CodexRuntime - very high cpu usage and token burn; stuck in a runaway inference loop even with no projects loaded
Open 💬 2 comments Opened Jun 25, 2026 by TWembley
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor)
responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.616.71553 installed 24/6/2026
What subscription do you have?
Plus
What platform is your computer?
Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.19045.0 x64
What issue are you seeing?
Very high CPU during idle or with no project loaded, accompanied with high Defender CPU usage which drops back to normal when Codex is closed down. Wiped out 5 hour limit with two queries (a debug consisting of 15 lines taking less than 5 minutes and a follow-up query on how many lines were changed/added). Codex App creating empty .git in project directory. High CPU for both Codex App and Defender collapsed as soon as .git directory deleted.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Feedback ID: 019e9c6c-ab86-7a90-a846-dc3b21417218
What is the expected behavior?
_No response_
Additional information
_No response_
2 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
Powered by Codex Action
Indeed, I encountered the same problem. Whenever I opened CodeX, the CPU frequency would be increased (although the usage percentage was not particularly high, the CPU frequency was increased from about 1.6GHz to about 3.6GHz), causing the laptop to overheat and the battery life to be severely shortened.
Following your suggestion in the comments, after deleting the empty folders ".agent" and ".git" in the project folder, the CPU frequency immediately returned to normal. Even though this deletion was performed while Codex was still running, it was effective, and the CPU frequency returned to normal immediately.