openai / openai/codex

Windows Codex 26.810.4967.0 renderer memory spikes and causes system-wide stuttering as a chat grows

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app bug performance windows-os
Dominant language
Rust
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Forks
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Description

Environment:

  • Codex Windows app: 26.810.4967.0
  • Windows 10 Pro, build 19045
  • Intel i7-8750H, 12 logical processors
  • 32 GB RAM

Observed behavior:
After using almost any chat for a while, the Codex UI and eventually the whole
computer become noticeably laggy. The problem appears to get worse as messages
and tool outputs accumulate.

Local measurements:

  • One ChatGPT.exe renderer process reached about 2.15 GB working set.
  • Total Codex-related memory approached 4 GB during a large tool-output render.
  • After the output stopped/collapsed, the renderer dropped to about 754 MB and
    total Codex memory dropped to about 2.2 GB.
  • CPU was not continuously saturated and the system still had about 18 GB free RAM.
  • The current session transcript was only about 0.29 MB, so the issue does not
    appear to require a very large transcript file.
  • GPU process was also active during the slowdown.
  • ~/.codex/logs_2.sqlite is about 439 MB with roughly 186,000 log rows.

Expected behavior:
Long-running chats and large tool outputs should not cause renderer memory to
grow to multiple gigabytes or make the entire Windows desktop stutter.

Reproduction:

  1. Start a local Codex chat.
  2. Continue using it for tool-heavy work, especially commands with sizable output.
  3. Observe ChatGPT.exe renderer memory and UI responsiveness.
  4. Repeat with a new chat; the behavior eventually returns.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Reproduce the slowdown in the Windows Codex app with a tool-heavy chat while monitoring ChatGPT.exe renderer memory, GPU activity, and desktop responsiveness. Inspect ~/.codex/logs_2.sqlite alongside the renderer behavior, then verify that long-running chats and large tool outputs no longer grow memory to multiple gigabytes or cause system-wide stuttering.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust, sqlite
Domain
desktop, performance
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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