VS Code: Codex panel crashes / reload-loops when Amazon Q extension is enabled (Windows)

[Metrotechs]

Bug: Codex VS Code extension shows blank/stuck panel after every auto-update (Windows)

Summary

On Windows, every time the ChatGPT/Codex VS Code extension auto-updates, the Codex
panel comes up blank / stuck and the extension is unusable until it is manually
uninstalled and reinstalled. This has now reproduced across two consecutive updates.

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 Home, build 26200
• VS Code: 1.126.0 (commit 7e7950df89d055b5a378379db9ee14290772148a), x64
• Extension: openai.chatgpt
• Affected versions observed: 26.623.70822, 26.623.81905 (both broke on update)
• Auth mode: chatgpt (login stored in ~/.codex/auth.json, valid throughout)

Symptom

• Codex webview panel renders blank / never becomes interactive.
• Extension host repeatedly re-activates the extension shortly after startup.
• App routes take abnormally long to mount and the delay grows across updates:
  ~8.4s on 6/29, then ~18.6s on 7/1.
• The codex.exe app-server process is not running after the panel fails to load.

Reproduction

1. Have the extension installed and working.
2. Let VS Code auto-update the extension to a new build (happened 6/29 and again 7/1).
3. Open the Codex panel -> blank / stuck.

Root cause (suspected)

The auto-update is applied while the previous build's codex.exe app-server is still
running and holding a file lock. Evidence: attempting to remove the old extension
folder after update fails with:

Access to the path 'codex.exe' is denied.

This leaves the extension in a half-updated state (new webview assets, old locked
binary / stale state), producing the blank panel.

Log evidence (from %APPDATA%\Code\logs...\openai.chatgpt\Codex.log)

• Repeated "Activating Codex extension" within the same minute (re-activation loop).
• "[startup][renderer] app routes mounted after 18640ms" (18.6s; was 8362ms previously).
• Request failed method=fs/readFile error "The system cannot find the path specified.
  (os error 3)" on every startup.
• "Statsig: error while bootstrapping post-login client error={}"
• "[desktop-notifications][unhandled-rejection] {"value":{}...}"

Workaround that reliably fixes it

1. code --uninstall-extension openai.chatgpt
2. code --install-extension openai.chatgpt --force
3. Command Palette -> "Developer: Reload Window"

After this the panel renders normally — until the next auto-update, which reintroduces
the problem.

Suggested fix

Ensure the codex.exe app-server is fully terminated before the extension update is
applied / on extension deactivation, so updates don't land over a locked binary.

[Metrotechs]

Update — corrected root cause.

After further diagnosis, the original write-up (extension file-lock / bad build) was not the actual cause. The real trigger is an extension conflict with the Amazon Q VS Code extension (amazonwebservices.amazon-q-vscode, v2.4.0).

Confirmed:

• With Amazon Q enabled, the Codex panel opens then crashes, and the extension enters a repeated activate/reload cycle (the webview crashes after routes mount).
• The AWS Toolkit extension (aws-toolkit-vscode) is not involved — disabling it alone did not help.
• Disabling the Amazon Q extension resolves the crash completely. Codex has been stable since, with normal startup.
• Reinstalling/downgrading the Codex extension did nothing (expected — the conflict is with a different extension), which is why the earlier version-based theory was wrong.

Environment (unchanged): Windows 11 Home build 26200, VS Code 1.126.0, extension openai.chatgpt (reproduced on both 26.623.70822 and 26.623.81905).

Suggested angle for maintainers: likely contention over a shared VS Code resource between two AI assistants (e.g. inline/completion provider registration, a webview/renderer resource, or a port). Repro: install + enable Amazon Q alongside Codex on Windows, open the Codex panel.

Apologies for the initially incorrect root cause in the report above.