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Windows zip bundles incompatible app-server resources/codex.exe (0.116.0-cometix) #46

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Description

@Suibian-YY-pro

Windows zip release ships an incompatible resources/codex.exe app-server (0.116.0-cometix) for Codex Desktop 26.415.40636

Summary

The Windows portable zip release Codex-win32-x64-26.415.40636.zip appears to bundle an app-server binary that is too old for the desktop shell.

After launching the app, the UI can open but agent/backend features fail with an app-server handshake error:

codex-app-server-version-unsupported:0.116.0-cometix

Replacing the bundled resources/codex.exe with a newer official Codex app-server binary fixed the handshake in my local test.

Environment

  • OS: Windows 11 x64
  • Release tested: v26.415.40636
  • Asset tested: Codex-win32-x64-26.415.40636.zip
  • Bundled desktop app version: 26.415.40636
  • Bundled app-server version: codex-cli 0.116.0-cometix

Reproduction

  1. Download Codex-win32-x64-26.415.40636.zip from the release page.
  2. Extract it to a clean directory.
  3. Run Codex.exe.
  4. Open the app and let it initialize the local app-server.
  5. Check the desktop logs.

Observed behavior

The app-server initialization fails with:

[AppServerConnection] initialize_handshake_result ... errorMessage=codex-app-server-version-unsupported:0.116.0-cometix ... outcome=failure transportKind=stdio
[AppServerConnection] Initialization failed errorMessage=codex-app-server-version-unsupported:0.116.0-cometix
[AppServerConnection] fatal_error_broadcasted errorMessage=codex-app-server-version-unsupported:0.116.0-cometix

This can lead to UI errors/blank-screen-like behavior and repeated backend failures.

I also saw this non-fatal updater warning in the zip build:

[windows-updater] Failed to load native Windows updater addon ... Cannot find module '...\resources\native\windows-updater.node'
[sparkle] Updater unavailable after init. packaged=true platform=win32 reason="failed to load native windows updater"

That updater warning may be expected for a portable zip, but the app-server version mismatch breaks core functionality.

Expected behavior

The Windows zip release should include an app-server binary compatible with the bundled desktop shell, so the initialization handshake succeeds.

Workaround tested

I backed up the bundled binary:

resources/codex.exe  # bundled version: codex-cli 0.116.0-cometix

Then replaced it with a newer official Codex app-server binary:

resources/codex.exe  # replacement version: codex-cli 0.122.0-alpha.13

After replacement, the handshake succeeded:

[AppServerConnection] initialize_handshake_result ... outcome=success transportKind=stdio

So the likely fix is to rebuild/repackage the Windows zip with a compatible resources/codex.exe app-server version.

Notes

There may also be a compatibility warning around experimental feature sync:

unsupported feature enablement `realtime_conversation`: currently supported features are apps, plugins, tool_search, tool_suggest, tool_call_mcp_elicitation

This did not block the handshake after replacing the app-server, but it may indicate another frontend/backend capability mismatch worth checking.

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