“New Project” launches task with an incorrect, nonexistent workspace path

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

ChatGPT Powered by Codex & OWL Version 26.707.31428 Released Jul 9, 2026

What subscription do you have?

Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Description

The task was launched with a different, nonexistent path:

C:\Users\<USER>\<INCORRECT_PARENT>\<UNRELATED_REPOSITORY>

The unrelated repository actually exists under another parent directory:

C:\Users\<USER>\<ACTUAL_CODE_DIRECTORY>\<UNRELATED_REPOSITORY>

The task environment supplied the incorrect path as both its working directory and writable workspace root:

<cwd>C:\Users\<USER>\<INCORRECT_PARENT>\<UNRELATED_REPOSITORY></cwd>

The first command failed with:

windows sandbox: CreateProcessWithLogonW failed: 267

Checking the injected path confirmed that it did not exist:

Test-Path C:\Users\<USER>\<INCORRECT_PARENT>\<UNRELATED_REPOSITORY>
False

Because the sandbox authorized only the incorrect path, the task could not access the project Codex Desktop had just created.

The recovery flow then requested permission to create the incorrect directory rather than reconnecting the task to the new project.

Impact

The Sites workflow could not begin.

This is also a workspace-safety concern: stale information from an unrelated repository was supplied to a task created from a new project. If the incorrect path had existed, the task could have modified the wrong repository.

Relevant details

Three distinct paths were involved:

Project created by New Project:
C:\Users\<USER>\Documents\<NEW_PROJECT>

Existing unrelated repository:
C:\Users\<USER>\<ACTUAL_CODE_DIRECTORY>\<UNRELATED_REPOSITORY>

Incorrect workspace injected into the task:
C:\Users\<USER>\<INCORRECT_PARENT>\<UNRELATED_REPOSITORY>

The project selected in the UI, task cwd, and sandbox writable root should be validated as the same existing directory before the task is launched.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Codex Desktop
2. Click "Sites" from the menu underneath ChatGPT Codex
3. Click "Choose project"
4. Name the project
5. Complete the prompt for the site creation context
6. Observe the results

What is the expected behavior?

Little to none

Additional information

The user experience on a fresh Win 11 system just trying to get the default sandbox environment to work at a baseline has been absolutely abyssmal.