[Windows][26.901.1978.0] Permanent white window after second launch on fresh CODEX_HOME; pricing webview appears

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

• Microsoft Store/MSIX package: OpenAI.Codex 26.901.1978.0 (x64)
• Bundled app-server / Codex CLI: 0.153.0-alpha.5

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Pro, purchased through a mobile platform.

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 Home, build 10.0.26200.9168, x64.

What issue are you seeing?

After authentication, every normal launch renders a solid white window instead of the Codex UI.

A brand-new, empty CODEX_HOME works only on its first run: onboarding, sign-in, and the UI complete normally. After quitting and relaunching with that same clean profile, the window becomes permanently white again. File timestamps confirmed that the app used only the clean test profile during this A/B test; no data from the original profile was read or migrated.

This rules out corruption in the existing Codex profile, its SQLite databases, rollout history, and its config.toml.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Fully stop all ChatGPT.exe and desktop-owned codex.exe processes.
2. Launch the Store app directly with a new empty CODEX_HOME.
3. Complete onboarding and ChatGPT sign-in. The app works normally.
4. Quit the app fully.
5. Relaunch with the same clean CODEX_HOME.
6. The native window opens but its client area stays permanently white.

This reproduces consistently.

Diagnostics and recovery already attempted

• Updated the standalone Codex CLI.
• Renamed/reset package LocalCache.
• Windows app Repair/Reset.
• Full uninstall and Microsoft Store reinstall.
• DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth.
• sfc /scannow (repaired Windows files), followed by reboot.
• Launch with --disable-gpu.
• ChatGPT/Codex logout and fresh OAuth login.
• Disabled the original config.toml.
• Reproduced on a completely empty test CODEX_HOME.

None fixed the second-launch white window.

Desktop log evidence

Startup and authentication complete successfully:

info [window-manager] window main frame finished load appearance=primary hostId=local startupElapsedMs=1281 webContentsId=1 windowId=1
info [window-manager] window ready-to-show appearance=primary hostId=local startupElapsedMs=1736 webContentsId=1 windowId=1
info [AppServerConnection] Current reported app-server version: currentVersion=0.153.0-alpha.5 hostId=local
info [electron-message-handler] [chatgpt-account-lookup] completed ... authenticatedAccountPresent=true authMethod=chatgpt ... result=succeeded

During each affected launch the logs also include:

warning [electron-message-handler] sa_server_request_failed attachAuth=true attachIntegrityState=true
  errorMessage="{\"detail\":\"Payment methods for mobile subscriptions must be managed in the mobile platform.\"}"
  method=get routePattern=/payments/payment_methods status=400
  url=/payments/payment_methods?account_id=<redacted>

warning [mcp-app-sandbox] mcp_app_sandbox.attach_unmatched guestWebContentsId=3 url=about: urlProtocol=about:

Remote-debugging evidence

With --remote-debugging-port=9222, the white-window process exposes exactly three targets:

[webview] url=https://chatgpt.com/?source=codex-embedded-checkout#pricing
[page]    url=app://-/index.html?initialRoute=%2Favatar-overlay
[page]    url=app://-/index.html

The pricing target is present even though the authenticated account has an active Pro subscription.

Important scope note

The /payments/payment_methods 400 may be expected background behavior for mobile-billed subscriptions; it has also been observed in other reports where it was not the direct trigger. Therefore I am not claiming that this response alone proves causation.

The high-confidence findings are:

• authentication succeeds;
• the main frame reports loaded and ready;
• a fresh profile works only for its first/onboarding launch;
• every subsequent authenticated launch is white;
• the unexpected embedded pricing webview is present during the failure.

Please investigate whether entitlement/paywall routing, the avatar-overlay route, or guest-webview attachment is masking/replacing the main renderer after onboarding.

Expected behavior

A valid mobile-billed ChatGPT Pro account should reopen directly into the Codex UI. A non-critical payment-method lookup response should not route the entire desktop window into an unrendered embedded pricing view.

Related reports

• #41871 — Windows white screen with renderer/app-server running, but reported triggers differ.
• #39850 — Windows account/auth endpoint failures; comments include the same mobile-payment response but also note that it may be unrelated background noise.

I can provide sanitized full desktop logs and the remote-debugging target JSON if maintainers need them. No tokens, cookies, account IDs, email addresses, thread IDs, or raw databases are included here.

Start by reproducing the second-launch failure with an empty CODEX_HOME and inspect the window-manager, electron-message-handler, and mcp-app-sandbox logs alongside the remote-debugging targets. Trace the /avatar-overlay route, pricing webview, and guest-webview attachment during relaunch; done means an authenticated Pro account reopens the Codex UI instead of a white window.