[Windows] Plus account forced into Work-only mode; Codex and Projects hidden despite successful auth

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

26.715.4045.0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Summary

The unified ChatGPT/Codex Windows app authenticates a valid ChatGPT Plus account and reaches Codex backend endpoints successfully, but it disables the product switcher and behaves as if Codex is not allowed.

The header shows a non-interactive plain Work label instead of the Chat/Work/Codex selector. Codex, Projects, and existing Codex task history are not available. On a normal launch, the same installation can also render an empty page at the root route.

User-visible impact

• Chat/Work/Codex product selector is disabled.
• Only plain Work is shown.
• Codex and Projects are missing.
• Existing Codex tasks are not displayed.
• Normal startup can render a blank application shell.

Authentication and entitlement evidence

PII has been redacted.

• The correct ChatGPT Plus account is signed in.
• The account token was valid during testing.
• A real authenticated Codex request succeeded.
• The desktop app requested /backend-api/wham/tasks/list and received HTTP 200 (twice).
• /backend-api/accounts/check/v4-2023-04-27 returned HTTP 200 with a valid account ID and plan_type: plus.
• The packaged frontend reports the Windows surface as supported.
• Inspection of the packaged frontend gate and the live UI state showed that the app resolves codexFeaturesAllowed = false, which turns the product selector into plain Work text.

The blank startup state also records this router error:

Matched leaf route at location "/" does not have an element or Component ... resulting in an "empty" page.

This is not a simple expired-login, wrong-account, deleted-history, or backend-outage symptom: authentication works and the relevant backend calls return 200, while the desktop UI still suppresses Codex.

<img width="1917" height="1031" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/07c50f83-b470-48b0-8372-c63a49abd97b" />

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Install the official Microsoft Store package OpenAI.Codex version 26.715.4045.0.
2. Sign in with the affected ChatGPT Plus account.
3. Fully close the app and launch it from the normal installed shortcut.
4. Observe that the app may open on an empty root route.
5. When the application shell initializes, inspect the top-left product area.
6. Observe that Work is plain, non-interactive text; there is no Chat/Work/Codex selector.
7. Observe that Codex, Projects, and existing Codex task history are absent.
8. Verify the account in the profile UI: it is the intended Plus account.
9. Verify authenticated traffic: account check and Codex task-list requests return HTTP 200, but the UI remains in Work-only mode.

Controlled troubleshooting already performed

• Re-registered the AppX package.
• Tested a reversible cache/profile reset.
• Installed the official Microsoft Store product.
• Performed a clean uninstall/reinstall of only the app package.
• Tested with a fresh roaming application profile.
• Tested the registered codex:// entry point.
• Relaunched from a fully closed state.

The symptom reproduced after all of the above. The external Codex session store was preserved and was not reset.

What is the expected behavior?

A valid ChatGPT Plus account with working Codex access should be recognized consistently by the Windows desktop app.

• Normal startup should render a valid application route.
• The Chat/Work/Codex product selector should be enabled.
• Codex and Projects should be visible.
• Existing Codex tasks should load from the authenticated account/local session store.
• A successful account check with plan_type: plus must not result in codexFeaturesAllowed = false.

If the entitlement check cannot be completed, the app should show a specific recoverable error instead of silently falling back to Work-only mode or a blank route.

Additional information

Related reports checked

• Blank root route: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/34089
• Work-only/no Chat switch: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/32515

This report is not merely another blank-window or default-mode complaint:

• #34089 documents the empty / route in the same app version, but not the persistent false Codex-access gate after the shell initializes.
• #32515 reports an app that opens in Work/Codex mode and consumes Codex quota but cannot switch to standard Chat. In this case, the opposite capability is missing: Codex and Projects are suppressed, the selector is non-interactive, and the app resolves codexFeaturesAllowed = false despite a valid Plus account and successful Codex backend responses.

Additional facts

• Installed package status is Ok.
• Codex CLI access works with the same account.
• The local session store remains intact (1,457 session files, approximately 7.67 GB); this is a visibility/access failure, not deleted data.
• No email address, account ID, access token, or raw credential is included in this public report.
• Redacted logs and additional diagnostic details can be provided privately to OpenAI maintainers if requested.