Codex Desktop Linux hangs at 'Starting your task' after update to 26.924.20706?
On Linux Mint X11 with Codex Desktop 26.924.20706 (chatgpt package), every local task hangs forever at 'Starting your task' after upgrading from 26.917.71314, even for a brand-new trivial task. Logs show 'ignoring invalid experimental feature enablement keys: apps_mcp_path_override' and no thread/start dispatch. Does downgrading to 26.917.71314 fix it?
Originally asked on GitHub: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/48189
6 answers
No fixed release appears in this thread: users still saw the hang on build 26.924.22138, and OpenAI did not provide an official response there. The workaround that worked for multiple reporters was downgrading the Linux desktop package (chatgpt) to 26.917.71314 while keeping ~/.codex intact. One user copied the old .deb from another machine's /var/cache/apt/archives, installed it with
apt install --allow-downgrades, and pinned it withapt-mark hold chatgpt; another linked the official old .deb at https://persistent.oaistatic.com/codex-app-prod/linux/deb/pool/main/c/chatgpt/chatgpt_26.917.71314_amd64.deb (opens external site) for systems where apt no longer offered it.For users who had to stay on 26.924.22138, one reporter found that preserving the old ~/.codex and letting the app create a fresh one restored local tasks on the same app installation, but the cause was not isolated. The same commenter noted a fresh CODEX_HOME worked but was slow: thread_hydration took 10.2 to 14.6 seconds versus 1122 ms on 26.917.71314, and turn_first_response_visible was about 10.3 seconds. Log messages on the broken builds included 'Failed to load shell env ... Timed out after 5000ms', 'Git is unavailable', and 'ignoring invalid experimental feature enablement keys: apps_mcp_path_override'; these were not confirmed as the cause. The problem was reported on Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, and Kali. The same-day OpenAI service incident did not explain it for everyone: rollback fixed the hang regardless.
Did this work for you?What a GitHub user tried on GitHub (Worked)
Downgraded only the ChatGPT/Codex Desktop package from 26.924.20706 to 26.917.71314 while preserving ~/.codex and all other local state. Local tasks immediately worked again.
Source: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/48189 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @RalfSei tried on GitHub (Worked)
Copied the 26.917.71314 .deb from another machine's /var/cache/apt/archives and installed it with 'apt install --allow-downgrades', then pinned it with 'apt-mark hold chatgpt'. The downgrade fixed local threads while keeping ~/.codex intact.
Source: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/48189#issuecomment-5847340825 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @RalfSei tried on GitHub (Partly worked)
On 26.924.22138, launched with a fresh CODEX_HOME. Local tasks ran but slowly: thread_hydration took 10.2 to 14.6 seconds versus 1122 ms on 26.917.71314, and turn_first_response_visible was about 10.3 seconds.
Source: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/48189#issuecomment-5847340825 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @eduardohsgonc7 tried on GitHub (Didn't work)
Reinstalled the app, changed networks, manually installed runtime 26.905.11957, and reset ~/.config/Codex; none of these restored Work Local on 26.924.22138.
Source: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/48189#issuecomment-5849222101 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @eduardohsgonc7 tried on GitHub (Worked)
Preserved the old ~/.codex and let the app create a fresh one. Work Local tasks started and completed successfully on the same 26.924.22138 installation, though the cause was not isolated.
Source: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/48189#issuecomment-5849222101 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?