing Windows notification history, fully exiting Codex, reopening Codex, and rebooting Windows.

Environment observed locally:

  • Windows x64
  • Codex Desktop package path: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\...
  • Multiple active Codex/Codex helper processes were present while the main app itself remained usable.

The failing dialog continues to show a fresh notification activation payload each time, for example:

Error launching app

Unable to find Electron app at C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.52...\type=click&tag=<new-notification-tag>

Cannot find module 'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.52...\type=click&tag=<new-notification-tag>'

The tag value changes between occurrences, so this does not appear to be only a stale notification-center entry. It still looks like new Windows toast activation arguments are being interpreted as an Electron app path.

Temporary workaround is to disable Codex notifications in Windows settings, but that means notification click routing remains unusable.

Nortoz · 1 month ago

Additional evidence: the same Electron launch error also occurs when invoking Codex from the Codex Chrome extension. In that case, the path ends with google-chrome instead of type=click&tag=....

This suggests the issue is not limited to Windows toast notifications. External activation arguments such as type=click&tag=... and google-chrome appear to be interpreted as an Electron app path under the AppX WindowsApps directory.

I also checked the Chrome Native Messaging host registration and manifest path locally; they appear to point to the expected Codex extension host, so this does not look like a broken Chrome native host manifest.

D2Rich · 1 month ago

I can reproduce this on another Windows Codex Desktop install, and one extra data point may be useful: a successful AppX re-registration did not fix the issue.

Environment:

  • Windows x64
  • Codex Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
  • Codex app version: 26.527.3686.0

Minimal repro from PowerShell:

Start-Process "codex://?type=click&tag=after-successful-reregister-test"

Observed result:

"C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe" codex:///?type=click&tag=after-successful-reregister-test

That new process opens the Electron dialog:

Error launching app
Unable to find Electron app at C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527...\?type=click&tag=...
Cannot find module 'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527...\?type=click&tag=...'

Troubleshooting performed:

  1. Removed user-level codex:// protocol overrides under HKCU\Software\Classes\codex.
  2. Removed user-level AppXybfp6cjpb1wf0pftw0fd4bz59gzn1401 overrides.
  3. Force-closed all Codex/Codex app-server processes.
  4. Re-registered the AppX manifest:
Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\AppxManifest.xml" -ForceApplicationShutdown

The registration completed successfully, and HKCR\AppXybfp6cjpb1wf0pftw0fd4bz59gzn1401\Shell\open\command was restored to:

DelegateExecute    REG_SZ    {A56A841F-E974-45C1-8001-7E3F8A085917}

However, triggering codex://?type=click&tag=... still launched a new Codex.exe process with the raw URI as a normal argument and reproduced the Electron app-path error.

Temporary local workaround:

Overriding the user-level AppXybfp6cjpb1wf0pftw0fd4bz59gzn1401\Shell\open\command to a no-op wscript.exe handler stops the popups, but it also disables codex:// deep link activation entirely. So this is only a workaround, not a real fix.

This makes it look like the AppX protocol activation reaches Codex.exe, but the Windows deep link / notification activation argument is not being consumed before Electron interprets it as an app path.

TheExiledSword · 1 month ago

Adding another Windows repro from Codex Desktop.

Environment:

  • Codex package: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
  • Install location exists: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
  • app\Codex.exe and app\resources\app.asar are present
  • Local helper binaries also exist under %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\bin
  • Windows codex protocol registration exists under HKCU/HKCR

Trigger observed by user: tabbing/focusing back into Codex after receiving/returning from a desktop notification.

Observed dialog:

Error launching app

Unable to find Electron app at C:\Program
Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x...\?type=click&tag=10984320831992122427

Cannot find module 'C:\Program
Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x...\?type=click&tag=10984320831992122427'

Screenshot from the affected machine: https://i.imgur.com/ghe8f7v.png

This appears to be the same notification/deep-link activation path issue where the type=click&tag=... payload is interpreted as an Electron app/module path rather than activation data.

drspangle · 1 month ago

Repro confirmed on Windows 11 with Codex Desktop 26.527.3686.0.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open Codex Desktop.
  2. Start a task and wait for the completion toast.
  3. Click the toast notification that says Codex completed a step.

Expected result
The existing Codex window should be focused, or the completed thread should open.

Actual result
Windows launches a fresh packaged Codex activation and shows an Electron error dialog instead of focusing Codex.

The dialog says:

Error launching app

Unable to find Electron app at C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\...\type=click&tag=...

Cannot find module C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\...\type=click&tag=...

Environment

  • Windows 11
  • Codex Desktop build 26.527.3686.0
  • Package: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
  • AppUserModelID: OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App

Evidence

  • Microsoft-Windows-AppModel-Runtime/Admin logs a fresh OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App launch when the popup is clicked.
  • Microsoft-Windows-PushNotifications-Platform/Operational shows the toast being delivered immediately before the error.

Workarounds tried

  • Disabling Codex notifications
  • Clearing notification history
  • Adding a user-level codex: protocol override
  • The issue still reproduces every time I click the completion toast
Culacco · 1 month ago

Adding another Windows repro that appears to be the same AppX/Electron activation routing bug, this time triggered while trying to use the bundled Browser plugin from Codex Desktop.

Environment observed:

  • OS: Windows x64
  • Codex Desktop AppX package shown in the error: OpenAI.Codex_26.527.7698.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
  • Bundled Browser plugin cache present locally: openai-bundled/browser/26.527.60818
  • Bundled Computer Use plugin cache also present: openai-bundled/computer-use/26.527.60818

Observed behavior:

  1. User invoked the bundled Browser plugin from Codex Desktop.
  2. Codex displayed an Electron error dialog.
  3. Error text from the dialog:
Error launching app

Unable to find Electron app at C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.7698.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\...\google-chrome

Cannot find module 'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.7698.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\...\google-chrome'

Additional notes from inside the Codex session:

  • The Browser plugin package itself was not missing: .codex-plugin/plugin.json and scripts/browser-client.mjs both existed under the plugin cache.
  • Tool discovery in that session did not expose the Node REPL js execution tool required by the Browser plugin skill (mcp__node_repl__js), so the in-app browser backend was not usable from the agent.
  • Chrome DevTools-style tools were discoverable, but those are not the bundled Browser/IAB backend.

Expected behavior:

Invoking the bundled Browser plugin should initialize the Browser/IAB backend or report a normal plugin availability error. It should not cause Electron to interpret google-chrome as an app/module path under the WindowsApps Codex package directory.

This looks consistent with the existing report: external activation/backend arguments such as google-chrome are being interpreted as an Electron app path instead of being routed/handled by the Codex desktop app.

aklusa022 · 1 month ago

Workaround!!

**1. Go to Chat GPT Connector Settings Link

  1. Click add more to install codex plugin you want: it will take you to this page**

<img width="1837" height="1337" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b094bb11-1f8c-4b6c-aede-a12fc317b945" />

3. Then you click the right arrow on the app

<img width="992" height="785" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1aa28298-6de0-4059-b5ae-c87d79e6da02" />

4. connect app on this page

<img width="791" height="692" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4d8531e0-b35b-451b-9321-38192db5126b" />

5. Then simply restart your codex desktop app (crash it via task manager) and the plugin should be enabled and auth should be callable when selecting it from the plugins menu

<img width="537" height="440" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/784dc55f-0c40-4172-94cd-33726c77460c" />