Desktop app: filesystem-root project blocks message submission and in-task bug reporting

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

26.901.51231 (8109), identified as the installed ChatGPT desktop app by an earlier investigation shown in the supplied screenshot. This submitting assistant has not independently reverified the version.

What subscription do you have?

Not supplied for this report.

What platform is your computer?

macOS. Exact OS version not supplied.

What issue are you seeing?

The desktop ChatGPT/Codex task interface accepts filesystem root / as a saved project, but attempting to submit a message in a task using / as its working directory reportedly fails with:

Select a project to continue.

This also blocks the follow-up request to report the problem: the supplied screenshot shows Report it remaining in the affected composer. The user explicitly requested submission of this report from a separate task.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Reported trigger (not independently reproduced by this submitting assistant):

1. Save/select filesystem root / as a project.
2. Open a task whose working directory is /.
3. Attempt to submit a message.
4. Observe the missing-project error despite / being a saved project.
5. Attempt to send a follow-up asking the assistant to report the issue; that request is also blocked.

What is the expected behavior?

Either support / consistently as a selected project, or reject it at project selection with a clear explanation. Feedback/reporting should remain accessible when task message submission is blocked.

Additional information

An earlier investigation visible in the user's screenshot identified this message-submission check:

workspaceRootsForSubmit.some(path => path !== "/")

It reported that excluding / causes a missing-workspace result and the displayed error. This source finding is a suspected cause from that earlier investigation, not an independently verified finding in this submission. The earlier investigation also explicitly stated it had not independently reproduced the failed submission.

Selecting a non-root project directory was suggested as a workaround; its success has not been verified by this submitting assistant.

Possibly related: #36548 reports the same error after a task loses its project association. This report concerns the distinct filesystem-root selection case and suspected root-exclusion check.

OpenAI's web support chat received the report but explicitly stated that it cannot file an internal bug, create a support case, provide a reference number, or hand off to a human. Its response and the desktop troubleshooting documentation directed reporting to this tracker.

Start by reproducing the issue with filesystem root / as the saved project, then trace the workspaceRootsForSubmit check mentioned in the report. Verify whether excluding / causes the missing-project error and whether reporting remains accessible when submission is blocked. Done means root projects are handled consistently or rejected clearly, without blocking feedback access.