[macOS Desktop] New sidebar hover navigation accidentally switches sections while reaching a chat
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Assessment
- Difficulty
- 2/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Newbie friendliness
- 70/100
- Issue type
- Bug
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Activity status
- Active
- Tech stack
- macos, rust
- Domain
- desktop-dev
Research direction
This issue concerns the hover behavior of the left sidebar in the macOS desktop app. Look for the UI component that handles the sidebar navigation icons (Home, Spaces, Schedule, Customize) and the hover-to-reveal logic for the chat list. The fix should make the section switching more forgiving, either by adding a hover delay or by preserving the open chat list while the pointer moves toward it. Test by collapsing the sidebar, hovering over Home to reveal chats, and moving the pointer down toward a chat.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Description
Problem
The new left sidebar makes switching between existing Codex chats frustrating when the sidebar is collapsed.
I keep the sidebar collapsed to preserve space in a small app window. Previously, I could hover to reveal it and select another chat. With the new vertical icons for Home/Codex, Spaces, Schedule, and Customize, moving the pointer downward toward a chat can accidentally activate another section.
If I hover over Home to reveal the chat/project list, then move down toward a chat without first moving far enough to the right, the pointer crosses Spaces or Schedule. The sidebar switches away from the chat list, and I have to return to Home/Codex and try again. This makes a frequent action depend on a precise mouse path.
I cannot find an option to hide the additional section icons. Keeping the sidebar permanently expanded takes too much space and is not a satisfactory workaround.
Steps to reproduce (user-observed interaction)
- Use the desktop app with multiple chats/projects and the left sidebar collapsed.
- Hover over Home/Codex to reveal the chat/project list.
- Move the pointer quickly downward toward a chat, without moving far enough to the right to clear the vertical icon rail.
- Pass over Spaces or Schedule.
- The sidebar switches to that section instead of keeping the chat list available.
- Return to Home/Codex and repeat the navigation attempt.
Expected behavior
Keep hover-to-reveal useful for compact windows, but make moving from the Home icon to the revealed chat list forgiving. Passing briefly over adjacent section icons while trying to reach a chat should not immediately replace the list.
Suggested improvements
Please consider one or more of:
- Require an intentional hover of roughly 500 ms before switching sidebar sections, canceling the switch if the pointer leaves sooner. This is a suggested starting point, not a measured threshold.
- Preserve the open chat list while the pointer travels toward it, with a forgiving movement corridor.
- Offer click-to-switch for section icons while retaining hover-to-reveal for the chat list.
- Allow users to hide unused Spaces, Schedule, and Customize icons.
The core request is reliable chat switching with the sidebar collapsed, without needing precise pointer movements or permanently sacrificing workspace width.
Environment and scope
- Codex desktop app on macOS.
- Reported October 6, 2026.
- Exact app and OS versions have not been collected.
- This report describes my observed interaction; no independent reproduction or root cause investigation is claimed.
- This behavior feels like a regression from the previous sidebar.
Related reports
- #31538 requests control over automatic sidebar expansion.
- #33362 requests an option to disable hover-triggered sidebar reveal.
- #30275 describes a different hover rail interfering with normal sidebar navigation.
This report specifically concerns unintended section switching across the new navigation icons while trying to select a chat.
- Dominant language
- Rust
- Stars
- 130k
- Forks
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- Avg merge
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- Merged PRs (30d)
- 997
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