OpenAI Codex suffers global outage, restores service and resets paid usage

On the evening of Sept 25 through Sept 26, OpenAI Codex suffered a full outage affecting Web, API, CLI and the VS Code extension, with large numbers of users receiving 401 Unauthorized: Incorrect API key errors. The incident was confirmed at 10:58 and recovered about an hour later; Codex lead Thibault Sottiaux announced a usage reset for all paid Codex and ChatGPT users and apologized. No official root cause has been given, which is why the incident remains notable.

Confirmed

• The OpenAI status page showed the outage affecting Codex Web, API, CLI and VS Code extension, confirmed from 10:58 and recovering around 11:47; during the incident users were advised to log in with an API key, which was verified as a workaround (reachvb). The status page later declared full operational status with a reset record, publishing availability data: APIs 11 components at 99.96%, ChatGPT 15 components at 99.66%. The next day dfinke and others confirmed API credits had been reset.
• Many users (iamgarffi, aidenybai, Jeremy Philippe, TheGrog, JustAnotherUser80 and others) reported 401 invalid-key errors across Codex; a ChatGPT Pro user hit repeated 401s on Codex Desktop for Windows even when signing in with ChatGPT, with macOS also affected. Others saw "workspace routing discovery timeout" errors. One user had 4 long-running tasks all stuck in infinite "Reconnecting"; another was mid-refactor and forced to stop.
• Errors referenced an sk-svcac-prefixed key users never set, leading some to suspect an OpenAI-side authentication failure.
• The status page initially showed no incident when iamgarffi posted; the official OpenAI Devs account then confirmed the outage, said fixes were underway, and apologized after resolution without disclosing cause or scope.
• After recovery, Thibault Sottiaux announced a usage reset for all paid Codex and ChatGPT users; during the downtime many users flooded his replies demanding resets (rudrank). He joked the team keeps a "backup Codex" for outages.
• The incident became meme material: Yuchen Jin's "all of Silicon Valley" reaction, engineer aidanclark initially blaming his airplane WiFi, clairevo's "pov: codex is down", and theo not even noticing; some heavy users argued for local fallback models for critical systems so cloud coding outages don't halt work.

Unconfirmed

• The exact root cause (authentication-side misconfiguration or otherwise) remains officially unexplained; the sk-svcac key observation is user-side.

Why it matters

• Codex is a key OpenAI developer tool, and authentication failures halt entire workflows at scale; the incident also exposed status-page lag behind real outages, relevant for operators and dependents.

2026-09-26 ~ 2026-09-27 · 28 related posts

Full story(11 episodes)→

• Episode 1: Users report Codex credits burning faster than usual(2026-09-12, 5 posts)
• Episode 2: Paying users complain Codex subscription limits drain far too fast(2026-09-18, 7 posts)
• Episode 3: Pro Users Swarm With Complaints Over Codex and Astra Usage Limits(2026-09-19, 14 posts)
• Episode 4: Users Accuse OpenAI of Repackaging Terra as Sol While Cutting Usage Limits(2026-09-23, 2 posts)
• Episode 5: Users Slam OpenAI Codex for Runaway Quota Consumption(2026-09-24, 4 posts)
• Episode 6: OpenAI Codex suffers global outage, restores service and resets paid usage(2026-09-26, 28 posts)
• Episode 7: Codex Outage Burns Through Paid Quotas, No Compensation(2026-09-26, 2 posts)
• Episode 8: OpenAI Codex Users Protest Sudden Quota Hard Resets(2026-09-27, 2 posts)
• Episode 9: User Math: Codex Reset 15 Times in 60 Days, 174% Extra Quota(2026-09-30, 2 posts)
• Episode 10: OpenAI Users Fury Over Botched Codex Quota Resets(2026-10-03, 3 posts)
• Episode 11: Codex Quota Resets Ignore Time Zones, Users Lose Credits(2026-10-05, 3 posts)

• Codex outage reports: users hit 401 'Incorrect API key' errors — aidenybai · 2026-09-26
• [source] Codex hit by mass 401 'invalid API key' errors as OpenAI status page shows no outage — iamgarffi · 2026-09-26
• Developer caught mid-refactor as Codex outage hits — RaphaelAmbroCosteau · 2026-09-26
• Codex goes down and 'all of Silicon Valley' reacts in a meme — Yuchenj_UW · 2026-09-26
• Codex Goes Down as Users Flood Exec Asking for Usage Reset — rudrank · 2026-09-26
• OpenAI Codex Goes Down, Silicon Valley Engineers Blame Their Own WiFi First — _aidan_clark_ · 2026-09-26
• OpenAI Codex outage: users hit "401 Incorrect API key" from OpenAI's own API — IgorCarron · 2026-09-26
• User running 4 long Codex tasks reports all stuck reconnecting forever — Yuchenj_UW · 2026-09-26
• More users ask if Codex is down, sharing error screenshots — hugobowne · 2026-09-26
• Users report OpenAI Codex outage with error screens — hugobowne · 2026-09-26
• Codex is down: OpenAI says it's hustling to restore service — prd_008 · 2026-09-26
• Codex outage: users hit widespread 401 Unauthorized errors — JeremyNguyenPhD · 2026-09-26
• Codex Desktop on Windows hits 401 "Incorrect API key" despite ChatGPT sign-in — Just_Another_User80 · 2026-09-26
• OpenAI Codex is down, users report outage — TinfoilTricorn · 2026-09-26
• Codex goes down and programmers flood X with memes about their outage dependency — soumitrashukla9 · 2026-09-26
• Codex outage hits developers once again as reliance on coding agents deepens — 0xkarasy · 2026-09-26
• Theo: Codex is down right now — and he didn't even notice — TinfoilTricorn · 2026-09-26
• [source] OpenAI Codex outage hits Web, API, CLI and VS Code, fully resolved in about an hour — reach_vb · 2026-09-26
• OpenAI services fully back online with a reset, status page shows 99.96% API uptime — JordanMorgan10 · 2026-09-26
• OpenAI resets usage limits for all paid users after Codex outage — soumitrashukla9 · 2026-09-26
• [source] OpenAI says Codex outage resolved, service back up — OpenAIDevs · 2026-09-26
• After a One-Hour Codex Outage, Devs Urge Setting Up Local Fallback Models — heyneighbor · 2026-09-26
• Codex Went Down for 68 Minutes Right After OpenAI Admitted Agents Leaked User Data — 新智元 · 2026-09-26
• Joke theory blames last week's Codex quota drain on agents hijacking other users' accounts — GabGarrett · 2026-09-26
• Codex outage reports: workspace routing discovery timeout error — koltregaskes · 2026-09-26
• OpenAI credits back online after brief outage and reset — dfinke · 2026-09-27

2 near-duplicate retellings: TheGrog · arthurcolle