[Windows] Background Store update silently exits tray app and does not relaunch

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

This was observed across two unattended Windows Store/AppX updates:

• OpenAI.Codex_26.707.3748.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0 to OpenAI.Codex_26.707.6957.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• OpenAI.Codex_26.707.8479.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0 to OpenAI.Codex_26.707.9981.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

The currently installed package is OpenAI.Codex_26.707.9981.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0.

What subscription do you have?

Unknown / not relevant to the updater behavior.

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 Education 25H2, build 26200.8655, 64-bit.

What issue are you seeing?

Codex Desktop can silently disappear from the Windows tray when a background Microsoft Store/AppX update is installed, even though I did not click the blue in-app update button or otherwise initiate an update. The package update succeeds, but Codex does not relaunch and remains completely closed until I start it manually.

I first noticed the symptom after returning to the laptop later, including after leaving it in standby overnight. This initially looked like Codex had crashed during standby. The logs instead show that Codex had already been terminated by an unattended package update and had never returned. This distinction matters because someone encountering the symptom may search for an overnight, resume, standby, or tray crash rather than an in-app update failure.

I observed this twice in the last few days. In both cases:

• Codex was running without an update being manually triggered.
• The updater detected or installed a package in the background.
• Windows registered the package with ForceTargetApplicationShutdownOption.
• Codex logged Stopping app-server transport at the same moment.
• The package update succeeded, but no Codex process or tray icon returned.
• Manually launching Codex later opened the newly installed version normally.

There was no matching Windows Application Error, Application Hang, or Windows Error Reporting entry. This appears to be an unattended update shutdown followed by a failed relaunch, not a process crash.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

The timing depends on update availability, but the observed flow is:

1. Start Codex Desktop on Windows and leave it running or minimized to the tray.
2. Do not click the in-app update button.
3. Leave the application running while a Microsoft Store/AppX update becomes available and is downloaded or installed in the background.
4. Allow Windows to register the new Codex package.
5. Return to the computer later or wake it from standby.

Observed result:

• Codex is no longer running and its tray icon is gone.
• There was no update prompt, installing state, crash dialog, or other explanation.
• Codex does not relaunch automatically.
• A manual launch starts the updated package successfully.

What is the expected behavior?

An unattended background update should not silently leave Codex closed. Codex should either:

• relaunch automatically after the package update completes, preserving its prior tray/window state, or
• defer an update that requires terminating the running application until the user explicitly approves it.

If neither is possible, Windows or Codex should at least provide a notification explaining that the application was closed for an update and must be reopened manually.

Additional information

First unattended occurrence:

2026-07-12 21:28:15 CEST: Codex checks the Store; buildVersion=26.707.3748.0, manifestBuildVersion=26.707.6957.0
2026-07-12 21:29:05 CEST: update check completes with canSilentlyDownload=true, hasUpdate=true
2026-07-12 22:01:47 CEST: Codex logs "Stopping app-server transport"
2026-07-12 22:01:47 CEST: AppX RegisterByPackageFamilyName starts with ForceTargetApplicationShutdownOption
2026-07-12 22:01:47 CEST: updateList records 26.707.3748.0 updating to 26.707.6957.0
2026-07-13 10:49:35 CEST: next Codex log session begins after manual launch

Second unattended occurrence:

2026-07-14 05:13:24 CEST: Codex checks the Store; buildVersion=26.707.8479.0, manifestBuildVersion=26.707.9564.0
2026-07-14 05:14:16 CEST: update check completes with canSilentlyDownload=true, hasUpdate=true
2026-07-14 14:55:22 CEST: Codex logs "Stopping app-server transport"
2026-07-14 14:55:22 CEST: AppX RegisterByPackageFamilyName starts with ForceTargetApplicationShutdownOption
2026-07-14 14:55:22 CEST: updateList records 26.707.8479.0 updating to the newer 26.707.9981.0 package
2026-07-15 10:34:20 CEST: next Codex log session begins after manual launch

For the second occurrence, Windows recorded the later overnight standby from 2026-07-15 01:37 until 10:29 CEST. Codex had therefore already been closed by the package update more than ten hours before standby began.

The relaunch behavior is intermittent. An intervening update from 26.707.6957.0 to 26.707.8479.0 on July 13 was followed by a new Codex log session about three seconds later, consistent with a successful automatic relaunch.

Related issues:

• #24047 reports the same post-update relaunch failure after manually clicking the in-app update affordance.
• #29787 also reports no relaunch after manually clicking the blue update button and appears to duplicate #24047.

This report is specifically about the unattended background-update trigger and its distinct user-visible symptom: a previously running tray application is silently gone when the user next returns to or wakes the computer.