Codex Desktop routed a prompt into the wrong project task after context compaction

Summary

Codex Desktop appears to have routed and persisted a prompt intended for one task into a different task associated with another local project.

The unexpected prompt was stored in the affected task as a genuine userMessage, rather than as ambient browser context or assistant-generated content. Its wording and requested feature closely matched a separate task that was open in Codex at the time.

Product

• Codex Desktop on macOS
• Component: task/thread routing and message persistence
• Approximate occurrence: 16 July 2026, 15:04 IST
• Session ID submitted through feedback: 019f5fa3-0522-7f51-af8b-1fc82c956a2f

Observed behavior

1. Two unrelated Codex tasks existed, each connected to a different local project.
2. One task contained a questionnaire-style application with discipline-scoped random-prefill behavior.
3. The other task was an unrelated website project.
4. After a context-compaction event in the unrelated website task, a prompt requesting deployment plus discipline-scoped random filling appeared there and was persisted as a user-authored message.
5. Codex then acted on that prompt in the wrong project context.

A read-only audit of the task history showed:

• A context-compaction turn completed shortly before the unexpected message.
• The unexpected text was persisted in the affected task as a real userMessage.
• A separate task contained the matching terminology, feature history, and deployment request.
• The message was not part of the compaction summary and was not ambient browser state.

Expected behavior

A message composed for one task should only be delivered to that selected task. Task focus, project directory, and message persistence should remain isolated across open tasks, including before and after context compaction or an application update.

If the active project and prompt context differ substantially, Codex Desktop should not silently route the message to another task.

Impact

The agent began operating on the wrong local project and could have made or deployed unrelated changes. This creates a meaningful data-integrity and project-isolation risk.

Reproduction

I do not have a deterministic reproduction yet. The event occurred while multiple project tasks existed in Codex Desktop and shortly after context compaction. An application update may have occurred around the same period, but that relationship is unconfirmed.

Privacy

Project names, personal content, file paths, and the verbatim private prompt have been omitted. The feedback session ID above should provide OpenAI maintainers with the internal task history and logs needed to investigate.