VS Code extension: clicking file links in chat opens external browser (`vscode-resource.vscode-cdn.net`) instead of navigating to local file/line

Resolved 💬 7 comments Opened Mar 6, 2026 by igl76 Closed Mar 6, 2026
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

What version of the IDE extension are you using?

openai.chatgpt-26.304.20706-win32-x64

What subscription do you have?

Pro

Which IDE are you using?

VS Code

What platform is your computer?

Windows 10

What issue are you seeing?

Summary

Markdown file links in assistant responses are rendered as clickable blue links, but clicking them does not open the file in VS Code.
Instead, VS Code webview rewrites the path into a URL like:

https://file+.vscode-resource.vscode-cdn.net/c%3A/Users/hp/.vscode/extensions/openai.chatgpt-26.304.20706-win32-x64/webview/...

That URL is then opened in Chrome and fails to resolve.

Actual Behavior

  • External browser (Chrome) opens.
  • Browser navigates to a file+.vscode-resource.vscode-cdn.net URL and fails.
  • No editor navigation occurs.

Impact

  • Breaks normal review workflow for line-level findings.
  • Makes assistant file references cumbersome to use.
  • Creates confusion because links appear like editor-navigation links but behave like broken web URLs.

Notes

  • As a workaround, non-clickable plain references (e.g., main.c:33) are usable with manual jump (Ctrl+G).
  • This looks like a webview link-routing/URI-conversion issue for Windows absolute paths.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Open VS Code with the Codex extension enabled.
  2. In chat, ask for a code review that includes file/line references.
  3. Click a rendered blue link to a local file line (example in response: main.c:33).
  4. Observe behavior.

What is the expected behavior?

  • Click should navigate inside VS Code to the local file and line (or at minimum open file in editor).
  • No external browser launch for local workspace file references.

Additional information

_No response_

View original on GitHub ↗

7 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 4 months ago

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

  • #12903
  • #12661
  • #12984

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ScribbleGhost · 4 months ago

Can confirm. Same issue here.

Visual Studio Code
Version: 1.110.1 (user setup)
Commit: 61b3d0ab13be7dda2389f1d3e60a119c7f660cc3
Date: 2026-03-06T23:03:27.520Z (2 days ago)
Electron: 39.6.0
ElectronBuildId: 13330601
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.22.0
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100
loccedoutent-hub · 4 months ago

I have same issue. Also, even when I provide it direct instructions on how to send the link, within 1-2 responses it reverts to links that open in the browser and not in VS Code (if it even follows the instruction, which it doesn't maybe 30% of the time).

aoaoaoao-wu · 4 months ago

codex in cursor has same issue,and occasionally it works
btw,Chinese in the link will be trans to %AE%3C%7U like

pwylcrow · 4 months ago

Same issue, it's driving me nuts.

heckner-on · 4 months ago

Same here

2-fly-4-ai · 3 months ago

Omg is this a codex isseue? Killing me.