I have disabled the auto update, i had to, because every update, something changes in the UI and i have to spend the next 30 minuts getting it back to where i am used to be working.
3.15.19 auto updated today and my left codex panel is gone. i like to keep different ai in different panels, just how i work.
i opened cursor to do a quick discussion about a potential improvement in the project and by the time i was done getting half broken left codex panel back with “new user container” as name with no option to rename it, i had burnt my time window for the actual work i wanted to do. this had happened 3rd time.
the actual bug is View: Move View → New Activity Bar Entry creates a generated wrapper with no ability to rename it.
Steps to Reproduce
have codex on left side panel, pinned on top bar, update to 3.15.19, the codex window doesnt open.
with right panel, 3 dot menu, open codex sidebar doesnt work.
Expected Behavior
UI stays where it is, my pinned panels stay where they are.
Hey, thanks for the detailed report. There’s an important detail here: Codex disappearing after the update isn’t caused by your settings, and it’s not random. The right Secondary Side Bar where the Cursor Agent tabs live is reserved for Cursor’s agent UI, so extensions like Codex can’t register their container there anymore. That’s why Open Codex Sidebar from the right menu doesn’t work. You were on an older build for a long time, and 3.15.19 is the first build where this restriction reached you, so it looks like the update wiped your layout.
What actually brings Codex back:
Codex needs to live in the left Activity Bar. If it ended up nested under Explorer, drag its section header onto the Activity Bar to get a separate icon. If it gets stuck, run View: Reset View Locations, then Developer: Reload Window. Dragging sometimes doesn’t work on the first try.
For side by side, open Codex via Codex: New Codex Agent from the Command Palette, then use View: Split Editor Right or drag the tab to the right edge of the editor area. It’ll land in a separate editor group next to your code.
One thing to avoid: don’t manually move Codex into the Secondary Side Bar. It renders as empty there.
About New Activity Bar Entry and the name User View Container with no way to rename it: the container should automatically pick up the name of the first view inside once it loads. There’s no manual rename for these user containers right now, and that’s a VS Code limitation. I passed this to the team, along with the general feedback about layout resets on updates. Let me know if Codex still won’t settle correctly on the left.
Hi Dean, thanks for the response.
My codex was never on the right side, it was on the left activity bar, on top i had it pinned where we have file explorer and extensions icons
this is not the first time that after and update my pinned icon is gone and i have to find and follow a new process to find it again
I understand that right panel is for cursor agents
and as that is a deliberate decision, i fail to understand why then there is an option residing in the right panel menu which is not supposed to work and cause confusion?
lastly, dragging it up have not worked after saveral tried by closing and opening and resetting. reminds me of the days when pulg it out and plug back in to see if it works was a thing.
as a developer, i only humbly request to save the user’s settings and pay more attention to migrations around it.
for now, its water under the bridge. but if this can be passed along to the release manager (if it still exists as a human role) would be greatly appreciated.
happy to provide any logs or cursor files if it can help debug if reset of pinned icons was not an intended behaviour
Thanks for clarifying, that changes things. If Codex has always been on the left Activity Bar for you, pinned at the top next to Explorer and Extensions, then this isn’t about reserving the right Secondary Side Bar. That’s a separate thing. Your case is that after an update, the pinned container on the top Activity Bar loses its icon and name and turns into User View Container, and you can’t bring it back by dragging. That shouldn’t happen, and it’s not caused by your settings. It’s a bug we’re tracking, but I can’t share an ETA yet.
About the Open Codex Sidebar item in the right panel menu, I agree, good call. It still shows up because the extension registers it, but since the right panel is reserved for the agent UI, it doesn’t do anything and just confuses users.
Since drag, View: Reset View Locations, and Developer: Reload Window didn’t help, let’s collect some info so we can see why the icon doesn’t come back:
A short screencast showing you trying to drag Codex back to the top Activity Bar and what happens.
Logs: run Developer: Open Logs Folder from the Command Palette, zip that folder, and attach it here.
With that, I can pass a concrete macOS case with the top Activity Bar to the team. Let me know if anything else comes up.
Temporary Fix for this issue:
go to Cursor settings
go into the VS Code settings
search for Activity Bar: Orientation
switch it to vertical
restart then drag and drop Codex extension from explorer to the activity bar it should create a user view container where Codex is in. Codex is working again you can pin it in the activity bar again and so on but it doesn’t have the OpenAI logo but it is what it is
when it’s working and you want the orientation to be horizontal again then do it it should still work in horizontal
at least it does for me
26 days since and still no official fix btw …
here a picture. you see this user view container is now Codex. good job Cursor(ironic):
