Summary
The Codex Desktop app on Windows provides substantially less visibility into an agent's active work than the mobile remote view for the same task.
Observed behavior
When viewing an active task remotely on mobile, the UI surfaces a detailed, step-by-step activity stream, including commands/tool activity and intermediate progress. On Windows desktop, the same task has a much more compact presentation. Opening the integrated terminal does not help: it is a separate user terminal and does not show commands executed by the agent.
The desktop view also does not provide an obvious way to inspect comparable agent-work details. This makes it difficult to understand whether the agent is exploring, running tests, waiting, or blocked.
Expected behavior
Please bring the desktop task UI closer to the mobile remote view, or add an optional "detailed activity" mode that shows:
- Commands and tool activity executed by the agent
- Concise, user-safe progress/status updates for each step
- Clear visibility into tests, waits, and blockers
- A direct path from a task to the relevant detailed activity
The request is for observable execution activity and progress, not private chain-of-thought.
Platform
- Codex Desktop for Windows
- Compared against the mobile remote experience on the same task
Summary
The Codex Desktop app on Windows provides substantially less visibility into an agent's active work than the mobile remote view for the same task.
Observed behavior
When viewing an active task remotely on mobile, the UI surfaces a detailed, step-by-step activity stream, including commands/tool activity and intermediate progress. On Windows desktop, the same task has a much more compact presentation. Opening the integrated terminal does not help: it is a separate user terminal and does not show commands executed by the agent.
The desktop view also does not provide an obvious way to inspect comparable agent-work details. This makes it difficult to understand whether the agent is exploring, running tests, waiting, or blocked.
Expected behavior
Please bring the desktop task UI closer to the mobile remote view, or add an optional "detailed activity" mode that shows:
The request is for observable execution activity and progress, not private chain-of-thought.
Platform