macOS Codex Desktop: native traffic-light buttons intermittently ignore clicks on scaled external primary display

[sprocsw]

In Codex Desktop on macOS, the native red/yellow/green window controls in the top-left corner intermittently ignore clicks when the Codex window is on my external display.

Hover behavior works correctly: when the pointer is over the buttons, macOS shows the expected Close, Minimize, and Zoom/Full Screen affordances. However, clicking the same buttons frequently has no effect.

Other macOS applications on the same display do not have this problem. This appears to be specific to Codex Desktop rather than the mouse, monitor, or a system-wide window-control issue.

Environment

• ChatGPT Desktop / Codex version: 26.730.61639 (build 6234)
• Bundled Codex CLI: 0.147.0-alpha.1.2
• macOS: 15.0.1 (24A348)
• Hardware: MacBook Pro (MacBookPro18,1)
• Chip: Apple M1 Pro
• Memory: 16 GB
• External display: BenQ PD3200U
• External display mode reported by macOS: 5120 x 2880, UI scaled to 2560 x 1440 @ 60 Hz
• External display role: Main Display
• Built-in display also enabled: 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR
• Mirroring: Off

Steps to reproduce

1. Connect the external display and use it as the main display.
2. Open Codex Desktop.
3. Move the Codex window onto the external display.
4. Hover over any macOS traffic-light window control in the top-left corner.
5. Confirm that the expected hover affordance/tooltip is shown.
6. Click Close, Minimize, or Zoom/Full Screen.

Actual result

The hover state is displayed correctly, but clicking the control often does nothing. The failure is intermittent and affects the red, yellow, and green controls.

Expected result

Each traffic-light control should respond to its click immediately and consistently:

• Red: close the window
• Yellow: minimize the window
• Green: zoom / enter or exit full screen, according to macOS behavior

Additional context

• The issue occurs only in Codex Desktop.
• Other applications on the same external display have working traffic-light buttons.
• This suggests a Codex-specific native title-bar hit-testing or event-routing issue.
• The external monitor is the primary display and uses a scaled HiDPI mode, which may be relevant to coordinate conversion between the native window title bar and the Codex renderer.

Request

Please investigate native macOS title-bar hit testing and mouse-event routing for Codex Desktop when the window is placed on a scaled external display, especially when that external display is configured as the primary display.

[github-actions]

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

• Codex Desktop macOS: model/reasoning controls intermittently ignore clicks after external display + UI zoom #36616

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[sprocsw]

Update: external display is not the root cause

I moved the Codex window from the external display to the MacBook's built-in display and reproduced the same issue there. The red/yellow/green native window controls still intermittently ignore mouse clicks.

Keyboard shortcuts work normally. For example, Cmd+M reliably minimizes the Codex window even when clicking the yellow Minimize button does nothing.

This further suggests that the problem is specific to mouse-click handling / native title-bar hit testing in Codex Desktop, rather than the window actions themselves, the external monitor, or macOS system-wide window controls.

[jiechan]

I have the same problem too.

Mac os 13.7.8 (22H730) , Chip Intel i5, Hardware: Macbook Pro 2016