[Windows Desktop 26.820.80927] Every Work chat fails: Codex app-server is not available after update/reset

What version of the Codex App are you using?

ChatGPT Windows Desktop 26.820.80927 (About dialog: released 2026-08-28, Powered by Codex & OWL)
Bundled Codex CLI observed locally: 0.150.0-alpha.8

Subscription

ChatGPT Plus

Platform

Windows 11 x64

What issue are you seeing?

ChatGPT Work is unusable because every chat fails to start. This affects both existing Work chats and brand-new chats.

The UI shows:

• 创建聊天时出错
• Codex app-server is not available
• In earlier attempts, 权限模式不可用

A completely new blank Work chat with a simple 测试 message reproduces the failure immediately, so it is not isolated to one project/thread.

Steps to reproduce

1. Launch ChatGPT Desktop on Windows 11.
2. Open Work.
3. Create a new blank chat.
4. Send a trivial message such as 测试.
5. The chat cannot start and the UI reports Codex app-server is not available.

Existing Work conversations are also unavailable.

Expected behavior

A new Work chat should start and process the message normally; existing local Work chats should resume normally.

Troubleshooting already performed

• Fully quit ChatGPT and restarted it.
• Updated ChatGPT Desktop; About now reports version 26.820.80927, released 2026-08-28.
• Windows app Reset was performed; failure persists afterward.
• Tested a completely new Work conversation; same error.
• Closed other editors/possible Codex instances and restarted ChatGPT; same error.
• Bundled codex.exe --version executes successfully and reports codex-cli 0.150.0-alpha.8.
• Direct codex.exe app-server invocation returned exit code 0 rather than a nonzero crash code.
• codex.exe doctor printed Checking endpoint protection... and returned without a detailed diagnostic.
• Local project files remain present and accessible; failure is at the Desktop Work/app-server layer rather than a single project.

Impact

This is blocking normal work: Work cannot create any new chat or resume the user's existing project workflow even after updating and resetting the Windows app.

Possibly related

• #30924 — Windows Desktop: every new conversation fails; sometimes Codex app-server is not available; CLI works normally.
• #41116 — Windows Desktop runtime failure can surface Codex app-server is not available, although this report has not observed the same nonzero runtime exit code.
• #40732 — recent 26.820.x Windows app-server/UI pairing regression (WSL-specific report; this report is not claiming WSL involvement).

No private project files, session transcripts, account identifiers, or local logs are attached publicly.

Reproduce the failure in a Windows 11 Desktop Work chat, then run the bundled codex.exe --version, codex.exe app-server, and codex.exe doctor entry points. Compare the behavior with related issues #30924, #41116, and #40732; done means new and existing Work chats start and process messages normally after the app update or reset.