openai/codex · error

missing program for PTY spawn

Error message

missing program for PTY spawn

What it means

Error "missing program for PTY spawn" thrown in openai/codex.

Source

Thrown at codex-rs/utils/pty/src/pty.rs:137

    #[cfg(not(windows))]
    {
        native_pty_system()
    }
}

/// Spawn a process attached to a PTY, preserving selected inherited file
/// descriptors across exec on Unix.
pub async fn spawn_process(
    program: &str,
    args: &[String],
    cwd: &Path,
    env: &HashMap<String, String>,
    arg0: &Option<String>,
    size: TerminalSize,
    inherited_fds: &[i32],
) -> Result<SpawnedProcess> {
    if program.is_empty() {
        anyhow::bail!("missing program for PTY spawn");
    }

    #[cfg(not(unix))]
    let _ = inherited_fds;

    #[cfg(unix)]
    if !inherited_fds.is_empty() {
        return spawn_process_preserving_fds(program, args, cwd, env, arg0, size, inherited_fds)
            .await;
    }

    spawn_process_portable(program, args, cwd, env, arg0, size).await
}

async fn spawn_process_portable(
    program: &str,
    args: &[String],
    cwd: &Path,

View on GitHub (pinned to 339751715c)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at codex-rs/utils/pty/src/pty.rs:137 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of openai/codex@339751715c (2026-08-25). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0eb186d389df4ad0. Report an issue: GitHub.