Windows: Codex Desktop appears to cause unexplained system memory pressure and UI lag during local repo work

What version of the Codex App are you using?

I do not currently have the exact Microsoft Store package version available from the app dialog.

From my local Codex session history, the affected period includes Codex Desktop sessions using these CLI/runtime versions:

• 0.140.0-alpha.2
• 0.140.0-alpha.19
• 0.142.0
• 0.142.3
• 0.142.5

The most recent affected local repo-work sessions I can identify were on 0.142.5.

Platform

• Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
• OS build observed by dxdiag: 10.0, Build 22631
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, 16 cores / 32 threads
• RAM: 64 GB class, 65536MB RAM / 64670MB available OS memory
• GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER
• GPU 2: AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics / iGPU
• NVIDIA driver: 32.0.16.1047, driver date 2026-05-19
• AMD driver: 31.0.24002.92, driver date 2024-01-11
• Power scheme: Balanced

Display topology at the time:

• DELL G3223Q, 3840 x 2160 @ 144Hz, NVIDIA
• Odyssey G5, 2560 x 1440 @ 165Hz, NVIDIA
• BenQ GL2480, 1920 x 1080 @ 75Hz, NVIDIA
• 400-LCD005, 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz, AMD iGPU

Issue

During long Codex Desktop local-repository sessions, my Windows machine develops system-wide lag and memory pressure that is not explained by normal user-mode process working sets.

The symptom does not look like one ordinary process consuming all RAM. The machine can feel very sluggish while CPU, disk, pagefile activity, and visible top process memory are not high enough to explain the behavior.

This looks similar to the Windows Codex Desktop memory/performance issues reported in:

• #29436
• #29700
• #30926

Those reports describe kernel pool / page table / Token/Toke growth and repeated git.exe metadata probing from Codex Desktop. I do not have local ETW proof for the Toke tag yet, but my local Windows counters show a similar "memory is not owned by a normal app process" pattern.

Local observations

Memory snapshot from the investigation:

TotalGB:      63.16
UsedGB:       34.53
FreeGB:       28.62
UsedPercent: 54.7

Top process memory did not explain the overall usage:

chrome:          18 processes, about 1.62 GB
RazerAppEngine:  about 0.73 GB
MsMpEng:         about 0.54 GB
dwm.exe:         about 0.45 GB working set / 0.78 GB private

General perf snapshot:

CPU:             about 5%
AvailableMB:     30389
CommittedGB:     39.76
PagesPerSec:     0
DiskBusyPercent: 0
Pagefile usage:  about 86 MB in one snapshot

Memory bucket snapshot:

Standby Cache Normal Priority Bytes: 19.76 GB
Standby Cache Reserve Bytes:          6.05 GB
Pool Paged Bytes:                     3.12 GB
Pool Nonpaged Bytes:                  2.88 GB

GPU / desktop composition observations:

dwm.exe GPU engine utilization: around 14-15% on 3D at one point
NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti SUPER: P0 state, about 40W, about 9% GPU util

The system did not look CPU-bound, disk-bound, or pagefile-bound. The visible application list did not explain the RAM percentage. The pressure seemed to be in Windows cache/kernel/driver/UI composition buckets rather than a single large user process.

Usage pattern

The issue appears after using Codex Desktop for local repository work:

• Multiple long Codex Desktop sessions against local Java/Spring and React repositories
• Tool-heavy runs with many file reads, searches, and shell calls
• Local Windows workspace paths
• Git repositories with large project trees

I have not captured a local count of repeated git.exe processes yet. Given #30926, I suspect Codex Desktop's repository/root/status probing may be involved, especially if it repeatedly invokes Git metadata commands or does not back off on unusual repo/worktree states.

Expected behavior

Codex Desktop should not cause system-wide memory pressure, persistent kernel/cache growth, high DWM/UI lag, or repeated background Git probing that keeps accumulating Windows kernel resources.

If repo metadata probing fails or a workspace is invalid/unusual, Codex should back off, cache the failure, and avoid a tight repeated git.exe loop.

Actual behavior

After extended Codex Desktop repo work:

• Windows reports memory usage that visible top processes do not explain.
• Paged and nonpaged pool are both several GB.
• Standby/cache buckets are very large.
• dwm.exe and desktop composition show suspicious activity even when CPU/disk/pagefile are mostly quiet.
• The desktop becomes sluggish or sticky from the user's perspective.

Notes / request

It would help if Codex Desktop exposed or logged:

• Git metadata probe rate per workspace
• Failed repo-root detection loops
• Backoff state for invalid or problematic .git / worktree states
• Number of active git.exe launches per minute
• Renderer/app-server memory and native process child counts

This may belong in the same Windows Desktop memory/performance cluster as #29436, #29700, and #30926.