image_gen returns image data in session records but no image is shown, saved, or exposed as a path

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

26.707.31428

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

_No response_

What issue are you seeing?

Built-in image_gen no longer produces a usable image output in either Codex CLI or Codex App.

Environment:

• Platform: Windows x64
• Codex CLI: codex-cli 0.144.1
• Codex App: 26.707.31428

Actual behavior:

• No generated image is displayed in the conversation.
• No saved image path is returned or printed.
• Asking Codex where the generated image was saved does not produce a valid path.
• No new generated image is found under the default generated image directory, e.g. `%USERPROFILE%

\.codex\generated_images`.

• Local session inspection shows image_generation_call records with a non-empty result payload, but no

saved_path.

Example diagnostic shape from local session records:

  PayloadType = image_generation_call
  Status = generating
  HasSavedPath = False
  ResultLen > 0

There is no visible error message in the UI. The failure mode is that image data appears to exist internally, but
Codex does not display it, does not persist it to a generated image file, and does not expose a usable path.

This looks related to the older image persistence regression in #28422 / #28526, which was fixed by #28656, but this is happening on codex-cli 0.144.1 and Codex App 26.707.31428.

Possibly related but different from #32128: that issue is about base64 image data causing session/log size growth.
This issue is about generated image data not being displayed, saved, or exposed as a path.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Ask Codex to generate an image:

```text
Use image_gen to generate a small cat image.

  2. Wait for the image generation call to finish.
  3. Check the conversation output: no image is displayed and no saved path is shown.
  4. Check the generated images directory: no new usable image file appears.
  5. Inspecting the session JSONL shows an image_generation_call with a non-empty result, but no saved_path.

### What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

### Additional information

_No response_