[Remote][Android to macOS] "No project" chat fails with project trust error

What version of Codex CLI is running?

codex-cli 0.148.0-alpha.15 (bundled with ChatGPT desktop 26.814.41407, build 6720)

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT subscription; exact tier is not shown in the Codex Remote failure UI

Which model were you using?

N/A — the task fails before a model starts

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.5.0 arm64 arm; macOS 26.5.2 (build 25F84)

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

N/A — reproduced through ChatGPT Android Codex Remote

Codex doctor report

What issue are you seeing?

Starting a Codex Remote chat from the Android ChatGPT app with No project selected consistently fails before the task starts.

The mobile app displays:

Can't verify project trust for /Users//Documents/Codex/2026-08-20-test-2. Open the repository in Codex on the remote computer and make a trust choice, then select that repository's original directory and try again. You can also start in Read only mode. If this continues, update Codex on the remote computer.

The generated path exists on the connected Mac, but it is empty and is not a Git repository. Selecting an existing trusted local project on the same Mac works, so the Remote connection itself is healthy.

The issue reproduced twice with two separately generated projectless directories, including after fully restarting both the Android and macOS apps.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Connect the Android ChatGPT app to a Mac through Codex Remote.
2. In Android, open New chat for the connected Mac.
3. Leave the project selector set to No project.
4. Enter a prompt and try to start the chat.
5. Observe that the chat does not start and a project-trust error appears.

Reproduction history:

• 13:22:05 UTC+5: generated 2026-08-20-new-chat-2 and failed.
• 14:43:57 UTC+5: after restarting both apps, generated 2026-08-20-test-2 and failed again.
• Both directories were created at failure time, contain no files, and are not Git repositories.
• Frequency: 2/2 attempts.
• Control: selecting an existing trusted project succeeds.

Feedback thread ID: 01a01e93-b36b-7fc3-97f6-909b6c717257 (feedback recorded without logs).

What is the expected behavior?

A projectless Remote chat should start in its newly generated working directory without requiring that disposable directory to have been opened and trusted as an existing repository.

Additional information

This appears to be a trust-routing regression: the projectless flow creates a new disposable directory, but Remote immediately validates it as though it were a pre-existing local repository with an explicit trust decision. The validation fails before projectless-chat initialization can persist trust.

Environment:

• Android ChatGPT app, Codex Remote (mobile version not shown on the failure screen)
• ChatGPT desktop 26.814.41407, build 6720
• Bundled Codex CLI 0.148.0-alpha.15
• macOS 26.5.2, build 25F84
• Connected Mac remained online
• Restarting both apps did not help

Impact: all write-enabled projectless Remote chats are blocked. Existing trusted projects work; Read only mode is the only suggested projectless workaround.

Raw logs and screenshots are intentionally omitted because they contain unrelated private configuration, the local username, and computer name. The full error is transcribed above with PII redacted.

Start by reproducing the projectless Codex Remote flow from the Android ChatGPT app to a connected Mac, leaving the project selector at No project. Trace the projectless-chat initialization and project-trust validation, comparing them with the working existing trusted-project path. Done means a newly generated empty directory starts a write-enabled chat without a trust error, while existing trusted projects continue to work.