Windows desktop app launches visible PowerShell windows and interrupts voice dictation

Summary

On Windows, the Codex desktop app intermittently launches visible PowerShell/console windows. The window can briefly take foreground focus and interrupts active voice dictation.

App and platform

• Codex desktop app (MSIX): 26.721.4979.0
• Platform: Windows

Observed process evidence

The visible PowerShell is launched as a descendant of the Codex desktop app:

ChatGPT.exe -> codex.exe -> powershell.exe

One observed command was a non-interactive PowerShell process that collected CPU and memory information through Win32_PerfFormattedData_PerfProc_Process. Its command line did not include -WindowStyle Hidden or another no-console creation option.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Codex desktop on Windows with a local workspace.
2. Work in an active Codex task and use voice dictation in another application or text input.
3. Wait for Codex local diagnostics/resource collection or run a local tool command.
4. A PowerShell/console window can briefly appear and take focus, interrupting dictation.

Expected behavior

Codex internal PowerShell processes should start without creating a visible console window and must not take foreground focus.

Actual behavior

A visible PowerShell/console window flashes periodically. The foreground change interrupts voice input even when the PowerShell work itself is non-interactive.

Requested fix

Please launch internal Windows PowerShell processes with a no-window creation mode from the start (for example, a process-creation option equivalent to CREATE_NO_WINDOW), rather than relying on a window being hidden after it has already been created.

Local mitigation and scope

A local event-based workaround can hide Codex-descended PowerShell windows after they appear, but a very short flash can remain because the window is already created. This is not a complete fix; the desktop app should suppress the console at process creation.

No personal data, workspace content, or account details are included in this report.