[Bug] Windows desktop app flashes visible console windows for internal git/taskkill children, even while idle

Summary

Codex Desktop on Windows repeatedly spawns short-lived internal console child processes. Each spawn allocates a visible console window that flashes on screen and disrupts typing/window focus.

This occurs while the app is running in the background, including when it is fully idle with no chat/task session open.

Environment

• Codex desktop app: 26.715.31925 (also observed on 26.715.31251)
• codex-cli: 0.144.5
• OS: Windows 11 Home 10.0.26200
• Workspace: large local Git repository
• Evidence captured: 2026-07-20 (Asia/Tokyo), via Win32_Process polling

Observed behavior

A 90-second process-creation trace captured approximately 110 process spawns originating from ChatGPT.exe:

• 38 × taskkill.exe /pid <pid> /t /f
• 21 × git.exe, including commands such as:
• git config --null --get core.fsmonitor
• git -c core.hooksPath=NUL -c core.fsmonitor= hash-object -- <file>
• Approximately 55 × conhost.exe children associated with those console processes

The git hash-object calls appear to be per-file change probing, so activity in a busy repository—or another tool writing files in the workspace—multiplies the flash frequency. Several black console windows can pop up per minute and disappear within a fraction of a second.

The taskkill /t /f volume also suggests process-tree cleanup is being performed through a console helper rather than a windowless Win32 process/job-object path.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Codex Desktop on Windows with a medium-sized or larger local Git repository.
2. Leave the app running; no active chat/task session is required.
3. Observe process creation using Win32_ProcessStartTrace, Win32_Process polling, Process Monitor, or Process Explorer.
4. Observe recurring chains originating from the desktop app:

• ChatGPT.exe -> git.exe -> conhost.exe
• ChatGPT.exe -> taskkill.exe -> conhost.exe

1. Observe visible black console-window flashes and occasional typing/window-focus disruption.

Expected behavior

Internal housekeeping children such as Git probes and process-tree cleanup should be spawned without visible console windows, for example:

• Win32 CREATE_NO_WINDOW (0x08000000) in CreateProcess creation flags, or
• Electron/Node child-process options such as windowsHide: true, with no console inheritance.

Process-tree cleanup should also avoid repeated visible taskkill /t /f helper launches where practical (for example, using TerminateProcess and/or Windows job objects).

Impact

• Repeated visible black-window flashes
• Disrupted typing and window focus
• Frequency increases with repository activity and repository size
• Reproduces even when Codex is idle in the background with no task open

Related issue

Possibly related to #17229, which reports repeated git.exe/conhost.exe spawning and orphaned processes. This report specifically adds Win32 process-trace evidence for visible console allocation, frequent taskkill.exe child processes, per-file hash-object probing, focus disruption, and idle-background reproduction.