[Windows Desktop + Remote SSH] Repeated freezes, task desync, and multi-minute message composer latency

Summary

Codex Desktop has become severely unreliable when working against a Linux host over Remote SSH. The problem affects unrelated tasks, including newly created tasks with almost no history, and now blocks normal production work.

The primary request is an engineering investigation and a product fix. This is not a billing or credit request.

Environment

• Codex Desktop on Windows
• Remote SSH connection to a Linux VPS
• Remote saved project backed by a Git repository
• Incident period: approximately August 7–9, 2026
• The problem persists after repeatedly restarting Codex Desktop

I can provide screenshots and diagnostics privately. Please advise how to export the exact Desktop build number and complete logs.

Symptoms

1. Messages sometimes remain loading and never appear in the task.
2. In other cases, work appears to complete on the backend, but the Desktop UI does not display or correctly associate the response until the application is restarted.
3. Creating a fresh task and sending a follow-up can freeze the interface.
4. Reconnecting, reopening, or interacting with existing tasks can block the whole application.
5. The message composer can remain for several minutes on “Adding pasted text…”, even when only a few lines are pasted.
6. The application has repeatedly become unusable and required a full restart.
7. After restart, task state may reappear, suggesting that work completed remotely while the UI lost or failed to render its state.
8. Operations that were effectively instantaneous several days earlier now take minutes.

Scope

This is not limited to one large or old conversation. It has affected:

• A long-running project task
• A newly created replacement task with almost no conversation history
• An unrelated travel-project task
• A separate support/diagnostic conversation

This suggests a task-management, synchronization, reconnect, or rendering issue rather than a problem caused by one repository or prompt.

Latest concrete reproduction

1. Open a remote task in Codex Desktop.
2. Let a turn finish normally; the UI reports completion and remote files are written successfully.
3. Paste a small prompt into the composer.
4. The composer remains on “Adding pasted text…” for several minutes.
5. The text may eventually appear, but subsequent interaction can leave the application unusable and require a restart.

During this behavior, remote filesystem and Git operations remain responsive and the remote project still appears connected. The saved files exist correctly on the remote host, so the failure appears to be in the Desktop interaction/state layer rather than the repository operation.

A second recurring path is:

1. Create or open a fresh remote task.
2. Send a short follow-up.
3. The UI stops loading the task/message correctly.
4. Restart Codex Desktop.
5. Previously missing state may then become visible.

Expected behavior

• Short messages should appear and send immediately.
• Pasted text should not block the composer.
• Completed remote turns should always be associated with and rendered in the correct task.
• Reconnecting or reopening a task should not freeze the application.
• Creating or messaging one task should not destabilize unrelated tasks.

Actual impact

Codex Desktop is currently unreliable for production work across multiple projects. Repeated restarts, missing or delayed messages, and inability to trust task state make long-running work and task coordination unsafe.

Requested investigation

Please investigate:

• Task/event association between the remote backend and Desktop UI
• Task hydration/deserialization during list, reconnect, and resume
• Remote SSH reconnect behavior
• Whether excessive historical task state is loaded unnecessarily
• Pasted-text preprocessing in the Desktop composer
• Recovery of backend-completed turns whose UI state is missing or stale
• Whether a recent Desktop or backend rollout introduced a regression

Please also provide:

1. The correct procedure for exporting complete Codex Desktop diagnostics
2. Any safe workaround that does not require repeated restarts
3. Confirmation of whether this is a known regression
4. A way to disable or limit automatic task hydration while using Remote SSH

Possibly related issues

• #32524 — Windows Desktop + SSH, loading / unable to send / conversation mapping problems
• #23919 — freeze during reconnect, list, or resume
• #22411 — thread/list loading or deserializing excessive session state
• #21806 — Remote SSH backend completion with stalled UI
• #19923 — long Windows conversations aggravating freezes