Codex Desktop 26.609.30741 fully saturates CPU/RAM on launch after Jun 11 update; system becomes unusable and requires reboot

Resolved 💬 5 comments Opened Jun 12, 2026 by SocialK Closed Jun 19, 2026

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

Version 26.609.30741 • Released Jun 11, 2026

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Pro / 200$

What platform is your computer?

Windows Update history: Windows 11 version 25H2 installed on 5/30/2026; KB5089573 / OS build 26200.8524 installed on 5/30/2026.

What issue are you seeing?

Dear Codex Team,

After the automatic update to Codex Desktop 26.609.30741, released Jun 11, 2026, Codex became impossible to use on Windows.

Laptop: Windows 11 Home 25H2 x64 OS build 26200.8524; Intel Core Ultra 9 185H; 32 GB RAM; Intel Arc Graphics; ASUS Zenbook 14 UX3405MA
System: Windows Update history: Windows 11 version 25H2 installed on 5/30/2026; KB5089573 / OS build 26200.8524 installed on 5/30/2026.

Before this update, Codex Desktop had many serious issues, including missing project chat histories and slow performance, but I could still open the app and work for some time.

After the Jun 11 update, simply launching Codex immediately makes the whole computer unusable:

CPU jumps from 5% to 60% almost immediately.
Instant Memory usage rises to ~99.9%.
The UI becomes completely frozen.
The laptop heats up heavily.
I cannot move the mouse reliably.
I cannot use keyboard shortcuts to close Codex.
I cannot open Task Manager fast enough to kill the process.
The only recovery path is a full system reboot.

This is a severe regression from the previous build. The app is no longer just slow; it effectively locks the entire machine.

Version / environment

App: Codex Desktop for Windows
Broken version after auto-update: 26.609.30741, released Jun 11, 2026
Previous version where histories disappeared but the app was still usable: 26.608.12217, released Jun 9, 2026
CLI installed separately: codex-cli 0.139.0
OS: Windows 11
Codex home path checked: %USERPROFILE%\.codex
CODEX_HOME: not set
CODEX_SQLITE_HOME: not set

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Have an existing Codex Desktop profile with local project history and large local session files.
Auto-update Codex Desktop to 26.609.30741.
Launch Codex Desktop.
Within seconds, the machine becomes unusable:

CPU reaches 100%.
RAM reaches ~99.9%.
UI stops responding.
Mouse and keyboard become nearly unusable.

The app cannot be closed normally.
The only way to recover is to reboot Windows.

What is the expected behavior?

Codex Desktop should launch without exhausting all CPU and memory.

If local history indexing, migration, recovery, or rendering is required after an update, it should be:

bounded in CPU and memory;
cancellable;
performed lazily or in small batches;
not blocking the renderer / desktop UI;
not able to freeze the whole operating system;
shown clearly to the user as “indexing / repairing local history”;
safe to interrupt and resume later.

If local session files are too large or corrupted, Codex should enter a safe mode instead of trying to load everything and locking the machine.

What actually happens?

The app immediately consumes all available resources and freezes the machine.

This is not just a normal slow startup. It makes the operating system practically unusable and forces a reboot.

Local diagnostics

I created a backup of %USERPROFILE%\.codex before making further changes.

Backup details:

Backup size: 28.5 GB
Files: 6,022
Folders: 2,887

Important local state:

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\state_5.sqlite

Size: 356,352 bytes
LastWriteTime: Jun 11, 2026 7:56:06 PM

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\session_index.jsonl

Exists: true
Lines: 56
Size: 7,612 bytes
LastWriteTime: Jun 9, 2026 2:27:05 PM

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\.codex-global-state.json

Size: 43,614,122 bytes
LastWriteTime: Jun 12, 2026 1:03:26 AM

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\logs_2.sqlite

Size: 875,155,456 bytes
LastWriteTime: Jun 12, 2026 12:58:54 AM

Session files:

sessions jsonl: 3
archived_sessions jsonl: 0
total jsonl: 3
ALL jsonl count under .codex: 6

Large local session state:

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\sessions

Size: 26.54 GB
Files: 3

Rollout files found:

rollout-2026-06-08T23-29-25-019ea923-f0d4-7af0-bb96-2a041cff17e5.jsonl
rollout-2026-06-08T23-37-07-019ea92a-fc7d-7483-9a5f-c2eedcfc65d8.jsonl
rollout-2026-06-09T14-25-14-019eac58-151b-7102-94a4-c3a6f838b028.jsonl

Search test:

I searched for a known unique phrase from a missing project/history: Runtime v11.9.

The phrase was found in:

multiple attachments/.../pasted-text.txt files;
all three rollout JSONL files;
session_index.jsonl.

This suggests that at least part of the project data still exists locally, but Codex Desktop is not surfacing it reliably in the UI.

Regression details

This started after the automatic update to 26.609.30741.

Previous behavior on 26.608.12217:

Project histories sometimes disappeared or stopped loading.
Some projects showed empty histories / “No chats”.
The app was unstable and slow, but I could still open it and work.

Current behavior on 26.609.30741:

Opening Codex immediately saturates CPU and memory.
The system becomes unusable.
I cannot close Codex normally.
I must reboot the computer.

Possible root-cause areas to investigate

Unbounded startup indexing / history migration after update

Codex may be trying to scan, parse, re-index, or recover very large local rollout JSONL files on startup.

