Multiple sidebar bugs after workspace directory migration: "56 years ago" timestamps, missing threads, threads vanish on click (macOS) #17317

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   bugSomething isn't workingSomething isn't working

   appIssues related to the Codex desktop appIssues related to the Codex desktop app

   on Apr 10, 2026
2. github-actions commented on Apr 10, 2026

   

   github-actionsBot

   on Apr 10, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

   Contributor

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   Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

   • Desktop project sidebar hides active threads after state DB migration drift and stale temporary sessions #17304
   • Desktop thread panel hides existing workspace threads after workspace restructuring; backend pagination still returns them #16901
   • Codex Mac Desktop App: existing threads don't load after app restart #16817
   • Codex threads disappear after a few days on macOS #16549

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3. Aley3567 commented on Aug 16, 2026

   

   Aley3567

   on Aug 16, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

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   Confirmed independently on macOS with ChatGPT/Codex Desktop 26.810.52044 (6662). This appears to be a mixed timestamp-unit bug and is not specific to a workspace-path migration.

   Evidence

   The thread data exposed to the Desktop renderer contains mixed units:

   • a normal local Codex thread can have updatedAt: 1786849794 (Unix seconds);
   • other entries, including some pinned state, can use a millisecond value such as 1783825615000.

   Passing the first value directly to JavaScript reproduces the symptom:

   new Date(1786849794).toISOString()
   // 1970-01-21T...
   
   new Date(1786849794 * 1000).toISOString()
   // 2026-08-16T...

   In the bundled renderer (webview/assets/app-initial-BqZ9AFkF.js) I found two relevant direct constructions:

   • new Date(q).toISOString() in the hover-card path;
   • new Date(f).toISOString() in the sidebar-row path.

   The same bundle already contains a timestamp normalizer (minified as K8c) that multiplies second-scale values by 1000, but these two paths bypass it. The installed application was not modified; its signature still verifies.

   Suggested fix

   The durable fix should normalize timestamps once at the thread DTO boundary, rather than teaching every component about seconds vs. milliseconds:

   function toEpochMilliseconds(value: unknown): number | null {
     const timestamp = Number(value);
     if (!Number.isFinite(timestamp)) return null;
   
     // Current Unix milliseconds are ~1e12; seconds are ~1e9.
     return Math.abs(timestamp) < 100_000_000_000
       ? timestamp * 1_000
       : timestamp;
   }

   Then keep the renderer's internal contract as epoch milliseconds (or Date) only.

   For a minimal hotfix, route both direct call sites through the existing normalizer:

   new Date(K8c(q)).toISOString()
   new Date(K8c(f)).toISOString()

   Regression coverage should include integer seconds, fractional seconds, milliseconds, missing/invalid values, hover cards, and sidebar rows. That would fix the displayed age without rewriting any persisted timestamps.
4. Aley3567 commented on Aug 17, 2026

   

   Aley3567

   on Aug 17, 2026

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   Follow-up: the timestamp bug reproduced again in ChatGPT/Codex Desktop 26.810.52044 (6662).

   I validated the minimal renderer hotfix locally by routing the two bypassing call sites through the bundle's existing seconds/milliseconds normalizer:

   new Date(K8c(q)).toISOString()
   new Date(K8c(f)).toISOString()

   Verification results:

   • both unnormalized call sites are absent after patching;
   • both normalized call sites occur exactly once;
   • ASAR entry count remains unchanged (8779 before and after);
   • the ASAR integrity hash was updated to the actual archive SHA-256;
   • strict deep code-sign verification passes after re-signing;
   • the app's entitlements are byte-for-byte unchanged.

   This confirms that timestamp-unit normalization is sufficient for these two UI paths. The local patch is only a diagnostic/workaround: an app update or repair can replace app.asar, so the durable upstream fix should still normalize updatedAt once at the thread DTO boundary and expose a milliseconds-only internal contract. Component-level normalization is useful as defense in depth, but should not be the primary contract.