Codex Windows Desktop: Send button stops submitting prompts after 26.820 update

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

26.820.71523

What subscription do you have?

pro max

What platform is your computer?

Windows Pro 11

What issue are you seeing?

Codex Windows Desktop: Send button stops submitting prompts after 26.820 update

Summary

After updating the Codex Windows Desktop app to the 26.820 series, Codex conversations eventually become unable to submit any new prompts.

The composer remains editable and the Send button is visible, but clicking Send produces no visible response and the prompt is not submitted.

This initially appeared to affect only existing conversations. However, I confirmed that new Work conversations also work normally for a while and then develop exactly the same problem.

The issue started immediately after the Codex app update.

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 Pro x64
• Codex Windows package: OpenAI.Codex 26.820.9563.0
• Codex / OWL version shown in app: 26.820.71523
• Package: OpenAI.Codex_26.820.9563.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Mode affected: Codex / Work
• Model observed: GPT-5.6 Sol Medium

Actual behavior

1. Open an existing Codex/Work conversation.
2. The conversation loads normally.
3. Text can be entered normally in the composer.
4. The Send button is visible.
5. Clicking Send does nothing and the prompt is not submitted.

Initially, creating a new Work conversation restored functionality.

However, after using the new conversation for some time, the same Send failure appeared in the new conversation as well.

At that point the conversation can still be viewed and text can still be entered, but new prompts cannot be submitted.

Expected behavior

Clicking Send should submit the prompt and continue the current conversation regardless of its age or duration.

Important observation

This does not appear to be corruption limited to old conversations.

A newly created Work conversation:

• initially works normally;
• accepts and processes prompts;
• then, after some usage, develops the same failure;
• becomes unable to submit additional prompts.

This makes the issue look more like a runtime/app-state regression than an individual corrupted thread.

Troubleshooting already performed

Logout / login

Logged out of the application and logged back in.

Result: No change.

Windows Repair

Used:

Windows Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Codex → Advanced options → Repair

Result: No permanent resolution.

Local cache isolation

With the application completely closed, regenerable local cache/temp state was moved aside and allowed to regenerate.

This included:

• .codex\cache
• .codex\.tmp
• .codex\tmp
• .codex\models_cache.json

Result: A newly created conversation worked, but the problem subsequently returned.

Thread-history state isolation

Local thread-history cache/lock state was also temporarily isolated after making a full backup.

Result: Existing affected conversations remained unable to submit prompts.

.agents ownership checked

I also checked whether .agents had accidentally been left owned by CodexSandboxOffline.

The ownership is correct:

Owner   : DESKTOP-K1I0U66\gadam76
Current : DESKTOP-K1I0U66\gadam76

Therefore this does not appear to be the known .agents ownership issue.

Full local-state backup

Before troubleshooting, a complete backup of .codex was created successfully:

Dirs  : 7,942
Files : 64,101
Bytes : 5.762 GB
FAILED: 0

No destructive modification of session data was performed.

Additional observation

When attempting to submit a prompt in an affected conversation, Codex still updates several local state files, including:

• .codex-global-state.json
• queue_1.sqlite-wal
• thread_history_1.sqlite
• thread_history_1.sqlite-wal
• logs_2.sqlite-wal
• state_5.sqlite-wal
• session .jsonl files

Therefore, the Send interaction appears to reach at least part of the application's internal state handling even though the prompt is never successfully submitted.

Regression timing

The problem began immediately after updating the Codex Windows Desktop application.

I did not experience this behavior before the update.

Reproduction

The most reliable reproduction so far is:

1. Start Codex Windows Desktop.
2. Create a new Work conversation.
3. Work normally in the conversation.
4. Continue using the conversation for some time.
5. Eventually the composer stops submitting prompts.
6. Text entry continues to work.
7. Clicking Send produces no submission.
8. Creating another new conversation may temporarily restore functionality.
9. The new conversation can subsequently develop the same problem.

Impact

This is currently a blocking issue for sustained Work/Codex sessions on Windows.

Creating new conversations is only a temporary workaround because new conversations eventually become affected as well.

I can provide targeted logs or diagnostic information if maintainers specify which files/events would be useful.

I would prefer not to publish complete .codex state, authentication data, session contents, or other potentially sensitive local files.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Open the Codex Windows Desktop app.
2. Start a new Work/Codex conversation.
3. Use the conversation normally for some time, sending multiple prompts.
4. Eventually, the conversation stops accepting new prompts.
5. Text can still be typed normally and the Send button remains visible, but clicking Send does nothing and the prompt is not submitted.
6. Restarting or creating another new conversation may temporarily restore functionality.
7. After some usage, the newly created conversation can develop the same issue again.

The issue started immediately after updating to OpenAI.Codex 26.820.9563.0 / Codex & OWL 26.820.71523.
It also affects previously existing conversations, which currently cannot submit new prompts.

What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

Additional information

_No response_