Very large local rollout JSONL files

The sessions folder is 26.54 GB but contains only 3 files. If the app eagerly loads or parses them, that could explain immediate CPU/RAM exhaustion.

Large logging database

logs_2.sqlite is already 875 MB. Please check whether telemetry/log reads/writes, WAL checkpointing, or log migration are blocking startup or consuming memory.

Project history / sidebar index recovery

session_index.jsonl has 56 lines, but only 3 rollout JSONL files are present. The app may be repeatedly trying to reconcile inconsistent state.

Renderer / app-server blocking

The desktop UI should not become unresponsive while local history is being indexed or repaired.

Suggested fixes

Add a Safe Mode for Codex Desktop startup.

Example: launch without loading local history.
Example: launch with indexing disabled.
Example: launch with plugins disabled.
Example: launch with large rollout parsing disabled.

Add a supported “Repair / Re-index local histories” command.

It should run in the background.
It should be cancellable.
It should show progress.
It should not block the UI.

Add resource limits for local indexing.

Bound CPU usage.
Bound memory usage.
Avoid loading giant rollout files fully into memory.

Detect very large rollout JSONL files and handle them safely.

Lazy-load them.
Stream them.
Split or compact them.
Show a warning instead of freezing the system.

Add a startup recovery path.

If Codex detects a previous failed launch or forced reboot, do not automatically retry the same heavy indexing path.
Ask the user whether to start in safe mode.

Add a CLI recovery command.

Example: codex app repair-index
Example: codex app safe-start
Example: codex app disable-history-load

Add a visible error state instead of silently showing empty projects or freezing.

“Local history exists but could not be indexed.”
“Large local session files detected.”
“Recovery required.”

Impact

This is a critical reliability issue.

The update made Codex Desktop unusable on my machine. I cannot launch the app without freezing the system. My active work and project histories are also at risk because the UI cannot reliably load them.

I can provide screenshots of:

About Codex 26.608.12217
About Codex 26.609.30741
PowerShell diagnostics showing local .codex files, JSONL counts, session folder size, logs_2.sqlite size, and session_index.jsonl line count

I will not attach raw rollout JSONL files publicly because they may contain private project data, but I can provide sanitized metadata or specific non-sensitive logs if needed.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Use Codex Desktop on Windows with an existing local Codex profile.
Have local Codex history under %USERPROFILE%\.codex.
Auto-update Codex Desktop to version 26.609.30741.
Launch Codex Desktop.
Within seconds, the machine becomes unusable:

CPU reaches 100%.
RAM reaches ~99.9%.
UI stops responding.
Mouse and keyboard become almost unusable.

Codex cannot be closed normally.
The only way to recover is to reboot Windows.

This happens on launch, before I can do any new meaningful work in the app.

What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

Additional information

Local diagnostics:

Codex home checked:
%USERPROFILE%\.codex

Environment variables:

CODEX_HOME: not set
CODEX_SQLITE_HOME: not set

Backup:

Backup size: 28.5 GB
Files: 6,022
Folders: 2,887

Important local state:

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\state_5.sqlite

Size: 356,352 bytes
LastWriteTime: Jun 11, 2026 7:56:06 PM

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\session_index.jsonl

Exists: true
Lines: 56
Size: 7,612 bytes
LastWriteTime: Jun 9, 2026 2:27:05 PM

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\.codex-global-state.json

Size: 43,614,122 bytes
LastWriteTime: Jun 12, 2026 1:03:26 AM

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\logs_2.sqlite

Size: 875,155,456 bytes
LastWriteTime: Jun 12, 2026 12:58:54 AM

Session files:

sessions jsonl: 3
archived_sessions jsonl: 0
total jsonl: 3
ALL jsonl count under .codex: 6

Large local session state:

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\sessions

Size: 26.54 GB
Files: 3

Rollout files found:

rollout-2026-06-08T23-29-25-019ea923-f0d4-7af0-bb96-2a041cff17e5.jsonl
rollout-2026-06-08T23-37-07-019ea92a-fc7d-7483-9a5f-c2eedcfc65d8.jsonl
rollout-2026-06-09T14-25-14-019eac58-151b-7102-94a4-c3a6f838b028.jsonl

Search test:
I searched for a known unique phrase from a missing project/history: Runtime v11.9.

The phrase was found in:

multiple attachments/.../pasted-text.txt files;
all three rollout JSONL files;
session_index.jsonl.

This suggests that at least part of the project data still exists locally, but Codex Desktop is not surfacing it reliably in the UI.

Possible root-cause areas to investigate:

Unbounded startup indexing / history migration after update.
Eager parsing of very large rollout JSONL files.
Large logs_2.sqlite affecting app startup or renderer responsiveness.
Repeated reconciliation between session_index.jsonl, state_5.sqlite, .codex-global-state.json, and rollout files.
Renderer / app-server blocking during local history indexing or repair.

Suggested fixes:

Add a Safe Mode for Codex Desktop startup.
Add a supported “Repair / Re-index local histories” command.
Add resource limits for local indexing.
Detect very large rollout JSONL files and handle them safely.
Do not block the renderer while indexing or repairing local history.
If a previous launch failed or the app caused a forced reboot, do not automatically retry the same heavy startup path.
Show a clear recovery message instead of freezing the entire machine.

Impact:
This is a critical reliability issue. The update made Codex Desktop unusable on my machine. I cannot launch the app without freezing the system and rebooting Windows.

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