Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Start with the complete error message, its file path, and the command that produced it. Configuration, login, update, and permission failures include the path or next command when recovery is known.

Symptom	Action
No saved profiles	Run codex-switch login or codex-switch import <path>.
Profile '<alias>' not found on use or ChatGPT launch	That alias is not a ChatGPT profile. Custom API providers are launched with codex-switch launch <alias> and listed by codex-switch provider list; use does not accept them.
Codex rejects a custom provider / Chat Completions error	Current Codex only speaks wire_api = "responses". Point --base-url at a Responses-capable gateway (OpenRouter) rather than a Chat Completions-only vendor API. See Custom API providers.
Custom provider fails with Server tool request failed (HTTP 400)	The model rejects Codex's built-in web_search server tool. Disable it on that model in the TUI form (w) or with --no-web-search on provider add. See Model-specific request settings.
Custom provider fails with Reasoning is mandatory for this endpoint (HTTP 400)	The model is a thinking model but Codex defaulted it to no reasoning. Set a reasoning effort on that model in the TUI form or with --reasoning after --model. See Model-specific request settings.
'<alias>' already names a ChatGPT profile when adding a provider	Aliases are a single namespace. Choose a different provider alias.
A removed provider cannot be recovered	Provider deletion removes the stored key immediately; unlike ChatGPT profiles, it is not archived under deleted-profiles/. Re-add it with provider add.
Credential store is not file-backed	Set cli_auth_credentials_store = "file" in $CODEX_HOME/config.toml.
Headless login cannot open a browser	Run codex-switch login --device.
Windows daemon installation is denied	Open PowerShell as Administrator and retry.
Windows daemon stop says credential work is still in flight	Wait briefly and run codex-switch daemon stop again. The process is intentionally left running instead of force-killed while a refresh token may be rotating.
TUI layout is broken in Git Bash	Use Windows Terminal or PowerShell.
Direct update does not replace a Homebrew binary	Run brew upgrade xjoker/tap/codex-switch.
A Homebrew installation cannot switch to dev	Run brew uninstall codex-switch, then follow Testing development releases.
A direct dev installation should return to Homebrew	Run the direct uninstaller, keep the data directory when prompted, then run brew install xjoker/tap/codex-switch.
macOS/Linux self-update reports that the install directory is not writable	Rerun the current installer once to migrate a legacy /usr/local/bin direct install to $HOME/.local/bin; see Updating. Use sudo codex-switch self-update only for an intentional --system install.
A dev build should return to stable	Run codex-switch self-update --stable.
Self-update reports that gh attestation verify is unavailable	Install or upgrade GitHub CLI, then retry. Direct self-update fails closed until it can verify the release provenance bundle.
An installed daemon ignores CODEX_SWITCH_HOME	daemon install captures CODEX_SWITCH_HOME from the shell that runs it; re-run daemon install with the variable set so its value lands in the service definition. See Configuration.
HTTPS fails with invalid peer certificate: UnknownIssuer	An intercepting proxy is re-signing traffic. See HTTPS fails with an unknown issuer.
An account reports re-login required (refresh_token_reused)	The stored refresh token was already spent and cannot be recovered. Run codex-switch login <alias> for that profile. The verdict is remembered, so the account costs no further requests until you sign in again; codex-switch list -f asks the server anyway.
Import reports a quarantined rotated credential	The server replaced the source file's one-time token before identity or managed-policy validation failed. Keep the named file under ~/.codex-switch/recovery/ private, sign in again, then remove it only after the account works. Recovery files are deliberately not selectable profiles.

For network or API failures, rerun the smallest failing command with --debug:

codex-switch --debug list
codex-switch --debug self-update --check

Debug output can contain account or infrastructure identifiers. Before opening an issue, remove tokens, email addresses, account IDs, workspace names, filesystem paths that reveal identity, and proxy credentials.

HTTPS fails with invalid peer certificate: UnknownIssuer

An intercepting proxy — a debugging tool such as Proxyman or Charles, or a corporate MITM gateway — presents its own certificate instead of the real one. The browser and curl accept it because its CA is installed in the operating system, so only codex-switch appears to be broken.

codex-switch reads the OS trust store, so installing the proxy's CA there is normally enough. Reaching this error means the CA is missing from that store, or is trusted only for the current user in a way the store does not expose. Point at the certificate explicitly:

# macOS: export the CA, substituting the name shown in Keychain Access
security find-certificate -c "Proxyman CA" -p > ~/.codex-switch/proxy-ca.pem
export CODEX_CA_CERTIFICATE=~/.codex-switch/proxy-ca.pem

Set the variable in the shell profile so the TUI and the daemon inherit it, not just the current shell. SSL_CERT_FILE works as a fallback in the same order Codex itself uses. Turning off interception is equally valid when a capture is not needed.

The failure is intermittent when the proxy only intercepts part of the time, so the same command can succeed minutes later. Login is affected the same way: the browser step completes while the token exchange behind it fails, which looks like a rejected sign-in rather than a certificate problem.

Recover a deleted profile

Deletion moves an inactive profile into recoverable storage rather than erasing it. Stop the daemon, move the newest matching directory back into profiles/, and confirm that it appears:

codex-switch daemon stop
# Move deleted-profiles/<alias>.backup-<timestamp> to profiles/<alias>
codex-switch list

The base directory is ~/.codex-switch, %USERPROFILE%\.codex-switch on Windows, or the value of CODEX_SWITCH_HOME.

Reset-card outcome is uncertain

If a reset-card request reports that consumption may have occurred, do not immediately retry. Refresh the account state and verify the card count and quota first. This warning means the request reached the service but the client could not prove the final result.

Report an issue

Include the operating system, terminal, codex-switch --version, exact command, expected behavior, actual behavior, and redacted diagnostic output. Use the GitHub issue tracker.

Next steps

• Check short behavior and security answers in the FAQ.
• Review paths and settings in Configuration.
• Custom API provider launch and key handling: Custom API providers.
• If the problem remains, report the redacted reproduction in the GitHub issue tracker.