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I have a room which I would like to turn into a hallway and a room.
The problem is that if I stud out a wall the room, with the minimum
width hallway, will be just less than the magical six feet wide. Would
I be violating any codes if I made the wall out of a piece of 0.5 inch
CDX or OSB held in place by 1x3 molding at the the top and set into a
groove 3/4" deep routed into the floor at the bottom? I would then
panel both sides with the paneling edges staggering the CDX edges and
use surface mount electrical. I could even use tongue and groove
plywood.

Is there any proper way to make a THIN wall?

A wall structured as you describe would look cheap, and have a negative
effect on resale value. If the floor is hardwood, routing a slot in it would
be a sin.

I'd look into doing a cabinetry style wall. Think Japanese sliding panels,
except not sliding, or like in a divided-up government office. Hard to make
specific recommendations w/o seeing the space, and knowing what the new room
is to be used for. Home office? Additional bedroom? If it may ever need to
be converted back, a jam-fit wall made up of 2x2 (or edgewise 2x4) studs and
horizontal pieces, with lots of cross pieces, skinned on both sides with
glued paneling, may be stiff enough. You would have to have a thick frame
around the door, probably with a skinny jackpost from floor to ceiling right
there, to keep the door square. The rest of the wall could just be basted
into place with a few easily patchable nails or long screws. Electric could
be surface mount on the non-public side, fed from ceiling light, or even fed
through wall from a discreet hole in ceiling, hooked up in attic- shallow
boxes are easy to find. I've seen temporary walls done this way many times
in office and home situations. With a little artistry and luck to match
adjoining wall coverings and trim style, they blended right in, and when no
longer required (like when the kid moved out) were easy to reverse and
reclaim the space for the original use.

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