I encountered the same issue: Windows Codex Desktop fails to start with "Unable to locate the Codex CLI binary"

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

Windows Codex Desktop fails to start: "Unable to locate the Codex CLI binary" even though codex.exe is installed and accessible

What subscription do you have?

After launching the Codex Desktop application, it immediately fails with: "ChatGPT failed to start. Unable to locate the Codex CLI binary. Set CODEX_CLI_PATH or ensure the Electron resources include bin/codex."

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Title:

I encountered the same issue: Windows Codex Desktop fails to start with "Unable to locate the Codex CLI binary"

Description:

I encountered the same issue on Windows and would like to provide additional diagnostic information and a workaround.

After launching Codex Desktop, the application fails immediately with:

"ChatGPT failed to start.

Unable to locate the Codex CLI binary. Set CODEX_CLI_PATH or ensure the Electron resources include bin/codex."

Environment:

• OS: Windows 11 x64
• Application package: OpenAI.Codex
• Version: 26.820.7780.0

Investigation:

I verified that the Codex CLI installation itself is working correctly.

Standalone Codex CLI path:

C:\Users\lenovo\AppData\Local\Programs\OpenAI\Codex\bin\codex.exe

Running:

codex --version

returns:

codex-cli 0.149.1

I configured the environment variable:

CODEX_CLI_PATH

with:

C:\Users\lenovo\AppData\Local\Programs\OpenAI\Codex\bin\codex.exe

The environment variable is correctly stored and the executable can be launched successfully.

Additional findings:

The installed Windows package contains:

app\resources\codex.exe

but does not contain:

app\resources\bin\codex

The application error message suggests it expects:

resources/bin/codex

but the installed package appears to provide:

resources/codex.exe

I also tested the bundled executable:

app\resources\codex.exe

but executing it directly results in:

ResourceUnavailable
NativeCommandFailed
Access denied

Workaround:

The issue can be temporarily bypassed by installing the standalone Codex CLI and setting:

CODEX_CLI_PATH

to the native executable:

C:\Users\lenovo\AppData\Local\Programs\OpenAI\Codex\bin\codex.exe

After restarting the Windows session and launching Codex Desktop again, the application can locate the CLI successfully.

Expected behavior:

Codex Desktop should either:

1. Correctly locate the bundled CLI binary automatically.

or

2. Correctly respect CODEX_CLI_PATH during startup.

Possible root cause:

The Windows Electron/MSIX package or startup logic may have a mismatch between the expected CLI location:

resources/bin/codex

and the actual packaged file:

resources/codex.exe

Suggested fixes:

• Ensure the Windows package includes the expected resources/bin/codex binary.
• Fix the startup path resolution logic.
• Ensure CODEX_CLI_PATH is consistently respected on Windows.
• Provide a clearer error message or repair guidance when the bundled binary cannot be executed.

Thank you for investigating this Windows issue.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Possible root cause:

The Windows Electron/MSIX package or startup logic may have a mismatch between the expected CLI location:

resources/bin/codex

and the actual packaged file:

resources/codex.exe

Suggested fixes:

• Ensure the Windows package includes the expected resources/bin/codex binary.
• Fix the startup path resolution logic.
• Ensure CODEX_CLI_PATH is consistently respected on Windows.
• Provide a clearer error message or repair guidance when the bundled binary cannot be executed.

Thank you for investigating this Windows issue.

What is the expected behavior?

Expected behavior:

Codex Desktop should either:

1. Correctly locate the bundled CLI binary automatically.

or

2. Correctly respect CODEX_CLI_PATH during startup.

Additional information

No response

Start by inspecting the Windows Electron/MSIX packaging and startup path resolution for the bundled CLI. Reproduce with the reported package layout, especially app\resources\codex.exe versus resources/bin/codex, then verify that CODEX_CLI_PATH and the bundled executable are handled consistently on Windows; done means Codex Desktop starts without the reported error.