Codex Windows fails to launch after updates due to incomplete cua_node runtime staging

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

26.901.5280.0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 Home, Version 25H2, OS Build 26200.9278, x64

What issue are you seeing?

After updating Codex, the application starts multiple ChatGPT.exe processes in the background but no visible window appears.

I reproduced this on two consecutive Codex versions:

• 26.901.5003.0
• 26.901.5280.0

The issue appears to be related to incomplete cua_node runtime staging under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node

On the first occurrence, Codex repeatedly created .staging-* directories where node.exe existed but node_repl.exe was missing.

The same launch failure returned immediately after updating to 26.901.5280.0.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Install/run Codex on Windows normally.

2. Allow Codex to update to a newer version.

3. After the update completes and Codex restarts, try to launch the app.

4. Multiple ChatGPT.exe processes start in the background, but no Codex window appears.

5. Check:

   %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node

6. Codex creates repeated .staging-* runtime directories.

For version 26.901.5280.0, I observed:

.staging-440c4f095d41ea30-K01Wy1

.staging-440c4f095d41ea30-aIMlCB

The expected runtime hash was:

440c4f095d41ea30

What is the expected behavior?

Codex should complete the bundled cua_node runtime staging/extraction successfully after an update and then launch the application window normally.

Additional information

Repair, Reset, multiple Windows restarts, and restarting Codex did not fix the issue.

I was able to restore Codex manually by copying the complete bundled runtime from:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.901.5280.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\cua_node

to:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\440c4f095d41ea30

using:

xcopy /E /I /H /Y /G

The copy completed with:

4683 File(s) copied

After the workaround:

• node.exe = present
• node_repl.exe = present
• manifest.json = present

Codex then launched successfully.

The same problem previously occurred on version 26.901.5003.0 with runtime hash:

6a86821985684e13

On that occurrence I captured repeated .staging-* directories where:

node.exe = True
node_repl.exe = False

This strongly suggests a Windows runtime staging/extraction or relocation regression.

Related issue: #42412

If this reproduces again, I can capture the full pre-repair .staging-* directory with dir /s, file count, and checks for manifest.json and node_repl.exe.

Start by tracing the Windows runtime staging path for %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node and compare it with the bundled C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\...\app\resources\cua_node contents described here. Reproduce an update and inspect the .staging-* directories, checking whether node.exe, node_repl.exe, and manifest.json are all present. Done means the runtime stages completely and Codex launches a visible window without manual copying.