[Linux][Debian 13] ChatGPT Desktop 26.908.31748 startup-fatal “ChatGPT hit a snag”; renderer AppRoutes TypeError: n is not a function #44785

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

ChatGPT Desktop Linux package: 26.908.31748 Bundled app-server reported at startup: 0.154.0-alpha.6.1 The installed package and the current OpenAI stable Debian repository both advertise 26.908.31748. The app also selects/downloads Codex primary runtime 26.909.12148.

What subscription do you have?

Paid ChatGPT plan. Exact account tier omitted from the public report because it does not appear relevant to reproduction.

What platform is your computer?

• Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie) - x86_64 / amd64 - KDE Plasma desktop - Installed from OpenAI's official Linux Debian repository

What issue are you seeing?

The official ChatGPT Linux desktop app fails during startup and displays:

ChatGPT hit a snag
Something went wrong. Try again to continue.

The web version of ChatGPT works normally on the same machine/account/network.

The local bundled Codex app-server starts successfully, the initialization handshake succeeds, and the app-server reaches connected. The failure then occurs in the Electron/React renderer.

Key log sequence:

[AppServerConnection] Current reported app-server version:
currentVersion=0.154.0-alpha.6.1

[AppServerConnection] initialize_handshake_result
outcome=success transportKind=stdio

[AppServerConnection] Codex CLI initialized

[AppServerConnection] app_server_connection.state_changed
next=connected

Immediately afterward:

[electron-message-handler] Initial route prefetch failed; rendering will retry
errorMessage="n is not a function"
errorName=Error
route=primary
windowType=electron

The renderer also reports:

Matched leaf route at location "/" does not have an element or Component.
This means it will render an <Outlet /> with a null value by default
resulting in an "empty" page.

The fatal renderer error is then caught by the application error boundary:

Electron renderer console [error]
TypeError: n is not a function

[electron-message-handler] error boundary
errorMessage="n is not a function"
errorName=Error
name=AppRoutes

This corresponds to the visible “ChatGPT hit a snag” screen.

A KDE System Settings → Shortcuts window also sometimes opens during startup and shows two entries such as:

ChatGPT shortcut: electron-accelerator-6291776:
No active shortcuts

This appears incidental rather than causal, because the renderer failure is independently reproduced with clean app state.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Normal launch

1. Install the current stable ChatGPT Linux package from OpenAI's Debian repository.
2. Launch chatgpt.
3. The window opens but then displays “ChatGPT hit a snag”.
4. The renderer logs TypeError: n is not a function with name=AppRoutes.

Reinstall does not help

sudo apt update
sudo apt-get install --reinstall chatgpt
pkill -fi chatgpt
chatgpt

The same startup-fatal screen occurs.

Clean Electron profile + clean Codex home also reproduces

pkill -fi chatgpt

rm -rf /tmp/chatgpt-clean-profile
rm -rf /tmp/codex-clean
mkdir -p /tmp/codex-clean

CODEX_HOME=/tmp/codex-clean \
chatgpt --user-data-dir=/tmp/chatgpt-clean-profile

The same failure occurs.

Disabling apps/plugins also reproduces

pkill -fi chatgpt

rm -rf /tmp/chatgpt-noplugins
rm -rf /tmp/codex-noplugins
mkdir -p /tmp/codex-noplugins

cat > /tmp/codex-noplugins/config.toml <<'EOF'
[features]
apps = false
plugins = false
EOF

CODEX_HOME=/tmp/codex-noplugins \
chatgpt --user-data-dir=/tmp/chatgpt-noplugins

Even with a fresh profile and both features disabled, startup still fails with:

Initial route prefetch failed; rendering will retry
errorMessage="n is not a function"

followed by:

TypeError: n is not a function
name=AppRoutes

The fatal renderer failure occurs before the later bundled-plugin reconciliation, so plugin installation does not appear to be the primary trigger.

Package verification

dpkg-query -W -f='${Version}\n' chatgpt

returns:

26.908.31748

The OpenAI stable Debian repository also advertises:

26.908.31748

and:

dpkg -V chatgpt

produces no output.

What is the expected behavior?

The Linux desktop application should render its normal home/sign-in interface after the app-server initializes successfully.

A frontend routing/rendering exception should not replace the application with the fatal “ChatGPT hit a snag” screen.

Additional information

Confirmed during troubleshooting:

• ChatGPT works normally in the browser.
• Reinstalling the official .deb does not change the behavior.
• dpkg -V chatgpt reports no modified/corrupt tracked package files.
• A completely fresh Electron user-data directory reproduces the failure.
• A completely fresh CODEX_HOME reproduces the failure.
• Explicitly disabling both apps and plugins still reproduces the same renderer exception.
• The bundled app-server itself initializes successfully and reaches connected; the observed startup-fatal failure is in the renderer/UI path.
• The app currently selects Codex primary runtime 26.909.12148 while the stable desktop package remains 26.908.31748. This may be normal independent runtime rollout behavior; I am not asserting that the version difference is causal.
• During another clean-profile run, a later bundled-plugin reconciliation produced plugin 'sites' was not found in marketplace 'openai-bundled', but the no-plugins reproduction shows the AppRoutes renderer failure occurs independently and earlier.

Possibly related but not exact duplicates:

• [Linux/XFCE] ChatGPT Desktop 26.818.61809 emits protocol, feature-key, listener, and Chromium errors on startup #40412 — Linux startup emits the same root-route warning, but the reporter states the application remains usable. In this report the startup failure is fatal.
• [Bug/Issue] ChatGPT hit a snag #41988 — “ChatGPT hit a snag” on Windows caused by repeated app-server termination. In this report the app-server initializes successfully and remains connected while the renderer fails.

run.log