[Windows][26.825.6671.0] Headless startup persists after clean runtime reset; cua_node staging never finalizes

Environment

• Codex Desktop / Microsoft Store package: OpenAI.Codex 26.825.6671.0
• Platform: Windows x64
• Package install location: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.825.6671.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Standalone Codex CLI available and working: codex-cli 0.142.5

What issue are you seeing?

Codex Desktop launches several ChatGPT.exe background processes but never shows a window.

Observed process state on every launch:

• main ChatGPT.exe: present
• crashpad handler: present
• GPU process: present
• network service: present
• storage service: present
• ChatGPT.exe --type=renderer: missing
• codex.exe ... app-server: missing
• main process MainWindowHandle = 0

The desktop log stops at:

Launching app
Appshot hotkey inactive

I also enumerated top-level windows for the main process and found a Chrome_WidgetWin_0 with Visible=False. A synchronous ShowWindow attempt did not restore the UI and caused the PowerShell caller to block, so this is not simply a hidden-window issue.

Runtime staging behavior

The failure is reproducible in a completely fresh local runtime directory.

After moving the old %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex aside and launching the freshly reinstalled app, Codex immediately recreated:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\.staging-415ffebf3d576e9b-<random>

but never produced the finalized runtime directory:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\415ffebf3d576e9b

Before the clean reset, repeated launches created many different .staging-415ffebf3d576e9b-* directories. In those staging directories, bin\node.exe was present but bin\node_repl.exe was missing.

The packaged source file does exist:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.825.6671.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\cua_node\bin\node_repl.exe

Workarounds already attempted

1. Ended all ChatGPT/Codex processes and relaunched.
2. Restarted Windows.
3. Repaired/reset the app.
4. Uninstalled and reinstalled the Microsoft Store package.
5. Verified standalone CLI works:

codex.cmd --version
codex-cli 0.142.5

6. Located the native CLI executable and set CODEX_CLI_PATH to that actual codex.exe (not the npm .cmd shim). This did not change the startup behavior.
7. Moved %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex aside so the app regenerated an entirely fresh runtime/cache. The same .staging-415ffebf3d576e9b-* failure immediately reproduced.
8. Following the workaround described in #41540, copied the missing packaged node_repl.exe into the active staging directory using xcopy /G. The file copied successfully, but on 26.825.6671.0 the app still did not launch a renderer or app-server and no window appeared.

Reproduction steps

1. Install OpenAI.Codex 26.825.6671.0 from Microsoft Store on Windows x64.
2. Launch Codex Desktop.
3. Observe several ChatGPT.exe background processes but no visible window.
4. Verify there is no --type=renderer process and no codex.exe app-server process.
5. Inspect %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node.
6. Observe a new .staging-415ffebf3d576e9b-* directory, but no finalized 415ffebf3d576e9b runtime directory.
7. Kill all processes and launch again; another staging directory may be created and the app remains headless.

Expected behavior

Codex Desktop should complete CUA runtime materialization, launch codex.exe app-server, create the renderer process, and show the application window.

If runtime materialization fails, the app should surface a visible actionable error rather than staying indefinitely headless with only background processes.

Additional information

This appears closely related to:

• #41752 — same 26.825.6671.0 symptom: main/GPU/utility processes start, but no renderer or app-server and no window
• #41540 — Application Protected node_repl.exe relocation failure causing headless startup on 26.825.5331.0
• #41822 — 26.825.6671.0 CUA runtime materialization behavior with runtime hash 415ffebf3d576e9b

The notable difference from #41540 is that manually supplying node_repl.exe to the active staging directory did not unblock startup on 26.825.6671.0.

I preserved the failing installation state and can provide additional sanitized process/runtime diagnostics if maintainers specify what would be useful.

Start by reproducing the Windows x64 launch and inspecting %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node alongside the packaged app\resources\cua_node\bin\node_repl.exe. Compare the staging and finalized runtime behavior with #41540 and #41822, including why copying node_repl.exe no longer unblocks startup. Done means runtime materialization completes, the app-server and renderer launch, and startup reports an actionable error when it cannot.