Codex IDE extension often stays on "Thinking" for a long time even for simple prompts

[Yong-yuan-X]

What version of the IDE extension are you using?

ChatGPT/Codex VS Code extension: 26.513.21555

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT 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?

Codex IDE extension stays on "Thinking" for a long time

Over the past two days, the Codex IDE extension has often stayed on the "Thinking" state for a long time, even for very simple prompts. It can take around 5 minutes even for simple tasks.

My network connection is working normally, and other websites and services work as expected. This issue happens repeatedly in VS Code. Sometimes Codex does not return a response for a long time and does not show any clear error message. Other extensions do not seem to have this issue.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Open VS Code.
2. Open any repository.
3. Open the Codex IDE extension panel.
4. Send a simple prompt, for example:
   • "Please explain this small function."
   • "Check this file."
   • "Review this small change."
5. Observe that Codex often stays on "Thinking" for a long time, sometimes around 5 minutes, without returning a response or showing a clear error message.

This does not happen every single time, but it has been happening repeatedly over the past two days.

What is the expected behavior?

Codex should start responding within a reasonable time, or show a clear timeout/error message if something goes wrong, instead of staying on the "Thinking" state indefinitely.

Additional information

​- This issue started happening around the past two days.

• It happens even with simple prompts.
• Screenshot attached.
• VS Code version: 1.121.0.
• ChatGPT/Codex VS Code extension: 26.513.21555.
• Subscription: ChatGPT Plus.
• IDE: VS Code.
• Platform: Windows 11 x64.

[github-actions]

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

• codex-cli stalls for exactly 300s between tool result and next model request (stream disconnected) #23807
• Codex Desktop accepts prompt but UI stays stuck in Thinking; Stop fails and turn can become invisible after restart #24287

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[Yong-yuan-X]

I reviewed the potential duplicate issues suggested by the bot.

#23807 looks possibly related because it also mentions ~300s / 5-minute stalls. However, it seems to mainly be about Codex CLI, and it uses a custom provider endpoint. Its logs also show stream disconnected - retrying sampling request. My report is about the VS Code IDE extension UI staying on "Thinking" even for simple prompts.

#24287 has a similar "stuck in Thinking" symptom, but it seems to be about the Codex Desktop app on macOS, and involves Stop/cancel not working and session state desync issues. My environment is the VS Code extension on Windows.

So these issues may be related, but I do not think they are exact duplicates.

[Edelweiss-F]

same problem

[MisterRound]

Widespread at this point, see my issue #24260

[AndrewXiGua]

I believe this is a widespread issue. Even when I ask a simple question like '1+1=?', the model takes several minutes of thinking before delivering an answer.

[Black-Boom]

same problem