codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Codex iOS remote sidebar does not sync Desktop project order or pinned chats

What version of the Codex App are you using?

Codex Desktop for macOS: 26.513.20950 (2816)

The iOS client is paired to the same Mac via Codex Remote Control. I do not see the exact iOS Codex build in the sidebar screenshot.

What platform is your computer?

macOS / Darwin 25.4.0 arm64

What is the problem?

When using Codex from iOS against a paired Mac, the iOS sidebar does not appear to respect the same Desktop sidebar state:

1. The project list order on iOS differs from the order shown in Codex Desktop on the Mac.
2. Chats pinned on Codex Desktop are not shown as pinned on iOS.

This makes the iOS remote sidebar feel like a different workspace even though it is connected to the same Desktop host.

Expected behavior

When iOS is connected to a Codex Desktop host via Remote Control, it should either:

• mirror the Desktop sidebar state for that host, including project order and pinned chats, or
• sync/derive the same ordering and pinned state consistently across Desktop and iOS.

At minimum, pinned chats from Desktop should remain pinned on iOS, and custom/recent project ordering should not differ silently between clients.

Actual behavior

On Desktop, the visible project order is:

1. whiteboard
2. shadcn-reference-lab
3. whiteboard-ui-prototype
4. Sboard
5. Scriber

On iOS, the visible project order is different:

1. shadcn-reference-lab
2. Sboard
3. whiteboard
4. Scriber

whiteboard-ui-prototype is also missing from the iOS project list in this state.

Desktop also has pinned chats, but iOS does not show those chats as pinned.

Local state evidence

The Mac has Desktop sidebar state persisted in ~/.codex/.codex-global-state.json:

• top-level project-order contains the Desktop project order shown above
• top-level pinned-thread-ids contains 4 pinned Desktop thread ids
• remote-projects is null
• thread-project-assignments is null

Looking at local thread metadata, the iOS order appears consistent with sorting projects by recent thread activity instead of using Desktop project-order:

• shadcn-reference-lab: latest thread update 2026-05-14 09:53:17
• Sboard: latest thread update 2026-05-14 07:11:40
• whiteboard: latest thread update 2026-05-14 05:21:55
• Scriber: latest thread update 2026-05-13 10:47:49

Desktop bundle code also appears to define both persisted keys used for this state:

• PROJECT_ORDER: "project-order"
• PINNED_THREAD_IDS: "pinned-thread-ids"

and the Desktop project grouping code sorts by the persisted project order.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Codex Desktop on macOS with several projects.
2. Have Desktop sidebar state with a project order that differs from simple recent-activity order.
3. Pin one or more chats in Codex Desktop.
4. Pair an iOS client to the same Mac via Codex Remote Control.
5. Open Codex on iOS and compare the sidebar project order and pinned chats with Desktop.

Related issues

• #19681 is a broader iOS/macOS continuity feature request.
• #21680 discusses Desktop project-order state, but this issue is specifically about the iOS remote sidebar not respecting/syncing Desktop order and pinned chats.