Windows 11: Codex Stable exits immediately on launch; Beta fails with malformed Electron path containing type=click&tag

Windows 11: Codex Stable exits immediately on launch; Beta once failed with malformed Electron app path containing type=click&tag=...

Environment

• OS: Windows 11
• Windows user account: 體衛組
• ChatGPT Desktop: launches normally on the same Windows user account
• Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime: installed, version 149.0.4022.69
• Codex Stable version: 26.609.9530.0
• Codex Beta: launches successfully now, but once showed an Electron app path/module resolution error
• Codex Stable AppX package: OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Codex Stable install location:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

• Codex Stable executable:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe

Summary

Codex Stable is installed as an AppX package and the main executable exists, but launching it produces no window and the process exits immediately. Windows AppModel-Runtime logs show the AppX activation pipeline starts and finishes package activation, but there is no visible UI and no clear Application Error 1000 crash entry.

Codex Beta works on the same machine/account, but it once produced an Electron launch error where a click activation parameter appeared to be interpreted as part of the Electron app/module path:

Error launching app
Unable to find Electron app at:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.CodexBeta_...

Cannot find module:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.CodexBeta_...\type=click&tag=15774800665760062470

The same class of error was reproduced again while attempting a GitHub CLI browser-based OAuth flow:

Error launching app
Unable to find Electron app at:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.CodexBeta_26...\type=click&tag=8940775528530138224

Cannot find module:
'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.CodexBeta_26...\type=click&tag=8940775528530138224'

This second reproduction is notable because the user was not intentionally launching Codex Beta; it appeared during an external browser/OAuth flow, again suggesting that a click activation parameter is being routed into Electron as an app/module path.

This may indicate an AppX activation argument parsing issue where activation parameters such as type=click&tag=... are accidentally being treated as a filesystem path or Electron module path.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Codex Stable version 26.609.9530.0 on Windows 11.
2. Confirm the AppX package exists:

``powershell
Get-AppxPackage OpenAI.Codex
``

1. Confirm the executable exists:

``powershell
Test-Path "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe"
``

1. Launch Codex Stable from Start Menu or directly:

``powershell
Start-Process "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe"
``

1. Check for the process:

``powershell
Get-Process Codex -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
``

Expected Behavior

Codex Stable should open a desktop window and remain running.

Actual Behavior

• No Codex Stable window appears.
• No visible error dialog appears.
• Get-Process Codex finds no running process after launch.
• The app appears to start and immediately exit.
• Application event log does not show a clear Codex Application Error / Event ID 1000 crash entry.
• AppModel-Runtime/Admin contains Codex Stable AppX activation events such as:
• LaunchProcess
• FinishPackageActivation
• Desktop AppX container creation

Logs / Observations

Codex Stable package exists and reports OK:

OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

Install path exists:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

Main executable exists:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe

Direct launch command:

Start-Process "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe"

Result:

• No window
• No error message
• No remaining Codex process
• Appears to exit immediately

Codex Beta once showed:

Error launching app
Unable to find Electron app at:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.CodexBeta_...

Cannot find module:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.CodexBeta_...\type=click&tag=15774800665760062470

Codex Beta showed the same failure again during a GitHub CLI gh auth login --web attempt:

Error launching app
Unable to find Electron app at:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.CodexBeta_26...\type=click&tag=8940775528530138224

Cannot find module:
'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.CodexBeta_26...\type=click&tag=8940775528530138224'

Troubleshooting Already Performed

• sfc /scannow: completed successfully, no integrity violations found
• DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth: completed successfully
• chkdsk C: /scan: completed successfully, no errors found
• Removed and reinstalled Codex Stable
• Cleared local Codex/OpenAI cache/config paths:
• C:\Users\體衛組\.codex
• C:\Users\體衛組\.cache
• C:\Users\體衛組\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex
• Re-registered the AppX package:

``powershell
Add-AppxPackage -Register AppxManifest.xml -DisableDevelopmentMode
``

• Checked AppLocker: no effective blocking rules found
• Confirmed Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is installed
• Confirmed ChatGPT Desktop launches normally under the same Windows user account
• Confirmed Codex Beta can launch under the same Windows user account

Possible Causes / Hypotheses

1. AppX activation argument parsing bug

The Codex Beta error suggests an activation argument like type=click&tag=... may have been appended to or interpreted as an Electron app/module path. If Stable receives a similar malformed activation payload, it may exit before rendering a window.

1. Electron bootstrap path resolution issue in packaged WindowsApps layout

The executable exists, but Electron may be resolving the application root incorrectly under C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\..., especially when activation arguments are present.

1. Silent early-process crash before Windows logs Application Error 1000

The app may terminate during initialization before crash reporting or event log entries are emitted.

1. User profile path / non-ASCII username edge case

The Windows account name contains non-ASCII characters: 體衛組. ChatGPT Desktop and Codex Beta generally work, so this is not a general WebView2 or account failure, but it may still expose a Stable-specific path encoding or profile-dir issue.

1. Stable-specific package/config migration issue

Since Beta can launch while Stable exits, the issue may be specific to Stable 26.609.9530.0, its AppX manifest, activation handling, or local Stable state outside the already-cleared paths.

Additional Diagnostics I Can Provide

Please let me know which of these would be most useful:

# Package metadata
Get-AppxPackage OpenAI.Codex | Format-List *
Get-AppxPackage OpenAI.CodexBeta | Format-List *

# AppX manifest package/app entries
$pkg = Get-AppxPackage OpenAI.Codex
[xml]$manifest = Get-Content (Join-Path $pkg.InstallLocation "AppxManifest.xml")
$manifest.Package.Applications.Application | Format-List *

# Recent AppModel-Runtime events related to Codex
Get-WinEvent -LogName "Microsoft-Windows-AppModel-Runtime/Admin" -MaxEvents 200 |
  Where-Object { $_.Message -match "OpenAI\.Codex" } |
  Select-Object TimeCreated, Id, ProviderName, Message |
  Format-List

# Recent application errors mentioning Codex/Electron/OpenAI
Get-WinEvent -LogName Application -MaxEvents 300 |
  Where-Object { $_.Message -match "Codex|Electron|OpenAI" } |
  Select-Object TimeCreated, Id, ProviderName, LevelDisplayName, Message |
  Format-List

# WebView2 runtime/version check
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\Clients\{F3017226-FE2A-4295-8BDF-00C3A9A7E4C5}" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
  Format-List *

# Check whether Codex starts briefly then exits
$exe = "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe"
$p = Start-Process $exe -PassThru
Start-Sleep -Seconds 3
$p | Format-List Id, ProcessName, HasExited, ExitCode, StartTime

# Optional: run from the app directory to test working-directory assumptions
Push-Location "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.609.9530.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app"
Start-Process ".\Codex.exe" -PassThru
Pop-Location