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codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Windows app hangs on splash when saved auth references a deactivated workspace instead of prompting re-login [2 comments, 3 participants]

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openai/codex#19075•Fetched 2026-04-24 06:01:21
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Error Message

  • displaying a clear error with a recovery action.

Fix Action

Fix / Workaround

Workaround:

  • Quit Codex completely.
  • Rename %USERPROFILE%\.codex\auth.json to auth.json.bak.
  • Relaunch Codex.
  • App then prompts for login and works normally again.
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

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

26.421.11020

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Business

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Codex on Windows got stuck on the splash / launch screen (Codex logo in the middle, nothing else happens).

This happened after the app had previously been signed into a ChatGPT workspace that later became deactivated.

Based on the logs, an earlier launch on version 26.417.4842.0 did reach window ready-to-show and also detected that a Windows Store update was available. However, even during that launch, startup requests were already failing with:

402 Payment Required {"detail":{"code":"deactivated_workspace"}}

After updating, later launches on 26.421.620.0 consistently got stuck on the splash screen and did not recover by prompting me to log in again or select a different workspace.

Renaming the saved auth file forced a fresh login and immediately fixed the issue:

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\auth.json -> auth.json.bak

After doing that, Codex prompted for login to a new workspace and launched normally. Existing chats/data were preserved.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Sign into Codex Desktop on Windows with an account/session associated with a ChatGPT workspace.
  2. That workspace later becomes deactivated.
  3. Launch Codex again.

Observed behavior from my case:

  • An earlier launch on 26.417.4842.0 reached window ready-to-show and detected an available Store update.
  • During that same launch, startup requests were already failing with: 402 Payment Required {"detail":{"code":"deactivated_workspace"}}
  • After updating, later launches on 26.421.620.0 consistently got stuck on the splash screen and did not redirect to login/workspace selection.

Workaround:

  • Quit Codex completely.
  • Rename %USERPROFILE%\.codex\auth.json to auth.json.bak.
  • Relaunch Codex.
  • App then prompts for login and works normally again.

What is the expected behavior?

If the saved auth/session points to a deactivated workspace, Codex should not hang on the splash screen.

It should detect that the stored workspace is no longer valid and recover gracefully by:

  • prompting for login again, or
  • showing workspace selection, or
  • displaying a clear error with a recovery action.

It should not require manually renaming/deleting auth.json to recover.

Additional information

Current installed version shown in About Codex: 26.421.11020.

The failing launches I analyzed came from earlier log files, which show versions 26.417.4842.0 and 26.421.620.0. So the version in the logs is not the same as the currently installed version shown in About Codex.

Timeline from logs:

  • 2026-04-23 00:41: launch on 26.417.4842.0
    • reached window ready-to-show
    • updater reported hasUpdate=true
    • startup requests already failed with deactivated_workspace
  • 2026-04-23 01:19: launch on 26.421.620.0
    • repeated deactivated_workspace failures during app/list
    • app remained stuck on splash
  • 2026-04-23 01:37: after renaming %USERPROFILE%\.codex\auth.json, launch succeeded and app/list returned successfully

This suggests the underlying issue is stale auth/session state tied to a deactivated workspace. The update may have changed how the app behaved afterward, but based on the logs the auth/workspace failure already existed before the update.

Attached relevant logs:

extent analysis

TL;DR

Renaming the saved auth file (%USERPROFILE%\.codex\auth.json) to force a fresh login may resolve the issue where Codex gets stuck on the splash screen after a workspace deactivation.

Guidance

  • The issue seems to be caused by stale auth/session state tied to a deactivated workspace, which prevents the app from recovering gracefully.
  • To verify, check the logs for deactivated_workspace errors and ensure that the auth file is not pointing to an invalid workspace.
  • To mitigate, try renaming the auth file as described in the workaround, which should prompt the app to request login credentials again.
  • If the issue persists, reviewing the attached logs may provide further insight into the problem.

Example

No code snippet is provided as the issue seems to be related to configuration and authentication rather than code.

Notes

The provided solution is based on the information given in the issue and may not apply to all similar cases. The fact that renaming the auth file resolves the issue suggests that the problem is related to how the app handles stale auth state.

Recommendation

Apply the workaround by renaming the auth file to force a fresh login, as this has been shown to resolve the issue in the provided case. This approach is recommended because it directly addresses the identified cause of the problem (stale auth state) and has been verified to work.

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codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Windows app hangs on splash when saved auth references a deactivated workspace instead of prompting re-login [2 comments, 3 participants]