Cannot use multiple terminal sessions
Open 💬 11 comments Opened Aug 8, 2026 by bendietze
What version of Codex CLI is running?
codex-cli 0.147.0
What subscription do you have?
Pro
Which model were you using?
gpt-5.6-sol-max
What platform is your computer?
Linux 7.0.0-29-generic x86_64 unknown
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
multiple
Codex doctor report
{
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}
}What issue are you seeing?
(After updating to 0.147) i cannot run multiple sessions at the same time on multiple devices anymore:
Error: Failed to resume session from /--/.codex/sessions/2026/08/03/rollout-2026-08-03T15-11-29-019fc7c0-3225-7923-8042-690f08f31c92.jsonl: thread/resume failed during TUI bootstrap: thread/resume failed: thread 019fc7c0-3225-7923-8042-690f08f31c92 already has an active writer (code -32600)
Even the mobile and desktop apps cannot resume into Remote:
<img width="1290" height="286" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3c28d3d2-6cf6-48be-b2fa-5bbc249431b3" />
<img width="402" height="90" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cf839db3-4769-42f7-9760-7e75559233d3" />
This task is active elsewhere. Close it there and try again here.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Open a cli task (i always use --yolo here) and resume into the same task on other devices. In der Vergangenheit hat es immer reibungslos funktioniert. Now I can only start a single session at the moment in the same chat and also no longer connect the apps remotely (where I can sometimes only read the text summaries instead of seeing a lot of code in the CLI).
What is the expected behavior?
I can use a CLI chat on any number of devices at the same time (I usually have some computers and some mobile devices on, so I never lose the connection and the agent can work continuously)
Additional information
I am running 5.6 Sol Max in --yolo mode on Linux (Ubuntu 26.04), using terminal sessions and/or the ChatGPT/Codex-App on MacOS (26.5.2), Windows (11), iPhone (26.5.2) and terminal session on Android Phone (Android 16).
11 Comments
The same issue here. It seems related to #36389. We shouldn't revert it completely bc it implements a reasonable mechanism but we can change it throuth a small patch.
will investigate further
@shaoyuyoung I don't know why, but since now it works again, I'm on 3 devices in the same session. Obviously you patched it internally, because I didn't run an update.
Thanks so much 💯
Still happening here on 0.147.0. The task is not actually running: its latest turn is complete, but
codex app-server --remote-controlkeeps the task history open after I close the mobile app. Desktop then shows “This task is active elsewhere,” and Retry hitsalready has an active writeragain.Fortunately, after a problematic day, it works completely again for me, all night long and also this morning. I didn't perform any updates, I didn't restart my server or devices or anything like that, and I didn't install a CLI update yesterday.
But this feature is a must for me, so I hope it works continuously again.
Same issue here! Even if there are no active working sessions.
Same here.... Getting this message in VSCode Codex extension, v26.803.61601. The session is NOT open elsewhere. I restarted my computer and still getting this message after clicking retry multiple times.
I am also having the same Issue
Adding another concrete workflow that is heavily impacted by this change.
I regularly use the same Codex conversation across VS Code on my desktop and the Codex mobile app. My workflow is intentionally fluid: I may start working at my desk, continue from the sofa, then go outside to a park and keep steering the same coding task from my phone, often switching back again later without planning the handoff in advance.
Previously, keeping the same conversation available across devices made this feel seamless. With the current active-writer/session lock, I now get blocked with messages that the conversation is already running elsewhere and have to close one client before I can continue in the other. This creates a lot of friction and breaks the main reason I want mobile access in the first place.
The ideal behavior would be closer to Claude Code Remote Control: one running agent/session, with multiple clients able to attach to it as control surfaces. It would be totally fine if only one client can submit/approve at the exact same instant, but simply having the conversation open on desktop and mobile should not require closing one first. Ownership could be transferred automatically when a user sends a message from another client, or secondary clients could remain attached as followers until they interact.
For me this is a significant workflow regression rather than an edge case. Cross-device continuity is one of the most valuable features of Codex, and I would really appreciate a supported way to move spontaneously between desktop, sofa, and mobile/outside without manually closing and reopening the session every time.
I reproduced what looks like the same regression with VS Code + iOS Remote Control, and found a version-sensitive workaround.
Environment / observations:
0.146.00.149.0-alpha.4codex_chatgpt_ios_remoteclient version1.2026.188When the VS Code extension was open, the mobile client failed to resume the same thread with:
I verified with
lslocksthat the writer lock was actually held by the Codex binary bundled inside the VS Code extension, e.g.:The iOS app then showed the equivalent UI error that the conversation was open in another app / Codex server returned an error. Closing the VS Code container window released the lock and mobile could open the conversation again.
Most importantly, rolling back the VS Code OpenAI/ChatGPT extension to an earlier version restored the previous behavior: VS Code and mobile could use the same conversation again without the active-writer conflict. Reinstalling the newer extension reproduced the problem.
So this appears to be a regression in the VS Code extension's bundled Codex/thread-writer behavior, rather than SSH, Remote Control enrollment, or the standalone CLI itself. Keeping the older extension version pinned (auto-update off) is currently working as a workaround.
I can provide the exact working extension version if useful.
I have been having problems for a long time now that the iPhone app cannot use the SSH connection at the same time and now since today other terminals are also hanging on other devices again:
Error: Failed to resume session from /.../.codex/sessions/2026/08/23/rollout-2026-08-23T13-50-58-01a02e75-aa4f-7950-94cf-d5f278df38cf.jsonl: thread/resume failed during TUI bootstrap: thread/resume failed: thread 01a02e75-aa4f-7950-94cf-d5f278df38cf already has an active writer (code -32600)
I think it's a disaster. I can only use one terminal at the same time again, which restricts and it causes problems if the terminal loses the job, because then the job runs in the background and I have to restart the computer to get the unbound task again. I have not yet been able to test whether it is chat-related and only affects the current chat. If I go cleanly into a new one, I will test directly whether I can then use several terminals in parallel again.
This happens actually in 0.149.1
Edit: A new chat doesn't change anything.