Dev reverse-engineers Codex desktop crash, finds circular module dependency in shipped bundle
cch123 · ghdev · 2026-09-11
A user filed an issue on openai/codex with a full reverse-engineering write-up: Codex desktop 26.908.31457 shows the "ChatGPT hit a snag" recovery screen at startup because a circular dependency in the shipped frontend bundle causes an initializer to run before assignment.
- Reproduced in an isolated Chromium 145 instance loading the installed app.asar (SHA-256 logged), proving the error is independent of Electron
- The "Show pet" window and avatarOverlay window hit the same error boundary
- Breaking the dependency cycle via resource substitution fixed all five tested entry and prefetch scenarios
A notably rigorous desktop-app bug reproduction report.
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