Codex Desktop on Windows closes silently after a few minutes; sandbox profile cleanup appears unstable #29133

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

26.616.32156

What subscription do you have?

Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Codex Desktop on Windows keeps closing suddenly and silently after a few minutes of normal work.

There is no visible error dialog, no clear crash message, and Windows Error Reporting did not generate a normal Codex crash dump in my case. The app simply disappears while working on a project.

This does not look like a simple project issue or a bad local config. I have already tried a full cleanup, reinstall, Windows repair, sandbox cleanup, and minimal configuration, but the problem still persists.

Important details:

• Platform: Windows native Codex Desktop

• Codex package observed in logs: OpenAI.Codex_26.616.4196.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

• Windows image version observed: 10.0.26200.8655

• The issue started/reappeared after updating Codex.

• An older Codex version previously worked on the same machine.

• The current version closes suddenly after a few minutes of use.

• The closing happens silently, without a useful user-facing error.

• Event Viewer repeatedly showed User Profile Service errors related to Codex sandbox profiles, for example:

  • C:\Users\CodexSandboxOffline..
  • C:\Users\CodexSandboxOnline..
  • Error: Windows cannot delete the profile directory
  • Detail: The directory is not empty

• AppModel Runtime logs also show Codex running inside Desktop AppX containers.

• There was also a LiveKernelEvent 141 / WATCHDOG entry on the system, so GPU/Electron rendering may be involved, but the main issue remains that Codex Desktop exits silently and does not provide an actionable error.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Install the current Codex Desktop build on Windows.
2. Open Codex normally using Windows native mode.
3. Open a local project folder.
4. Ask Codex to perform normal project work, such as reading the project structure, inspecting files, or making code changes.
5. Wait a few minutes while Codex is working.
6. Codex Desktop suddenly closes without an error dialog.

I have also tried the following troubleshooting steps, but the issue still persists:

• Fully uninstalled Codex.

• Performed a deep cleanup of Codex files, caches, logs, sessions, plugins, runtimes, and local configuration.

• Deleted old .codex data.

• Reinstalled Codex from the official source.

• Tested a clean/default configuration.

• Removed custom model override.

• Removed old notify path.

• Tested a minimal config.toml.

• Disabled multi_agent.

• Disabled or removed node_repl, browser-related configuration, and non-essential plugins.

• Cleaned leftover Codex sandbox users and profile folders.

• Cleaned CodexSandboxOffline / CodexSandboxOnline profile registry entries.

• Repaired the Windows Default user profile permissions.

• Ran DISM repair:

  • DISM initially reported the component store as repairable.
  • After repair, DISM completed successfully.

• Ran sfc /scannow:

  • Result: Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

• Restarted Windows multiple times after cleanup and repair.

• Reinstalled Codex again after cleanup.

• Tested again after Windows repair and strict Codex sandbox cleanup.

• Tried a lighter Codex config using workspace-write, on-request, and multi_agent = false.

Despite all of the above, Codex Desktop still closes unexpectedly.

What is the expected behavior?

Codex Desktop should remain open and stable while working on a project.

If the agent, sandbox, AppX container, node runtime, or renderer fails, Codex should show a clear error message and produce actionable diagnostic logs instead of silently disappearing.

Expected behavior:

• Codex should not close suddenly after a few minutes.
• Codex should clean up its Windows sandbox profiles correctly.
• Codex should not leave repeated broken CodexSandboxOffline.* or CodexSandboxOnline.* profile cleanup errors.
• If Windows sandbox setup or profile cleanup fails, the app should report this clearly.
• If the issue is GPU/Electron-related, Codex should log that clearly or provide a fallback mode.

Additional information

This appears to be a serious Windows Desktop stability issue, not just a user configuration problem.

The strongest indicators are:

1. The issue survives a full uninstall/reinstall and clean config.
2. Windows logs repeatedly show failed cleanup of Codex sandbox profiles.
3. The app closes silently without a useful crash dialog.
4. An older Codex version worked on the same machine, but the issue returned after updating.
5. Windows itself has now been repaired with DISM and SFC, but Codex still closes.

Please investigate this as a Windows Codex Desktop regression or stability issue, possibly related to:

• Windows native sandbox handling
• CodexSandboxOffline / CodexSandboxOnline profile cleanup
• Desktop AppX container lifecycle
• Electron/GPU rendering
• node_repl / runtime process handling
• silent app termination without diagnostic output

I can provide the following diagnostic files if needed:

• Event Viewer Application logs showing repeated User Profile Service 1533 errors
• AppModel Runtime logs showing Codex Desktop AppX container creation/destruction
• DISM and SFC results
• Codex config files tested
• Codex cleanup logs
• Windows LiveKernelEvent / WATCHDOG references