Codex desktop beta adds remote connections as testers report disappearing chats
Codex desktop beta added remote project connections for SSH-style setups, then early testers reported disappearing chats and missing sidebar history. Use it for experiments, but keep critical work backed up outside the beta until persistence stabilizes.
TL;DR
- OpenAI's beta demo shows Codex desktop beta now supports remote project connections, letting testers open folders on machines like a Mac Studio, Umbrel, or Coolify host from the app.
- The feature landed in a workflow creators had been asking for as Kitze's migration test compared Komposer 2, Kursor's SSH-style project access, and then his follow-up noted Codex was adding it too.
- Early use immediately exposed persistence problems: according to the bug report, remote chats disappeared from the sidebar and individual chat messages vanished during testing.
What shipped
The beta adds an "Add remote project" flow inside Codex desktop. In the screenshot post, the app lets you pick a connected remote host and point Codex at a folder path, then mount that remote folder as its own sidebar project; the modal shown includes a selected host, a filesystem path, and an "Add project" button. That is a meaningful shift for creative coders running apps, media tools, or personal servers on another machine instead of locally.
The request was already visible in creator workflows. In Kitze's migration test, he was trying Komposer 2 for a trpc-to-Elysia migration and called out Kursor's ability to open projects over SSH as a standout convenience because "most agent orchestrators can't do that." His follow-up post then said Codex was adding the same capability.
What broke in testing
The first hands-on reaction flipped from excitement to frustration within hours. After saying the feature meant he could work on projects across his Mac Studio, Umbrel, and Coolify boxes without living in tmux, the same tester posted a rollback note saying "this works like shit for now" because remote chats kept disappearing from the sidebar and chat messages themselves were also disappearing.
That makes the current story less about remote access existing and more about whether session history survives normal use. For creators using Codex desktop as a front end for remote machines, the beta now appears to cover connection and project mounting before it reliably covers conversation persistence.