[app][macOS] Assistant Markdown links can disappear from the transcript in Voice view

[nickjohngray]

Summary

In Codex Desktop on macOS, an assistant response can say that it provided a Markdown link while the transcript renders only the surrounding plain text. The URL and link label are absent, not merely unclickable.

This is particularly disruptive in voice mode because the user cannot open the report, file, or web page the assistant says it supplied.

Reproduction

1. Use an existing Codex Desktop task on macOS with Advanced Voice active or recently active.
2. Ask the assistant to provide a clickable Markdown link to a web page.
3. Observe the assistant transcript.

Actual

• The assistant message says that a link was posted.
• Plain surrounding text renders.
• The Markdown link and raw URL do not appear in the transcript.
• Repeating the link in normal Markdown and angle-bracket URL form produced the same missing result.
• In the affected Voice transcript, punctuation can also be rewritten into spoken words such as "colon" and "slash", making a visible URL inaccurate to copy.

Expected

Every assistant-provided web link should be visible and clickable in the transcript. If a Voice renderer cannot create a clickable link, it must at least render the full raw URL as visible text with its original punctuation.

Confirmed workaround

Until this is fixed, users can ask Codex to copy the complete URL or other required text to the macOS clipboard, then paste it into the target app, such as Chrome's address bar. This works even when the transcript omits the link or rewrites punctuation.

Impact

This prevents users from following through on reports, documents, GitHub tickets, and other requested resources. In this incident the user could not open a newly filed Codex bug report because the transcript silently omitted its link.

Evidence

A screenshot from the affected macOS Codex transcript shows the assistant text "Try the raw address I just posted above," but no address or link is visible above it.

Related reports

• [Desktop/macOS] Renderer freezes after referencing large local Codex chats while backend tasks continue #34555 is a broader macOS renderer-freeze problem, not this selective Markdown omission.
• Codex Desktop 26.527: Copy as Markdown disappeared from the Copy menu #25201 concerns the missing Copy as Markdown command, not links disappearing from assistant replies.

[nickjohngray]

This has a direct usage impact for me. I have spent meaningful time and Codex usage reproducing, isolating, documenting, and reporting multiple desktop/Voice failures that interrupt normal work. I would appreciate consideration of a small goodwill usage-credit reset while these issues are investigated. Thank you.

[github-actions]

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

• [Windows] Generated file download links missing in desktop app but visible in browser #36933

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[nickjohngray]

Workaround confirmed on macOS Voice view: ask Codex to copy the complete URL or other text to the macOS clipboard, then paste it into the target app (for example, Chrome's address bar). This works even when the rendered assistant transcript rewrites punctuation such as : and / into spoken words ("colon", "slash"), making the visible response impossible to copy accurately.

This is only a workaround; the transcript should render the assistant's original text faithfully, including URLs and punctuation.

[nickjohngray]

Duplicate of #36933.

This report adds a macOS Advanced Voice variant: ordinary web URLs and Markdown links can disappear from the assistant transcript, and punctuation may be rewritten as spoken words ("colon", "slash"). The confirmed workaround is asking Codex to copy the required text to the macOS clipboard, then pasting it into the target app.