MacOS desktop app keeps undeletable "ghost" conversations in the sidebar after deletion
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- Dominant language
- Rust
- Stars
- 125k
- Forks
- 19.4k
- PR merge metrics
- PR metrics pending
Description
Environment
- App: ChatGPT macOS desktop app (Codex-based), version 26.825.51511 (latest)
- OS: macOS (Apple Silicon)
- Account: fengw2002@gmail.com (Plus)
Description
After deleting several conversations, their titles remain stuck in the desktop app's sidebar "Recent" list. These ghost entries:
- Show "Unable to load this ChatGPT conversation" when clicked;
- Fail with "Chat could not be deleted" when using right-click → Delete chat;
- Fail with "Conversation could not be archived" when using Archive;
- Redirect to the chatgpt.com homepage when opened via "Open on chatgpt.com" — the conversation no longer exists server-side (e.g. conversation ID: 6a915541-a670-83ea-a3a1-baea4345992d);
- Do NOT appear in the web sidebar, so the issue is specific to the desktop app's conversation list index.
Troubleshooting already attempted (none worked)
- Fully quitting and relaunching the app;
- Deleting local app data and caches (~/Library/Application Support/com.openai.codex, ~/Library/Caches/com.openai.codex) — the list was restored identically after relaunch;
- Signing out and signing back in — ghost entries persist and delete/archive still fail;
- Confirmed the app is on the latest version.
Conclusion
The conversation objects were deleted server-side, but the desktop app's conversation list index retains stale references. Delete/archive requests fail because the target no longer exists, so the list cannot self-heal. The state is account-bound (server-side), independent of device or local data.
Request
Please purge the stale entries from my account's desktop conversation list, or fix the sync bug where deleting a non-existent conversation leaves a permanent sidebar entry.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
No source file or test is identified in the report. Start by tracing desktop conversation-list synchronization and deletion handling for server-missing conversation IDs; done means stale entries are removed and deletion or archive requests no longer leave them behind, with a regression test.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- macos, rust
- Domain
- backend, desktop
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100