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Codex Issues / #35287

Hover sidebar opens unexpectedly when ChatGPT is not the active window

Open 💬 2 comments Opened Jul 25, 2026 by atrizoreyer

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

26.721.41059 (5848)

What subscription do you have?

Plus

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.5.0 arm64 arm

What issue are you seeing?

The hover sidebar is not a minor annoyance; it seriously disrupts normal multitasking and causes unintended actions.

The sidebar can open simply because the cursor moves over or near the Codex/ChatGPT window, including while the app is behind another application and is not the active window. The activation area appears to extend outside the app's usable window area.

Once triggered, the sidebar takes up a large portion of the window, stays open, and captures the next click. While quickly switching between apps to copy information, this has repeatedly caused me to open the wrong conversation or accidentally pin or archive a chat. Recovering an unintentionally archived chat then creates even more unnecessary work.

A background or inactive app should never expose an interactive panel merely because the cursor passes nearby.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Open the Codex/ChatGPT desktop app on macOS and collapse the sidebar.
  2. Place another app, such as Safari or Word, in front of or partially over the Codex window.
  3. Work in the other app, then move the cursor toward or across the Codex window while switching apps.
  4. The sidebar opens immediately without a click, sometimes while Codex is still not the active app.
  5. The sidebar remains open and intercepts the next click, which can land on a conversation or its pin/archive controls.

The issue also occurs with all conversations closed and from the app's home screen.

What is the expected behavior?

The sidebar should open only after an intentional action, such as clicking the sidebar button or using a keyboard shortcut.

At minimum:

  • Hover activation must never run while the Codex/ChatGPT window is inactive or behind another app.
  • There should be a setting to completely disable hover activation.
  • If hover activation remains, it should require a deliberate delay and close automatically when the cursor leaves.
  • An unintended hover must not expose controls that can switch, pin, or archive conversations.

Additional information

Please prioritize this. For people who constantly switch between several apps, this behavior makes the desktop app interfere with unrelated work throughout the day. The combination of an oversized activation zone, immediate opening, persistent display, and click interception is especially harmful.

Codex App version: 26.721.41059 (build 5848)
Subscription: Plus
Platform: Darwin 25.5.0 arm64 arm

View original on GitHub ↗

2 Comments

DylanKwak57 · 1 month ago

I can reproduce this exact issue on macOS 26.4 with Codex Desktop 26.721.41059 (build 5848) on Apple Silicon.

My normal setup is Codex beside another application such as Chrome. Simply moving the pointer through the ordinary path between the two windows causes the collapsed sidebar to open immediately, without a click or deliberate pause. The panel then covers a large part of the active conversation and interrupts reading, selecting text, and switching between apps. This happens repeatedly throughout the day and forces me to route the pointer around the app UI.

This should be treated as a productivity regression and an accessibility concern, not a cosmetic preference. Large interactive surfaces should not appear from incidental cursor movement.

Please prioritize the following:

  1. Make click-only sidebar opening the default, or provide a setting to completely disable hover activation.
  2. Never activate the sidebar while the Codex window is inactive or behind another app.
  3. Restrict the hover target to the visible sidebar control instead of a broad edge or nearby pointer path.
  4. If hover remains available, require a clear dwell delay and close the panel when the pointer leaves.
  5. Do not expose conversation-switching, pin, or archive controls until the user explicitly clicks into the sidebar.

The current behavior is disruptive enough that it materially reduces the usability of Codex in a multi-window workflow.

atrizoreyer · 27 days ago

Urgent update: reproducible click interception and unintended navigation in the current build

This issue remains fully reproducible in:

  • ChatGPT/Codex desktop app: 26.727.40816
  • macOS: 26.6 (25G72)
  • Architecture: arm64

It was originally reported on version 26.721.41059, so it has persisted across multiple updates.

Please remove hover-to-open sidebar activation entirely. Do not merely adjust its delay or reduce the activation area. The sidebar already has an intentional button and the Command+B keyboard shortcut.

When the user moves quickly toward a control in the conversation—such as the Copy button—the sidebar can open without a click and place conversation rows, including Pin and Archive controls, underneath the pointer. The intended click can then open a completely different conversation or activate a sidebar action.

The user must navigate back, find the original conversation, recover the previous scroll position, and repeat the intended action. This repeatedly interrupts normal work when switching rapidly between ChatGPT, Word, browsers, and other applications.

This is not a cosmetic animation problem or a minor UX preference. It is click interception: the interface dynamically inserts navigation and potentially destructive controls beneath an active pointer immediately before a click. It causes unintended user actions and destroys workflow context.

Technical inspection of the packaged client shows:

  • A hard-coded left-edge activation zone of approximately 12px.
  • A separate hover timer of only 100ms on the top-left sidebar trigger.
  • The newly opened sidebar becomes interactive immediately.
  • No user-facing preference was found to disable edge-hover activation.

Please treat this as a high-severity input-safety bug.

Required fix

  1. Remove edge-hover activation completely.
  2. Open the sidebar only after an intentional click or Command+B.
  3. Until removal ships, the sidebar must not accept pointer events until the pointer has left and deliberately re-entered it.
  4. Hover activation must never run while the window is inactive or behind another application.
  5. Pin, Archive, and conversation navigation controls must never appear as new click targets underneath a pointer that is already completing a click.
  6. Add a regression test verifying that a click begun on conversation content cannot be redirected to a sidebar item appearing during the same pointer interaction.

This behavior repeatedly causes unintended navigation and creates a real risk of unintended data changes. Please prioritize it accordingly.