codex app can't touch web , but codex cli can

Open 💬 5 comments Opened Feb 6, 2026 by yukinotech

I’m observing inconsistent behavior when executing the same network command (curl) in Codex CLI vs Codex App, even though web search is enabled in my Codex CLI configuration.

Specifically:

  • In Codex CLI, curl can successfully access external websites (e.g. www.baidu.com).
  • In Codex App, the same curl command fails at the DNS resolution stage with Could not resolve host.

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Environment

Codex CLI

  • web search enabled in config.toml
  • Commands are executed in the local machine environment
  • Network access works as expected

Codex App

  • Commands appear to run in a sandboxed execution environment
  • Network / DNS behavior differs from CLI

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Steps to Reproduce

1. Codex CLI (web search enabled)

Input in Codex CLI:

Please curl Baidu and describe the response.

Codex CLI executes:

curl -i https://www.baidu.com

Result:

  • Request succeeds
  • HTTP response headers and HTML body are returned normally

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2. Codex App

Input in Codex App (semantically equivalent):

I will directly execute a curl request to Baidu and describe the response.

Codex App executes:

curl -I -L https://www.baidu.com

and:

curl -L https://www.baidu.com | head -n 30

Result:

curl: (6) Could not resolve host: www.baidu.com
  • Failure occurs at the DNS resolution stage
  • No TCP/TLS connection is established
  • No HTTP response is received

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Expected Behavior

  • Either:
  • Codex App and Codex CLI use equivalent network/DNS capabilities, or
  • The difference in execution environment and network limitations is made explicit to users
  • If web search is enabled, it should be clear:
  • Which environments it applies to (CLI only vs App as well)
  • Whether it affects command execution or only model-level browsing

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Actual Behavior

  • Codex CLI can resolve and access external domains
  • Codex App fails DNS resolution for the same domains
  • The App still reports “command executed”, which can be misleading when the environment itself is restricted

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Questions / Clarification Needed

Does the web search configuration apply only to Codex CLI, and not to Codex App?

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