Add supported profile backup/export and restore across machines without breaking the Windows sandbox

What variant of Codex are you using?

Codex desktop app on Windows.

What feature would you like to see?

Please provide a supported profile backup/export and restore/import workflow that preserves local conversations when moving to another computer, while correctly rebuilding machine-specific runtime state.

Users need to retain their local work when replacing a computer. Manually copying an internal profile directory can also carry over Windows DPAPI-protected credentials, permissions, and runtime state that are unsuitable for the destination machine. Preserving conversation history should have a supported path that leaves sandbox execution and Computer Use functional after restoration.

Requested behavior:

• Preserve conversations, archived tasks, project associations, and the metadata and artifacts needed to reopen and continue local work.
• Provide consistent backups while the app is running, or guide the user through a controlled pause so active writes do not leave an incomplete backup.
• Recreate destination-local sandbox state, credentials, and permissions appropriately. Request fresh authentication where needed.
• Detect incompatible restored sandbox state and offer a targeted repair that preserves conversation history.
• Support separate Windows sign-in accounts on the same workstation, with a repeatable onboarding and restoration procedure that keeps each profile's data separate.
• Provide an import preview, compatibility checks, path remapping, conflict handling, rollback, and a clear completion report.
• Make this available in the desktop UI, with a documented CLI equivalent for repeatable backups.

Additional information

Related requests #31130 and #26691 focus on portable configuration and explicitly exclude sessions and databases. This request includes conversation preservation and restoration, together with safe initialization of the Windows sandbox on the destination machine.

A successful migration should allow a user to open and continue their restored conversations and use normal tools without manually repairing internal sandbox files.

No files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by mapping the desktop UI, CLI, profile persistence, and Windows sandbox components, then determine how conversations and artifacts are stored and how machine-specific state is initialized. Done means a supported export/import flow preserves local work, rebuilds destination state safely, and reports compatibility, conflicts, rollback, and completion.