Newst VS Code extension just makes codex flash and blink

[visnetwork]

What version of the IDE extension are you using?

26.5422.20832

What subscription do you have?

Plus

Which IDE are you using?

VS Code

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

After installing the most recent release of the extension (today 2026-04-23) the Codex does not load inside VS Code, it just keeps flashing and blinking on the screen. I had to roll back to the previous version.

see screen capture
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e099039a-e95a-43ee-a91c-30eaf69fd8b5

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Install the current extension in VS Code 26.5422.20832

What is the expected behavior?

Load the tasks in codex

Additional information

No response

[github-actions]

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

• Renderer process stuck in infinite microtask loop, consuming 100–180% CPU and disconnecting Remote SSH sessions #19097
• No prompt box or chat history #19039
• Codex extension crashes with code=3221225477 on Windows #18816
• VS Code Codex extension log/error loop precedes renderer crashes #18515

Powered by Codex Action

[etraut-openai]

Can you confirm that if you downgrade to the previous version, it works on your system? I just want to verify that it's a regression in the Codex extension rather than some configuration change that coincidentally happened around the same time on your machine.

[HRussellZFAC023]

[XuGuangnian]

Can you confirm that if you downgrade to the previous version, it works on your system? I just want to verify that it's a regression in the Codex extension rather than some configuration change that coincidentally happened around the same time on your machine.

yes, rolling back to version 26.5417.40842 restores normal functionality.

Environment:
VS Code with WSL (Ubuntu 24.04)

Broken versions:

26.5422.20832
26.5422.21459

Note:
The issue only occurs in WSL, it works normally on Windows.

[fritzklyka]

I also got the same error on my mac (26.3.1 (25D2128) rolled back to version 26.5417.40842 then it works.
Later than that. It breaks.

[davidacres]

I have the same on my mac OS 26.5 I had to rollback to 40842 same as previously mentioned.

[TimothyMeadows]

I have the same on my mac OS 26.5 I had to rollback to 40842 same as previously mentioned.

Same here, opened my mac, updated, visually the codex extension is just refreshing onto it's self over and over totally unusable. Had to downgrade to the same version. Works fine now.

[eric-rolph]

Unusable flicker using latest patched Windows 11, latest Nvidia display driver 5090, latest (not Insiders) version of VS Code, new Codex extension install. App has issues as well, new install, cannot make it past logo.

Edit: Oauth was causing the issue for me. A 5 day old version allowed me to get the status message:

"Your access token could not be refreshed because your refresh token was already used. Please log out and sign in again."

Fixed by by running in terminal/powershell:

codex logout
codex login
codex login status

[bfil]

The issue seems to be the same in both the Codex app and the VSCode extension. Deleting the ~/.codex/auth.json file forced a re-authentication in both the app and the extension and it fixed my issue (on mac).