Windows Codex IDE sandbox exec fails before PowerShell starts: spawn setup refresh

Open 💬 1 comment Opened Jun 4, 2026 by sandmanfresh

Title:
Windows Codex IDE sandbox exec fails before PowerShell starts: spawn setup refresh

Environment:

  • OS: Windows
  • IDE: VS Code
  • Extension: Codex / openai.chatgpt
  • Workspace: reproduced in existing repo and brand-new folder
  • Shell attempted by Codex:

"C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -Command whoami

Issue:
Sandboxed exec_command fails before PowerShell starts.

Error:
CreateProcess { message: "Rejected(\"Failed to create unified exec process: spawn setup refresh\")" }

Observed:

  • Sandboxed whoami fails with the error above
  • Sandboxed Get-Location fails the same way
  • Escalated whoami works and returns dougpersonal\dougm
  • Escalated git/version/location checks work
  • No PowerShell output is produced, so failure appears to occur in Codex sandbox/unified exec setup before process launch

Tried:

  • Reloaded IDE window
  • Restarted machine
  • Logged out/in to Codex
  • Uninstalled/reinstalled Codex extension
  • Tested in brand-new folder outside repo/OneDrive
  • Edited/reset sandbox config; Codex prompted to set up clean sandbox and reported success
  • Failure persisted

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