Codex Desktop 26.609.3341.0 crashes on Windows due to incomplete cua_node runtime setup

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

Codex Desktop 26.609.3341.0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus subscription

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Codex Windows GUI crashes immediately after launch.

After launching the app, the window appears briefly and closes within a few seconds. The CLI works, but the desktop GUI does not stay open.

Each launch creates an empty .staging-* directory under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node

For example:

.staging-789504f803e82e2b-xxxxxx

However, the expected runtime files are never created:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\manifest.json
%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\bin
%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\789504f803e82e2b

The desktop log only contains the initial two startup lines, and Crashpad dump files are generated on every launch.

I was able to work around the issue by copying a working cua_node folder from another PC where Codex Desktop runs correctly.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Install or update Codex Desktop on Windows to version 26.609.3341.0.
2. Launch Codex Desktop from the Start menu or with:

explorer.exe "shell:AppsFolder\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App"

1. The Codex Desktop window appears briefly.
2. Within a few seconds, the GUI closes unexpectedly.
3. Check the runtime directory:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node

1. A new empty staging folder is created on each launch, for example:

.staging-789504f803e82e2b-xxxxxx

1. The expected runtime files/folders are not created:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\manifest.json
%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\bin
%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\789504f803e82e2b

1. Check the desktop logs under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0\LocalCache\Local\Codex\Logs

The log only contains the initial startup lines.

1. Check the Crashpad reports directory. A new .dmp file is generated on each launch.

What is the expected behavior?

Codex Desktop should launch successfully and remain open.

If the cua_node runtime is missing or incomplete, the app should automatically create, unpack, or re-download the required runtime files, including manifest.json, bin, and the expected hashed runtime directory.

The app should not repeatedly create empty .staging-* folders and then crash. If runtime setup fails, the desktop log should include a clear error message explaining what failed and how to recover.

Additional information

Additional observations:

• The Windows user profile path contains non-ASCII characters.
• CODEX_HOME and HOME were set to an ASCII-only path, but this did not fix the GUI crash.
• The CLI/runtime files under %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\bin\<hash> existed.
• However, the cua_node runtime under %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node was never created correctly.
• Each GUI launch only created an empty .staging-789504f803e82e2b-* directory.
• Reinstalling Codex Desktop and resetting local data did not fix the issue.
• WebView2 was installed and Windows Defender did not report any detection or block.

Workaround that fixed the issue:

I copied the entire cua_node folder from another Windows PC where Codex Desktop was working correctly.

Source on working PC:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node

Destination on affected PC:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node

After copying the working cua_node folder, Codex Desktop launched successfully and stayed open.

This suggests that the crash is related to incomplete cua_node runtime setup or recovery, not the CLI itself.