Codex.app surfaces internal CodexDark asset layer as macOS app icon

Summary

On macOS, Codex.app can surface the internal grey Icon_Assets/CodexDark asset layer as the app icon in Finder, the Dock, and app-manager/Homebrew metadata views, instead of the normal composed blue/default Codex app icon.

This is related to the existing Dock icon regression thread in #28861, but this report is distinct: it includes bundle-level evidence that an internal Assets.car layer is being exposed as the user-facing app icon on current builds.

Environment

• Codex app: 26.623.101652 / build 4674
• macOS: 26.5.2 (25F84)
• Appearance: Dark
• Icon appearance: RegularAutomatic
• Bundle id: com.openai.codex
• Signature: Developer ID Application: OpenAI OpCo, LLC (2DC432GLL2)
• Dock icon preference: app-default
• Homebrew cask metadata and Sparkle appcast both resolve the same current version/build.

Actual behavior

Finder Applications, the Dock, and a Homebrew/app-manager metadata view can show the grey internal-looking Codex icon instead of the normal blue/default Codex app icon, even though the app is current and the Dock icon preference is app-default.

Finder Applications crop:

!Finder Applications showing grey Codex icon

Dock crop:

!Dock showing grey Codex icon

Homebrew/app-manager metadata crop:

!App manager showing grey Codex icon

Bundle evidence

The installed bundle contains both the normal blue app icon path and a directly loadable internal grey layer:

/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Info.plist:
  CFBundleIconFile = electron.icns
  CFBundleIconName = Icon
  CFBundleShortVersionString = 26.623.101652
  CFBundleVersion = 4674
  CodexAppIconBaseName = icon

Assets.car exposes a layer named Icon_Assets/CodexDark. Rendering Bundle.image(forResource: "Icon") produces the normal blue icon, while rendering Bundle.image(forResource: "Icon_Assets/CodexDark") produces the grey icon that appears in Finder/Dock/app-manager surfaces:

!Normal bundle icon versus internal CodexDark layer

Relevant assetutil -I -n Icon /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/Assets.car entries include:

Name: Icon
AssetType: IconImageStack

Layer:
  Name: Icon_Assets/CodexDark
  AssetType: Image
  PixelHeight: 1024
  PixelWidth: 1024

Reproduction steps

1. Install or update Codex.app for macOS to 26.623.101652 / build 4674.
2. On macOS 26.5.2 in Dark appearance, set Codex Settings > Appearance > Dock icon to Default.
3. Open Finder > Applications and select/view Codex.app.
4. Check the Dock icon and/or a Homebrew/app-manager metadata view for the same installed app.
5. Inspect the bundle assets:

plutil -p /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Info.plist | rg 'CFBundleIcon|CodexAppIconBaseName|CFBundleShortVersionString|CFBundleVersion'
assetutil -I -n Icon /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/Assets.car | rg 'Icon_Assets/CodexDark|IconImageStack|AssetType|Name'

Expected behavior

Finder, Dock, and app-manager metadata surfaces should resolve to the normal composed app icon or to the selected Dock icon variant consistently. An internal layer such as Icon_Assets/CodexDark should not surface as the standalone app icon.

Actual result

External macOS/app-manager surfaces can render the grey Icon_Assets/CodexDark layer as the app icon, while the normal Icon resource still renders as the blue/default icon when loaded directly.

Evidence bundle

Evidence screenshots and rendered asset comparison are in this gist:

https://gist.github.com/jjoanna2-debug/7a0eb035e408311b4129c7837a389aa7