Windows Codex Desktop: Approval Review Times Out For Operations Outside The Workspace

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

26.608.1337.0 (Microsoft Store version)

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.22631.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Summary

Approval Review consistently times out for operations that require approval outside the workspace.

The issue remains reproducible on version 26.608.1337.0.

What Works

Workspace operations work correctly:

• Reading files inside the current workspace
• Listing files inside the current workspace
• Creating files inside the current workspace

Example:

Prompt:

Create test.txt in the current project directory.

Result:

Success. The file is created.

What Fails

Operations outside the workspace that require approval fail.

Example:

Prompt:

Create test.txt on my Desktop.

Codex response:

"This location is outside the current project, so I need to request permission to write a file on the Desktop."

Approval review starts, then eventually fails with:

Automatic approval review timed out while evaluating the requested approval.

Expected Behavior

Codex should either:

• Show a manual approval prompt, or
• Complete the approval review and execute the action.

Actual Behavior

The approval review process times out before the action is executed.

Conclusion

This does not appear to be a filesystem or Windows permission issue.

Workspace read/write operations function correctly.

The failure occurs specifically during the Approval Review stage for actions that require approval outside the workspace.

Screenshots attached:

• Successful workspace file listing
• Successful workspace file creation
• Approval review timeout when creating a file on Desktop

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Open Codex Desktop on Windows (Microsoft Store version 26.608.1337.0).

1. Open any workspace/project.

1. Verify that workspace operations work:

• Ask Codex to list files in the current workspace.
• Ask Codex to create a file (e.g. test.txt) inside the current workspace.
• Both operations succeed.

1. Ask Codex to perform an action outside the workspace that requires approval.

Example prompt:

Create test.txt on my Desktop.

1. Codex responds:

"This location is outside the current project, so I need to request permission to write a file on the Desktop."

1. Approval review starts.

1. After waiting, the request fails with:

Automatic approval review timed out while evaluating the requested approval.

The issue is reproducible every time in my environment.

What is the expected behavior?

When an operation requires approval outside the workspace, Codex should either:

• Display a manual approval prompt and allow the user to approve the action, or
• Successfully complete the approval review and execute the action.

For the example above, Codex should create the file on the Desktop after approval is granted.

The request should not fail with an approval review timeout.

Additional information

<img width="2070" height="692" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/12eb2d1e-07b3-4221-8bcd-fea0f7d9b112" />

<img width="2042" height="492" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/dfc033c2-1700-4c54-a8dd-8b0e0e655627" />

<img width="2384" height="924" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/bc95f896-e743-43ee-b6ae-522f895d41da" />