Codex desktop app forces broken SMS/WhatsApp phone verification, ignores existing authenticator MFA (Egypt)

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

26.803.816.1.0

What subscription do you have?

free

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Cannot sign in to the Codex Windows desktop app with my ChatGPT account.

Flow: Codex app → "Continue to sign in" → opens browser OAuth flow →
redirects to auth.openai.com/add-phone asking for phone verification.

Entering any Egyptian mobile number (+20) returns: "Unable to send a
verification code to this phone number. Please try again later or use
a different number." No WhatsApp option is offered.

This happens in Chrome, Brave, and Incognito, with multiple different
Egyptian numbers — identical error every time.

What rules this out as an account/device issue:

• ChatGPT web login works normally on this account, no phone prompt.
• I already have an authenticator app (TOTP) set up and active under

Settings → Security. Codex still forces the SMS/WhatsApp phone step
anyway, ignoring the existing MFA method.

• "Sign in another way" in the desktop app only offers OpenAI API key

auth — no Google/Microsoft/Apple/email alternative, and no way to
retry or bypass the phone step differently.

• Codex on ChatGPT web (chatgpt.com/codex) doesn't offer a working

alternative either — it's just the marketing/download landing page.

This matches an existing, currently open bug class, not an isolated
account issue:

• #25737 — Codex client forces SMS OTP even when a real MFA method is

already configured ("cross-surface authenticator-policy gap")

• #24843, #25828 — identical "unable to send verification code" error,

different countries (Pakistan, Indonesia)

I'm filing this as a new geography (Egypt) affected by the same
signature, for visibility.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Open Codex desktop app (signed out state).
2. Click "Continue to sign in."
3. Complete ChatGPT login in the browser window that opens.
4. Flow redirects to auth.openai.com/add-phone.
5. Enter Egyptian mobile number in +20 format, request code.
6. Error returned immediately: "Unable to send a verification code to

this phone number. Please try again later or use a different number."

1. Repeat with a different Egyptian number, different browser

(Chrome/Brave), and Incognito — same result every time.

1. Click "Sign in another way" — only option shown is OpenAI API key,

no way back to a working ChatGPT auth path.

What is the expected behavior?

Should be able to sign in to the Codex desktop app with my ChatGPT
account and land in a working session — the same way ChatGPT web
login already succeeds on this account. If phone verification is
required at all, it should either successfully deliver to Egyptian
numbers, or respect the authenticator-app MFA already configured on
the account instead of forcing a separate broken SMS/WhatsApp channel.

Additional information

<img width="1013" height="655" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/245aa306-fb71-4223-acbd-db6b36f102ab" />