Codex desktop dictation fails with 'Unable to determine audio duration' and mic disappears

Codex Desktop Mic / Dictation Bug Report

Created: 2026-07-05 07:02 +05:30

Summary

Codex desktop input composer microphone button intermittently disappears or becomes unavailable after dictation fails. User has to type manually or restart Codex to recover.

Environment

• OS: Windows
• Codex desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.623.13972.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Codex desktop app version: 26.623.13972.0
• Codex CLI version after update: codex-cli 0.142.5
• Microphone privacy, global: Allow
• Microphone privacy, Codex app: Allow
• Windows audio services checked: Audiosrv and AudioEndpointBuilder running

Observed Error

Codex desktop logs repeatedly show:

ext
[Composer] dictation failed errorMessage="{\"detail\":\"Unable to determine audio duration\"}"


Recent log evidence:

` ext
C:\Users\Sandeep\AppData\Local\Packages\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0\LocalCache\Local\Codex\Logs\2026\07\05\codex-desktop-f2764540-a915-48b0-b48e-70e476de9020-11812-t0-i1-003522-0.log:270
2026-07-05T01:22:38.923Z error [electron-message-handler] [Composer] dictation failed errorMessage="{\"detail\":\"Unable to determine audio duration\"}" ... use-dictation-B8XKwqLC.js

Same error repeated at lines 271-275.
`

Older recurrence also seen in 2026-06-22 logs, so this is not a one-off.

User Impact

• User relies on the mic in the Codex input box.
• Mic suddenly disappears or becomes unavailable.
• User must type manually or restart Codex.
• This interrupts live work sessions.

Repro Notes

1. Open Codex desktop on Windows.
2. Use the microphone/dictation button in the composer.
3. At some point dictation fails with Unable to determine audio duration.
4. After failure, the mic affordance may disappear or become unavailable in the input box.
5. Restarting Codex appears to be the practical recovery.

Diagnostics Already Performed

• Windows global microphone permission is Allow.
• Codex-specific microphone permission is Allow.
• Chromium media stream microphone exceptions in Codex profile are empty, not blocked.
• Audio services are running.
• Codex CLI was updated successfully with NODE_OPTIONS=--use-system-ca; codex update.
• Update result: restart Codex required.

Suspected Area

Composer dictation handling likely does not recover cleanly after receiving an empty/unreadable audio blob. The UI should keep/recover the mic affordance and show a retryable error instead of making the user restart.

Suggested Fix

• Treat zero-duration/undetectable audio as a recoverable dictation failure.
• Reset recorder state and re-enable mic UI after failure.
• Add a visible retry action or soft-reset path in the composer.
• Include client-side diagnostics for actual recorded blob duration/size and selected input device.