Codex Desktop: adding a Source folder does not update workspace permissions for existing tasks

Open 💬 2 comments Opened Jul 27, 2026 by mayokake
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

What version of the Codex App are you using?

Not captured. The issue was reproduced on July 27, 2026.

What subscription do you have?

Not included in this report.

What platform is your computer?

macOS (Apple Silicon).

What issue are you seeing?

When a folder is added to a Codex Desktop project's Source folders, an already-existing task does not receive the updated workspace root or filesystem permission. Creating a new task in the same project after adding the folder does receive the updated permissions and can read files from that folder.

This makes the Source folders UI appear to have applied the change, while the active existing task continues using stale workspace/permission state.

The behavior is consistent with workspace roots and filesystem permissions being snapshotted at task creation and not refreshed for existing tasks. That is only a hypothesis; the internal implementation was not inspected.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Create or open a Codex Desktop project with an existing task.
  2. Confirm that a folder outside the current workspace roots is not available to that task.
  3. Add that folder to the project's Source folders.
  4. Return to the already-existing task.
  5. Observe that the task's effective workspace_roots and filesystem permissions do not include the newly added folder, and reading a file from it fails.
  6. Create a new task in the same project without changing the Source folders again.
  7. Observe that the new task's workspace_roots and filesystem permissions include the folder.
  8. Read an image file from the folder in the new task; the read succeeds.

What is the expected behavior?

After a folder is added to a project's Source folders, existing tasks in that project should either:

  • receive the updated workspace roots and filesystem permissions, or
  • clearly inform the user that the change only applies to newly created tasks and that a new task is required.

The current behavior silently leaves existing tasks with stale permissions.

Additional information

Observed comparison:

  • Existing task created before Source folder addition: folder absent from effective workspace roots/permissions; file read unavailable.
  • New task created after Source folder addition: folder present in workspace_roots; folder present in filesystem permissions; actual PNG file read succeeded.

No credentials, environment files, or sensitive file contents were accessed or included in this report.

View original on GitHub ↗

2 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 1 month ago

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

  • #35260

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Keesan12 · 1 month ago

The silent part is the bug. Source-folder changes alter the task’s authority, so an existing task should not quietly retain a stale capability snapshot. Either re-authorize the task against a new permission epoch or mark it “restart required” before the UI claims the folder is available. The task record should expose both the project’s current roots and the roots actually granted to that task; otherwise debugging turns into guessing which policy version executed.