[Windows App] ChatGPT launches headless for ~9 minutes while cua_node runtime finishes materializing

What version of the Codex / ChatGPT Windows app are you using?

26.915.3509.0 (Microsoft Store / MSIX package path: OpenAI.Codex_26.915.3509.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0)

Platform

Windows 11 x64

What issue are you seeing?

The new ChatGPT/Codex Windows app intermittently launches headless: multiple ChatGPT.exe processes start and remain responsive, but no main window is created.

Observed while the app was unusable:

Get-Process ChatGPT | Select-Object Id, MainWindowHandle, MainWindowTitle, Responding

Id     MainWindowHandle  MainWindowTitle  Responding
11580  0                                  True
12396  0                                  True
15024  0                                  True
18476  0                                  True
21388  0                                  True
22220  0                                  True

Repeated clicks do not create a visible window. Killing all ChatGPT processes and launching again reproduces the same state.

The app eventually appeared on its own after roughly 9 minutes.

Strong timing correlation with bundled cua_node runtime preparation

The desktop log initially stopped after only:

2026-09-18T17:10:14.763Z info [sparkle] in_app_updates_policy_wait_started timeoutMs=300000
2026-09-18T17:10:14.764Z info windows_core_runtime_launch_selected architecture=x64 buildFlavor=prod coreGateEnabledAtStartup=false selectedRuntimeSource=bundled
2026-09-18T17:10:15.020Z info Launching app ... packaged=true platform=win32

At the same time, the per-user runtime directory was:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\4004642ff3fabdc7

File timestamps:

node.exe       2026/09/18 13:10:15
node_repl.exe  2026/09/18 13:19:01
manifest.json  2026/09/18 13:19:02

The ChatGPT window appeared at approximately the same time that node_repl.exe and manifest.json finished writing.

The completed runtime contained all three expected files and 2283 files total:

node.exe
node_repl.exe
manifest.json
file count: 2283

There were no remaining .staging-* directories after completion.

Reproduction pattern

1. Install/reinstall the current Windows app.
2. The app works normally for a few launches.
3. Later, clicking ChatGPT starts several ChatGPT.exe processes but creates no UI.
4. MainWindowHandle remains 0 for all ChatGPT processes.
5. Desktop logging stops immediately after the updater/runtime launch lines above.
6. After several minutes, the missing cua_node runtime files finish materializing and the UI suddenly appears.

Reinstalling temporarily makes the app usable again, but the problem later returns.

Expected behavior

The app should create its main window immediately and runtime relocation/preparation should not block the entire GUI startup for many minutes.

Additional context

This appears related to Windows bundled-runtime relocation / cua_node initialization. A possibly related existing report is #34764, but this report is specifically about the entire ChatGPT UI being blocked during startup until node_repl.exe / manifest.json finish materializing.

Please consider:

• decoupling GUI startup from cua_node relocation,
• reusing a valid existing runtime cache before attempting another relocation,
• adding clearer logging around the long gap between node.exe and node_repl.exe,
• and preventing runtime/update initialization from leaving the app headless with MainWindowHandle=0.

Start with the Windows runtime launch log lines and the per-user cua_node path under %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes. Compare the timing of node.exe, node_repl.exe, and manifest.json creation with ChatGPT.exe window creation, and inspect the related startup behavior. Done means the main window appears without waiting minutes for runtime materialization and the long gap is clearly logged.