{"slug": "macos-code-sign-clone-grows-unbounded-62-gb-across-codex-auto-updates", "title": "macOS: Code_sign_clone grows unbounded (62 GB+) across Codex auto-updates", "summary": "A bug in OpenAI's Codex desktop app for macOS causes a code_sign_clone directory to grow unbounded, consuming over 62 GB of disk space. The directory accumulates due to frequent auto-updates and is never cleaned up, leading to a silent disk space leak. Users can manually delete the directory as a workaround.", "body_md": "-\n[Notifications](/login?return_to=%2Fopenai%2Fcodex)You must be signed in to change notification settings -\n[Fork 14k](/login?return_to=%2Fopenai%2Fcodex)\n\n# macOS: code_sign_clone grows unbounded (62 GB+) across Codex auto-updates #27536\n\n[appIssues related to the Codex desktop app](https://github.com/openai/codex/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22app%22)Issues related to the Codex desktop app\n\n[bugSomething isn't working](https://github.com/openai/codex/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22bug%22)Something isn't working\n\n## Description\n\n## Summary\n\nOn macOS, the Codex desktop app (Electron) accumulates a massive `code_sign_clone`\n\ndirectory in the system temp folder that is never cleaned up. Over time this can consume **62 GB or more** of disk space without the user realizing it.\n\n## Environment\n\n**macOS**: 26.6 (25G5028f)** Codex version**: 26.608.12217 (build 3722)** Architecture**: Apple Silicon (aarch64)\n\n## Location\n\n```\n/private/var/folders/<hash>/X/com.openai.codex.code_sign_clone\n```\n\n## Root Cause\n\nmacOS creates a code signing clone under `/private/var/folders/.../X/`\n\nfor signed Electron apps. When the app auto-updates frequently (as Codex does), macOS retains old signing data but does not aggressively prune it. Because Codex.app is ~1 GB and updates are frequent, this directory grows to tens of gigabytes over weeks of normal use.\n\n## Reproduction\n\n- Use Codex desktop for several weeks with auto-update enabled.\n- Run:\n`du -sh /private/var/folders/*/X/com.openai.codex.code_sign_clone`\n\n- Observe 10-60+ GB consumed.\n\n## Suggested Fix\n\n- On app startup or after a successful update, remove or invalidate stale entries in the code_sign_clone directory.\n- Alternatively, reduce the frequency of full app binary replacements during updates (e.g., use delta updates or a stable binary wrapper that loads updated JS bundles without replacing the signed executable).\n\n## Workaround\n\nUsers can safely delete the directory:\n\n```\nrm -rf /private/var/folders/*/X/com.openai.codex.code_sign_clone\n```\n\nmacOS will regenerate the current version's signing data on next launch (~few hundred MB).\n\n## Impact\n\nThis is a silent disk space leak. Users see \"Codex: 75 GB\" in macOS Storage settings but cannot find where the space is consumed because the path is hidden in system temp folders. Users with smaller SSDs may hit disk-full conditions without understanding the cause.\n\n## Metadata\n\n## Metadata\n\n### Assignees\n\n### Labels\n\n[appIssues related to the Codex desktop app](https://github.com/openai/codex/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22app%22)Issues related to the Codex desktop app\n\n[bugSomething isn't working](https://github.com/openai/codex/issues?q=state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22bug%22)Something isn't working\n\n### Type\n\n### Fields\n\n[Give feedback](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/189141)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/macos-code-sign-clone-grows-unbounded-62-gb-across-codex-auto-updates", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/27536", "published_at": "2026-06-30 20:37:31+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-30 20:52:02.667067+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["OpenAI", "Codex", "macOS", "Apple Silicon"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/macos-code-sign-clone-grows-unbounded-62-gb-across-codex-auto-updates", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/macos-code-sign-clone-grows-unbounded-62-gb-across-codex-auto-updates.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/macos-code-sign-clone-grows-unbounded-62-gb-across-codex-auto-updates.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/macos-code-sign-clone-grows-unbounded-62-gb-across-codex-auto-updates.jsonld"}}