Previous Codex chats are not restored after reinstalling the VS Code extension

What version of the IDE extension are you using?

26.623.30605

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

Which IDE are you using?

Visual Studio Code

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 Pro x64 OS Version: 10.0.26200 (Build 26200)

What issue are you seeing?

Summary

My previous Codex conversations are not restored after reinstalling the VS Code extension.

Environment

• Extension: openai.chatgpt
• Version: 26.623.30605
• IDE: Visual Studio Code
• Subscription: ChatGPT Plus
• OS: Windows 11 Pro x64 (Build 26200)

Issue

Initially, the Codex extension became unstable.

Symptoms:

• Previous Codex tasks/conversations appeared for a few seconds after launching VS Code.
• The Codex sidebar then became completely blank.
• After some troubleshooting, I reinstalled the extension.

After reinstalling:

• I can sign in successfully.
• I can create new Codex conversations.
• However, none of my previous conversations are shown in the Codex sidebar.

Investigation

I verified that my previous conversations still exist locally.

The legacy Codex data is present under:

C:\Users\MMali\.codex_backup

It contains:

• sessions/
• archived_sessions/
• sqlite/codex-dev

The JSONL session files still contain the complete conversation history.

Example:

C:\Users\MMali\.codex_backup\sessions\2026\06\25\rollout-2026-06-25T10-38-38-019efd2e-0bdd-7150-b41f-f90367ee1e04.jsonl

The current extension created a new storage structure under:

C:\Users\MMali\.codex

which contains files such as:

• goals_1.sqlite
• logs_2.sqlite
• memories_1.sqlite
• state_5.sqlite

There is no sessions folder in the new storage layout.

Expected behavior

After reinstalling the extension and signing into the same OpenAI account, my previous Codex conversations should either:

• automatically migrate to the new storage format, or
• there should be a supported method to import or recover legacy sessions.

Actual behavior

The extension works normally for new conversations, but none of the previous conversations are displayed even though the legacy session files still exist locally.

Additional information

• I signed back into the same ChatGPT account.
• I have not deleted my .codex_backup folder.
• I can provide logs, the legacy SQLite database, or sample JSONL session files if needed.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Start with an existing Codex VS Code installation that has previous local conversations stored in the legacy session format.

1. The extension becomes unstable:

• previous tasks appear briefly after launching VS Code
• the Codex panel then becomes blank

1. Uninstall the Codex / OpenAI ChatGPT VS Code extension.

1. Rename the old local Codex folder for backup:

C:\Users\MMali\.codex
to:
C:\Users\MMali\.codex_backup

1. Reinstall the latest VS Code extension:

openai.chatgpt version 26.623.30605

1. Sign in using the same ChatGPT account.

1. Open the Codex sidebar.

Expected:
Previous Codex conversations should be restored or migrated.

Actual:
Only the new empty Codex workspace is shown. Previous conversations do not appear.

The old conversations still exist locally under:
C:\Users\MMali\.codex_backup\sessions

The new extension creates a different storage layout under:
C:\Users\MMali\.codex

No code snippet is applicable because this is a VS Code extension state/migration issue, not an application code bug.

What is the expected behavior?

After reinstalling the VS Code extension and signing back into the same ChatGPT account, the extension should automatically detect and restore (or migrate) my existing Codex conversations from the previous local storage.

If automatic migration is not supported, the extension should provide a supported recovery or import mechanism, or clearly notify the user that legacy conversations cannot be migrated.

My previous conversations still exist locally under C:\Users\MMali\.codex_backup, so I expected them to be available again in the Codex sidebar instead of starting with an empty conversation history.

Additional information

_No response_