Codex Desktop Pet causes mouse cursor stuttering on Windows 11

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

26.810.41047

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 (64-bit)

What issue are you seeing?

Enabling the Pet feature causes noticeable mouse cursor stuttering across Windows 11.

The stuttering occurs not only inside the Codex/ChatGPT app, but also on the Windows desktop and in other normally launched applications such as browsers and Notepad.

The issue persists even when the Codex/ChatGPT window is minimized.

Disabling Pet immediately restores normal mouse movement.

This issue began on August 15, 2026 at approximately 06:00 KST (UTC+9) after a recent desktop app update

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Launch the Codex/ChatGPT desktop app.

Enable the Pet feature.

Move the mouse cursor around the Windows desktop or over any normally launched application.

The cursor immediately begins to stutter.

Minimize the Codex/ChatGPT window.

The stuttering continues.

Disable Pet.

Mouse movement immediately becomes smooth again.

The issue is consistently reproducible.

What is the expected behavior?

Enabling Pet should not affect mouse cursor responsiveness or input behavior outside the Pet itself.

Mouse movement should remain smooth across the Windows desktop and other applications regardless of whether Pet is enabled, disabled, or the Codex/ChatGPT window is minimized.

Additional information

Environment

OS: Windows 11 64-bit

Codex/ChatGPT desktop app version: 26.810.41047

Subscription: ChatGPT Plus

Additional testing

CPU/GPU usage in Task Manager does not show an obvious spike when the issue occurs.

Turning "Show animations in Windows" off does not change the behavior.

The cursor stutters over the Windows desktop, browsers, and normally launched Notepad.

The cursor becomes completely smooth when moved over Task Manager while it is the foreground window.

I also tested Notepad:

Normally launched Notepad → cursor stutters.

Notepad launched with Run as administrator → cursor is completely smooth.

Moving the cursor back outside the elevated window immediately causes the stuttering again.

Disabling Pet immediately eliminates the issue everywhere.

The behavior appears to correlate with the difference between normal and elevated/admin windows. This may be related to the Pet floating overlay, window hit-testing, mouse tracking, UI hooks, or Windows integrity/elevation boundaries.

Start by reproducing the issue on Windows 11 with Codex/ChatGPT app version 26.810.41047, comparing Pet enabled and disabled across the desktop, browsers, Notepad, Task Manager, and elevated windows. Done means enabling or minimizing the app with Pet active no longer causes cursor stuttering outside the Pet.