Codex Desktop: allow users to configure the default projectless workspace root #24883

Summary

Codex Desktop appears to choose a hard-coded or internally computed default root for projectless/new-chat workspaces. On Windows, new projectless chats are being created under:

C:\Users\<user>\Documents\Codex\YYYY-MM-DD\new-chat...

Please add a user-facing setting, or a documented config key, that lets users choose the base directory for these projectless workspaces.

Why this matters

Some users keep active development/workspace files on another drive, for example D:\Codex, due to disk capacity, backup policy, path organization, or performance. Today, the practical workaround is to move Documents\Codex and create a Windows junction/symlink back to the expected path, but that is not discoverable and feels fragile for normal users.

Observed behavior

On a Windows Codex Desktop install, a new default/projectless chat starts with a workspace path like:

C:\Users\smc\Documents\Codex\2026-05-28\new-chat-2

Local investigation found:

• D:\.codex\config.toml contains model/plugin/project trust settings, but no obvious setting for the projectless workspace base path.
• D:\.codex\.codex-global-state.json contains thread-workspace-root-hints entries pointing existing projectless threads at C:\Users\smc\Documents\Codex.
• The value looks like persisted thread state or a hint, not a documented user setting for future new-chat workspace creation.

Expected behavior

Users should be able to set the default base directory for projectless/new-chat workspaces, for example:

[desktop]
projectless_workspace_root = 'D:\Codex'

or through a Desktop settings UI such as:

Settings -> Workspaces -> Default workspace location

After setting it, new projectless chats would create workspaces under the chosen base path, for example:

D:\Codex\2026-05-28\new-chat

Environment

• Codex Desktop on Windows
• Observed app release from local process metadata: 26.519.81530
• Windows Store package path observed locally: OpenAI.Codex_26.519.11010.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• OS: Windows 10, locale ko-KR, timezone Asia/Seoul

Workaround

A Windows junction can redirect the current default path:

Move-Item "C:\Users\<user>\Documents\Codex" "D:\Codex"
New-Item -ItemType Junction -Path "C:\Users\<user>\Documents\Codex" -Target "D:\Codex"

This works around the issue, but a first-class setting would be safer and more transparent.