Codex Desktop: Switching OpenAI accounts shows previous account's projects and conversations

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Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
52/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Quiet
Tech stack
macos, rust
Domain
authentication, desktop, security

Research direction

Start by reproducing the issue on macOS using the listed sign-out and account-switching steps, then trace the Codex Desktop account-switch flow and the local state behind Recent Projects and conversations. Done means Account B cannot see Account A's projects or conversations, while each account's local state remains available after switching back.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

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

kMDItemVersion = "26.721.41059"

What subscription do you have?

one of them Free one of them plus

What platform is your computer?

Mac M1

What issue are you seeing?
Description

When switching between two different OpenAI accounts in Codex Desktop on macOS, the application continues to display the previous account's recent projects and conversations.

This appears to be local state being shared across accounts instead of being isolated per authenticated user.

Environment
  • OS: macOS
  • Codex Desktop version: <fill in from Codex → About Codex>
Steps to reproduce
  1. Sign in to OpenAI Account A.
  2. Open or create several Codex projects.
  3. Sign out.
  4. Sign in to a different OpenAI account (Account B, different email address).
  5. Open the Recent Projects list.
Expected behavior

The application should show only Account B's projects and conversations.

Each OpenAI account should have an isolated local workspace/session so users can switch between accounts without clearing application data.

Actual behavior

The Recent Projects list still contains projects and conversations from Account A.

Example project titles include:

  • Isolate projects by account
  • Add TokenService tests
  • Add public checkbox
  • Investigate variant removal bug

The local state appears to be shared across accounts.

Notes
  • The two accounts use different email addresses.
  • This is not related to using the same phone number.
  • Clearing the application's local data removes the issue temporarily, but that is not a viable solution because switching accounts should preserve each account's own local state independently.
  • This may have privacy implications if users can see another account's recent work after switching accounts.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
  1. Sign in to OpenAI Account A.
  2. Open or create several Codex projects.
  3. Sign out.
  4. Sign in to a different OpenAI account (Account B, different email address).
  5. Open the Recent Projects list.
What is the expected behavior?

The application should show only Account B's projects and conversations.

Each OpenAI account should have an isolated local workspace/session so users can switch between accounts without clearing application data.

Additional information

No response

Dominant language
Rust
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Merged PRs (30d)
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