File viewer sends /C:/... paths and fails with AbsolutePathBuf deserialized without a base path

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

26.707.41301

What subscription do you have?

Pro

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.5.0 arm64 arm

What issue are you seeing?

When the macOS ChatGPT/Codex desktop app connects to a native Windows host through the built-in "Connect other devices" feature, the project directory and filenames are visible, but opening any file fails with:

Could not open file

The same files open normally when ChatGPT/Codex is used directly on the Windows host.

The macOS logs show that a valid Windows path such as:

C:\Projects\RemotePathTest\README.md

is sent in the fs/watch request as:

/C:/Projects/RemotePathTest/README.md

The Windows app-server then returns:

Invalid request: AbsolutePathBuf deserialized without a base path

The remote client can successfully list the directory and display its filenames. The failure occurs when it attempts to open the selected file.

This appears to be a client-side cross-platform path normalization issue. A Windows drive path is being converted into a POSIX-shaped /C:/... path before it is sent to the Windows app-server.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Install and run ChatGPT/Codex Desktop on a native Windows machine.
2. Pair the Windows machine through the built-in "Connect other devices" feature.
3. From ChatGPT/Codex Desktop on macOS, connect to the Windows host.
4. Open a Windows project such as:

C:\Projects\RemotePathTest

1. Create a file:

C:\Projects\RemotePathTest\README.md

1. Confirm that the macOS remote client can list the project directory and see README.md.
2. Click README.md in the macOS remote client.
3. Observe Could not open file.
4. Inspect the macOS logs and observe an fs/watch request containing:

/C:/Projects/RemotePathTest/README.md

1. Observe the following error:

Invalid request: AbsolutePathBuf deserialized without a base path

1. Open the same file directly in ChatGPT/Codex on the Windows host.
2. Observe that it opens normally.

What is the expected behavior?

When the macOS client is connected to a native Windows host, Windows drive paths should remain valid Windows paths when sent to the Windows app-server.

For example:

C:\Projects\RemotePathTest\README.md

should not be converted into:

/C:/Projects/RemotePathTest/README.md

Clicking a file that is visible in the remote project browser should load and display its contents in the macOS client.

Additional information

_No response_