Codex Desktop auto-switches to inactive task when it requests approval

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

Codex Desktop on Windows, Microsoft Store/AppX package:

• OpenAI.Codex_26.707.9981.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

What subscription do you have?

Unknown / not relevant.

What platform is your computer?

Windows, x64. Local OS version: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200, build 26200.8655, Education edition (25H2).

What issue are you seeing?

When several tasks are running in parallel in Codex Desktop, an inactive task that reaches a command or permission approval can automatically become the active task. The app navigates away from the task I am currently viewing without an explicit click or keyboard navigation action.

This has occurred repeatedly while I was already working in another task, including while entering text in that task's composer. The task requesting approval suddenly replaces the current task and its approval UI receives attention. There is no advance notification or other transition that lets me choose whether to leave the current task.

I may also have used Ctrl+Tab to move between tasks shortly before some occurrences, but I have not confirmed whether Ctrl+Tab is required to trigger the behavior. The consistent condition is that multiple tasks are active and a task other than the one being viewed requests permission.

This makes parallel task work unpredictable and can interrupt in-progress text entry. Permission requests should be surfaced as attention state, not take over the active task automatically.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Open several tasks in Codex Desktop on Windows.
2. Start work in at least two tasks and let them run concurrently with Ask for approval enabled.
3. Navigate to task A and begin reading its output or typing a message in its composer.
4. Let task B, which is not currently selected, reach a command or permission request.
5. Observe that Codex Desktop can automatically navigate from task A to task B and show/focus task B's approval request, without an explicit navigation action.

The behavior is intermittent but recurring. Cycling among tasks with Ctrl+Tab may be a contributing condition, but that correlation is not yet confirmed.

What is the expected behavior?

An approval request from an inactive task should not change the active task or interrupt the composer currently in use.

Codex Desktop should instead surface the pending request through its existing attention mechanisms, such as a sidebar badge, task-switcher indicator, pet state, or permission notification. The user should navigate to the requesting task explicitly, for example by selecting it or activating a notification.

If automatic navigation is intentional, it should at minimum be opt-in and must not occur while the current composer has an in-progress draft.

Additional information

The current Codex documentation describes permission and question notifications as separately configurable attention mechanisms, but I found no documentation stating that an inactive task should automatically replace the active task when it requests approval.

I searched existing openai/codex issues and did not find an exact duplicate. Related but distinct reports include:

• #31801: CLI/TUI prompts can steal in-progress typing, but this report concerns cross-task navigation in the desktop app.
• #20817: asks to make tasks awaiting approval easier to find in the desktop sidebar, rather than automatically switching to them.
• #29008: asks for native permission notifications on macOS; it likewise treats navigation to the requesting task as an explicit notification action.
• #19876: concerns clicking an approval notification opening the wrong/blank route, not unsolicited navigation while already using another task.