Codex Cloud publication handoff succeeds but no GitHub branch/PR materializes

Summary

Codex Cloud tasks triggered from GitHub can still pick up the task, check out the repository, execute successfully, create a local workspace commit, and post RESULT comments back to GitHub, but the native publication handoff does not materialize a remote GitHub branch or pull request.

This reproduced across three bounded controls on the same repository. A previously successful historical control on the same repository did materialize a PR, so this appears to be a regression in the publication path rather than a basic repository-access failure.

Repository / GitHub App

Repository: ziounkikusopo-hue/sympo-governance-mcp

ChatGPT Codex Connector GitHub App installation ID: 154770173

Verified state:

• installation is active;
• repository selection mode is selected;
• ziounkikusopo-hue/sympo-governance-mcp is explicitly included;
• issue comments from the Codex Connector still work;
• task pickup / checkout still works.

I have not reconnected or re-authorized the GitHub App because there is no evidence yet that authorization is the failing boundary.

Historical successful control

GitHub Issue #87 on my repository was triggered by a native @codex mention and successfully resulted in PR #88.

Codex task:
https://chatgpt.com/s/cd_6aa93fc69238819193eab41c765318a6

Trigger time: 2026-09-15 12:53:19 UTC

Codex RESULT time: 2026-09-15 12:59:12 UTC

The task reported workspace commit:
4db4772d51026b6d32fa5a0cd290531fce4d0719

The actual materialized PR #88 head was a different SHA:
e9be3842ded85e701df5cfc8e72a460815413a1c

So workspace-SHA equality is not assumed as a publication invariant.

The successful task also reported a synthetic local branch work, no Git remote, and unauthenticated gh, yet the platform still materialized PR #88 successfully.

Current failures

1. Issue #103 — new PR publication canary

Codex task:
https://chatgpt.com/s/cd_6aaa0d2faf5c8191ba905a2f02302a4c

Trigger: 2026-09-16 03:29:44 UTC

RESULT: 2026-09-16 03:31:27 UTC

Workspace commit:
f0fb5fad4fd12782bdb5bc1795fa2c28552fd4ec

Exact task-visible publication wording:

The supported make_pr platform handoff accepted the PR title and body. It did not return a remote branch name, PR number, or PR URL.

No matching remote branch or PR materialized.

2. PR #104 — existing PR branch update control

Codex task:
https://chatgpt.com/s/cd_6aaa0df0597881919d5366774f19610a

Trigger: 2026-09-16 03:32:54 UTC

RESULT: 2026-09-16 03:35:08 UTC

Workspace commit:
b628bfbcf7ca568cced62e393f711473b943945d

Exact task-visible publication wording:

Submitted the supported platform handoff for the existing PR branch.

No publication error/rejection was shown, but the GitHub PR head never moved from the original seed head.

3. Issue #105 — replay of previously successful native GitHub-mention publication path

Codex task:
https://chatgpt.com/s/cd_6aaa147619708191b65becf986cfd239

Trigger: 2026-09-16 04:00:47 UTC

RESULT: 2026-09-16 04:02:18 UTC

Workspace commit:
9ef97258b7c3568e824ec77b855fd806422882f9

Exact task-visible publication wording:

Requested exactly one publication-canary PR through the native make_pr path, titled “[GOV-CODEX-PUBLISH-03] Add native publication replay canary.”

No new GitHub branch or PR materialized.

Diagnostic result

A separate read-only Codex Cloud diagnostic narrowed the observable failure boundary to:

Codex task execution / handoff submission -> provider-internal opaque boundary -> GitHub remote branch/PR materialization

The executor could verify:

• repository checkout works;
• local Git works;
• task execution works;
• local commits work;
• the platform-native make_pr capability is exposed;
• RESULT comments can return to GitHub.

It could not observe any provider-side publisher job ID, dispatch result, GitHub App authorization decision, GitHub API response, rejection, retry state, or suppression state.

In-product feedback limitation

OpenAI Support asked me to submit Codex feedback using / -> Feedback to obtain a session ID.

On the current Codex Cloud web task surface, typing / does not expose a Feedback command. I submitted the available thumbs-down feedback flow instead, and the UI confirmed the feedback was sent, but it did not display a session/reference ID.

Related incident

OpenAI Status reported Codex GitHub Review and Pull Request Failures on 2026-09-13. That incident was marked resolved the same day. My failures occurred after the resolved state and are functionally similar, but I am not claiming they share the same root cause.

Expected behavior

After Codex Cloud completes a task and accepts/submits the supported publication handoff, the platform should either:

1. materialize the branch/PR on GitHub, or
2. surface a concrete failure state/error that can be acted on.

Actual behavior

The task reports a successful publication/handoff submission, but no remote branch/PR appears and no actionable provider-side error is exposed.

Additional evidence

Canonical evidence packet on my repository:
https://github.com/ziounkikusopo-hue/sympo-governance-mcp/issues/107

If a maintainer needs additional private identifiers or task/session metadata, I can provide them through a private/support channel rather than posting more account/session details publicly.

Start at the platform-native make_pr handoff and trace the boundary between Codex task execution and GitHub branch/PR materialization. No repository file or test is identified in the report; done means either a remote branch/PR appears after submission or a concrete actionable failure is surfaced.