[Bug] Windows: @openai/create-sites@0.3.0 fails with ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND for @clack/prompts

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

26.825.6671.0

What subscription do you have?

Pro

What platform is your computer?

Windows NT 10.0.26200.0, 64-bit (Dell PC)

What issue are you seeing?

Public bug report draft — B-001

Proposed destination: openai/codex GitHub issue tracker
Prepared: 2026-09-03
Disclosure classification: Public-safe technical diagnostic; no financial data, account identifiers, secrets, or private project content

Proposed title

[Bug] Windows: @openai/create-sites@0.3.0 fails with ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND for declared @clack/prompts dependency

Proposed report

Summary

On Windows, the official @openai/create-sites@0.3.0 initializer fails before creating any project files. Node reports ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND for @clack/prompts, even though @openai/create-sites declares @clack/prompts version 1.7.0 as a runtime dependency and pnpm creates a junction for it.

Environment

• Product: Codex desktop / ChatGPT Sites workflow
• Platform: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0, 64-bit
• Sites plugin: 0.1.46
• Required initializer: @openai/create-sites@0.3.0
• Node.js: v24.19.0
• pnpm: 11.19.0
• Target: existing empty local directory

Steps to reproduce

1. Create or select an empty directory on Windows.

2. Ensure the Node runtime is on PATH.

3. Run:

   pnpm create @openai/sites@0.3.0 . --yes --add-ons shadcn --install
   

4. Observe that the initializer exits before scaffold files are created.

Actual result

Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find package '@clack/prompts' imported from ...\node_modules\@openai\create-sites\dist\index.js
Did you mean to import "@clack/prompts/dist/index.mjs"?

No package.json, lockfile, .openai/hosting.json, or application source is created in the target directory.

Expected result

The declared dependencies should resolve and the initializer should create the requested Sites scaffold with the shadcn add-on.

Additional diagnostics

• The resolved @openai/create-sites@0.3.0 package.json declares:

  "dependencies": {
    "@clack/prompts": "1.7.0",
    "commander": "14.0.3",
    "tinyexec": "1.2.2"
  }
  

• pnpm creates a Windows junction at the initializer's node_modules/@clack/prompts path.

• The junction target contains the expected @clack/prompts package files, but Node's fs.existsSync() returns false for the junction path and ESM resolution reports ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND.

• A retry reuses the same cached package arrangement and produces the same failure.

• The target directory remains empty after the failure.

Impact

The official Sites workflow cannot initialize a new local Sites project on this Windows environment. The failure occurs before project code exists, so it is not caused by application code.

Requested resolution

Please correct or republish the dependency/linking arrangement for the initializer, or document a supported Windows installation path that avoids the broken pnpm junction resolution. A Windows test that runs the published initializer from an empty directory would help prevent recurrence.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. On Windows, create or select an empty local folder.
2. Confirm Node.js 22.13 or later and pnpm are available.
3. From that empty folder, run:

pnpm create @openai/sites@0.3.0 . --yes --add-ons shadcn --install

4. The initializer stops with ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND, reporting that it cannot find @clack/prompts.
5. Confirm that no package.json, lockfile, .openai/hosting.json, or application files were created.
6. Repeat the command. The same cached dependency arrangement is reused and the same error occurs.

What is the expected behavior?

The official initializer should resolve all declared dependencies, including @clack/prompts, and successfully create the requested Sites scaffold with the shadcn add-on. The new folder should contain the application source, package.json, lockfile, .openai/hosting.json, and installed dependencies without requiring manual dependency injection or an unsupported workaround.

Additional information

Environment:

• Codex app: 26.825.6671.0
• Sites plugin: 0.1.46
• Operating system: Windows NT 10.0.26200.0, 64-bit
• Node.js: v24.19.0
• pnpm: 11.19.0
• Initializer: @openai/create-sites@0.3.0
• Add-on requested: shadcn

Observed error:

Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find package '@clack/prompts' imported from ...\node_modules\@openai\create-sites\dist\index.js

The initializer’s package.json correctly declares @clack/prompts version 1.7.0 as a dependency. pnpm creates a Windows junction for that dependency, and the junction target contains the package files, but Node cannot traverse or resolve the linked package path.

Repeating the initialization reuses the same cached package arrangement and produces the same error. The target folder remains empty, with no package.json, lockfile, .openai/hosting.json, or application source created.

No dependency was manually injected, no package version was changed, and no unsupported workaround was attempted. This appears to be a Windows pnpm dependency-link resolution problem occurring before any project code exists.

Reproduce the failure on Windows from an empty directory with pnpm create @openai/sites@0.3.0 . --yes --add-ons shadcn --install. Inspect the published @openai/create-sites@0.3.0 package metadata and its dist/index.js resolution of @clack/prompts, then verify whether the initializer completes and creates the listed scaffold files without a workaround.