[Windows][Desktop 26.810.7004.0] Historical local projects disappear after update while tasks remain intact and newer projects work

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

OpenAI Codex Desktop 26.810.7004.0 The problem originally appeared after a desktop application update and persisted across these versions: - 26.730.8199.0 - 26.803.5235.0 - 26.810.4967.0 - 26.810.7004.0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

After updating the Codex desktop application on Windows, all of my previously registered local projects disappeared from the Projects section of the sidebar.

This is not a loss of the underlying task data:

• Recent tasks remain visible and can still be opened.
• The local task database is present and passed an integrity check.
• Approximately 100 active tasks across 28 historical project roots were present when the problem was first investigated.
• The underlying project folders still exist on disk.
• Historical tasks still contain their original working-directory paths.
• However, affected historical tasks now have no project association and show projectId: null.
• Projects created after the affected updates appear normally.
• The application currently recognizes only three newer projects, while the historical projects remain missing.

Therefore, the failure appears to affect migration or restoration of the local project registry and task-to-project assignments, rather than deleting the task records or project folders.

A representative affected task is:

Task/session ID: 019fc695-4fbd-76a1-9635-34f6e83601a7

That task still opens and retains its original working directory, but it is no longer assigned to its historical project.

I also reconstructed 17 verified historical project records using existing local folders and the application's current local-project registry structure. The records initially appeared in local state, but the Codex application or its background synchronization process immediately replaced them with the application's existing three-project state.

This indicates that the current application is rejecting or overwriting historical project registrations instead of migrating or retaining them.

Some of the missing historical project names occasionally remain visible in the Codex mobile application's Remote view under the same account, but they are absent from the Windows desktop application's local Projects section and do not restore the missing task-to-project assignments.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Use Codex Desktop on Windows with multiple established local projects and existing tasks assigned to those projects.

2. Confirm that the projects and their grouped tasks are visible in the Projects section of the sidebar.

3. Install an available Codex Desktop update from the application.

4. Reopen Codex Desktop using the same ChatGPT account and workspace.

5. Open the Projects section in the sidebar.

6. Observe that the historical local projects are missing or that the section reports no historical projects.

7. Check Recent tasks.

8. Observe that the underlying historical tasks are still present and can be opened.

9. Inspect an affected task. Its original working-directory path is still present, but the project association is missing and projectId is null.

10. Create or register a new local project after the update.

11. Observe that the new project appears normally, while projects created before the affected update remain missing.

12. Fully quit and restart the desktop application.

13. Observe that the historical projects are still not restored.

14. Re-add one of the existing historical project folders.

15. Observe that this does not reconnect the existing historical tasks to their former project or restore the historical project grouping.

Representative affected session ID:
019fc695-4fbd-76a1-9635-34f6e83601a7

Investigation task/session ID:
019fd06e-1a6a-72b1-b3ea-ffcec4411b91

What is the expected behavior?

Updating Codex Desktop should preserve all existing local project registrations and task-to-project assignments.

After reopening the updated application:

• Every historical local project should still appear in the Projects section.
• Existing tasks should remain grouped under their original projects.
• Existing project folders should not need to be manually imported again.
• Re-adding an existing folder should reconnect it to its previous project and tasks without creating duplicates.
• Application synchronization should not overwrite valid historical local-project records with an incomplete project registry.

Additional information

Troubleshooting and diagnostic results:

• The same ChatGPT account and workspace were used before and after the update.
• Fully quitting and restarting Codex Desktop did not restore the projects.
• Recent tasks remain visible, so this is not simply a Recent/chronological filter issue.
• Archived chats were checked and do not explain the missing project registrations.
• The historical project folders still exist on the same local drives.
• Opening an affected folder did not restore the historical project or reconnect its existing tasks.
• The missing projects cannot be edited through “Edit project → Add folder” because the projects themselves are no longer displayed.
• Some affected folders contain a .codex directory and others do not, so the presence of that directory does not correlate with restoration.
• The local database integrity check returned “ok.”
• At the initial investigation, approximately 100 active tasks and 28 historical project roots were still represented in local state.
• Seventeen verified historical local project roots were reconstructed during troubleshooting.
• Codex or its background state synchronization immediately overwrote the reconstructed registry and restored only the three newer projects currently recognized by the application.
• The problem persisted through versions 26.730.8199.0, 26.803.5235.0, 26.810.4967.0, and 26.810.7004.0.
• Newer projects created after the affected updates work normally.
• Historical projects and their task assignments are the records that fail to migrate or restore.

Current application state:

• Recognized local projects: 3 newer projects
• Historical projects restored: 0
• Historical task records: still present
• Historical working-directory paths: still present
• Historical projectId assignments: missing/null

Representative redacted project path:

D:...\Al Manal Project\Cv Code

This issue has also been reported to OpenAI Support:

• Original support case: 12706474
• Duplicate support case: 13322519, closed in favor of the original case

Related GitHub reports:

• #33057 reports projects and conversation history disappearing after an update. In my case, recent tasks remain accessible, but historical local project registrations and task-to-project assignments are missing.
• #35088 reports both Projects and Recent sections being empty. In my case, Recent tasks remain visible, and newer projects work, but historical projects do not return.

The issue is severely affecting my work because the project groupings contain the task history and organizational context needed to continue ongoing work and prepare progress reports.

I can provide sanitized diagnostic files or local-state details privately if requested. I have not attached the complete local database publicly because it may contain task content, local filesystem paths, and account-related information.

Cross-device observation:

• In the Codex mobile application’s Remote view, the older project names sometimes remain visible.
• The same historical projects are missing from the Projects section of the Windows desktop application.
• This occurs while using the same ChatGPT account and workspace.
• The mobile/Remote visibility is intermittent and does not restore the missing local project registrations or task-to-project assignments on Windows.
• New local projects created after the affected desktop updates appear correctly, but the older projects are still absent.
• This suggests the historical project metadata may still exist in remote/account-level state while the Windows desktop application fails to load, migrate, or reconcile it with its local project registry.

Examples of historical project names previously visible in the mobile Remote view include:

• Cv Code
• PrepBee Pakistan
• mcq-review-studio
• CDR Analysis tool
• JCL
• MCQ Review Studio for PrepBeePakistan
• Shahzad Word
• my-app

The mobile Remote view and Windows local Projects view may represent different project sources. However, the fact that historical project names can still appear remotely while their associated tasks and project registrations are missing on Windows may help diagnose the migration or synchronization failure.

The report names no source files or tests. Start by reproducing the Windows update scenario and tracing local project registry migration and background synchronization, using the affected session ID and projectId details as evidence. Done means historical projects and task associations survive updates, restart, re-adding folders, and synchronization without duplicates or overwrite.