Codex chats stuck loading in Linux desktop app 26.924.22138

[ETW]

Environment : ChatGPT desktop app `26.924.22138`, Plus account. Reproduced on an Ubuntu desktop and an antiX/Debian laptop. (GPT Plus subscription)

Bug: Since updating from the official installer, existing Codex chats show a spinner indefinitely. A new *local* chat with just “hi” stays at “Starting your task.” ChatGPT mode works, but restarting the app hasn’t helped. Expected: existing chats open and new tasks start.

Possibly related: Adding an SSH connection also times out with `SSH: codex path probe timed out after 60000ms`, although SSH works from the terminal. I don’t know whether this is the same issue.

[EricGT]

Welcome to the forum!

Is the earlier topic from a few hours ago the same issue as the bug you are reporting?

ChatGPT Ubuntu App Stuck on “Starting your task”

The ChatGPT app for Ubuntu is not working properly. I updated the app yesterday, but the issue is still happening. Whenever I try to use the app, it gets stuck on “Starting your task” and does not continue. The ChatGPT CLI works correctly, so the issue seems to be specific to the Ubuntu desktop app. [Screenshot from 2026-09-27 08-53-38]

If so, please let us know so we can close this topic. There’s no need to keep multiple topics open for the same bug.

[ETW]

Well it’s one portion of it, the other portion is related to my past conversations not loading at all in regards to codex app (in the codex app if i switch to chat gpt sessions it works fine), and also another issue of similar loading kind with ssh connection from the codex app. (i can edit out some relevant sections that were adressed by another user)

[EricGT]

Please review the Read this before you post in the Codex Bugs category guidelines and post a separate topic for each distinct bug.

From your description, the following appear to be separate issues:

• Existing Codex conversations not loading.
• New Codex tasks getting stuck while starting.
• SSH connections from the Codex app timing out.

Keeping each bug in its own topic makes it easier to track and determine whether the issues have the same underlying cause.

Also, please search the OpenAI Codex GitHub issues for related reports and include links to any relevant issues in the corresponding topic.

[ETW]

Alright in that case I’ll post them separately after doing some research. Tnx for the feedback.

[yungchaoji]

The latest version is a buggy and unusable, I don’t think there are guys in OAI really using and testing ChatGPT Linux version. Therefore, no one cares about this issue.

[Eagle1378]

@ETW

SSH: codex path probe timed out after 60000ms

This is affecting me too - “SSH: codex path probe timed out after 60000ms” - and I’ve rolled back to the previous version as a temporary fix.

[ETW]

I’m gonna downgrade too, although the older version doesn’t have gpt6 sol in codex. And it seems like the linux app is getting neglected.

[aquinas9000]

ChatGPT Linux rollback / APT notes

Known-good builds (Debian 13.7):

26.917.71314

Known-bad builds:

26.924.20706
26.924.22138

List installed / available versions

apt list -a chatgpt
apt-cache policy chatgpt
apt-cache madison chatgpt

Find cached ChatGPT .deb packages

APT cache:

ls -lh /var/cache/apt/archives/chatgpt_*.deb

Archive them somewhere safe:

mkdir -p chatgpt-releases
cp /var/cache/apt/archives/chatgpt_*.deb chatgpt-releases/

Download the missing 26.924.20706 package

The old package was still downloadable directly from OpenAI’s Debian pool:

wget -O chatgpt_26.924.20706_amd64.deb \
'https://persistent.oaistatic.com/codex-app-prod/linux/deb/pool/main/c/chatgpt/chatgpt_26.924.20706_amd64.deb'

Verify:

dpkg-deb -I chatgpt_26.924.20706_amd64.deb | head -30

Install / downgrade to a saved version

Example:

sudo apt install --allow-downgrades ./chatgpt-releases/chatgpt_26.917.71314_amd64.deb

Package hold commands

Show held packages:

apt-mark showhold

Hold ChatGPT completely:

sudo apt-mark hold chatgpt

Remove the hold:

sudo apt-mark unhold chatgpt

A package hold blocks all future ChatGPT upgrades, so version pinning is preferable here.

Block only the two known-bad versions

Create:

/etc/apt/preferences.d/chatgpt-broken-versions

with:

# Known-bad Codex Linux builds:
# 26.924.20706
# 26.924.22138

Package: chatgpt
Pin: version 26.924.20706
Pin-Priority: -1

Package: chatgpt
Pin: version 26.924.22138
Pin-Priority: -1

Command to create it:

sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/chatgpt-broken-versions >/dev/null <<'EOF'
# Known-bad Codex Linux builds:
# 26.924.20706
# 26.924.22138

Package: chatgpt
Pin: version 26.924.20706
Pin-Priority: -1

Package: chatgpt
Pin: version 26.924.22138
Pin-Priority: -1
EOF

Refresh and verify:

sudo apt update
apt-cache policy chatgpt

A future build such as another 26.924.x release remains eligible because only the two exact versions above are blocked.

Unblock those versions later

Remove the pin file:

sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/chatgpt-broken-versions
sudo apt update

Useful history checks

Confirm previously installed versions:

grep -R 'chatgpt' /var/log/apt /var/log/dpkg.log* 2>/dev/null
zgrep 'chatgpt' /var/log/apt/*.gz /var/log/dpkg.log*.gz 2>/dev/null

Current intended setup

• Installed: 26.917.71314
• No apt-mark hold
• Exact pins block 26.924.20706 and 26.924.22138
• Future releases remain eligible for normal APT upgrades
• Saved .deb files are kept outside /var/cache/apt/archives/

[derekkeats]

Environment

• Surface: Linux app
• Codex version: Last night’s update
• OS and IDE/browser, if relevant: Ubuntu 26.04
• Model and plan or API-key authentication: Pro

Bug

The update to the Linux app from last night causes Codex to hang. It appears to be making a call to Github and encountering a Cloudflare challenge page and then it stops and just keeps on trying. This was debugged with the help of ChatGPT (in a browser) by running the app in a terminal and capturing the errors.

I purged last night’s version and reinstalled the previous version, and it worked again.

Reproduction

Type Hello or anything else into any codex chat. Chat GPT is not affected.

Diagnostics

Linux ChatGPT app
→ normal ChatGPT works
→ Codex spins forever
→ /usr/bin/git exists and PATH is correct
→ Electron reports a network failure
→ ChatGPT endpoint returns Cloudflare challenge HTML
→ Electron subsequently reports RequestError

That is enough that I’d now treat a Linux-app/Codex networking regression as the leading hypothesis, rather than a problem with your Chisimba repository or Ubuntu Git configuration.
When it happened (with timezone) and how often:

[yzs]

The reported issue has been fixed. Please update to the latest version.

[ETW]

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.