Codex can't access MCP
Resolved 💬 4 comments Opened Mar 6, 2026 by teron131 Closed Mar 20, 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?
26.5304.20706
What subscription do you have?
ChatGPT Plus
Which IDE are you using?
Windsurf
What platform is your computer?
_No response_
What issue are you seeing?
It cannot see any MCP in both Extension, Codex app, CLI. Those it says it knows is just because I mentioned in AGENTS.md.
<img width="895" height="949" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/91fe7c3c-86cb-4b28-b837-accb55d21a81" />
<img width="722" height="911" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1ef93131-1ce7-49b1-bae0-5b6148dbaec0" />
<img width="1528" height="810" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3b54287f-a4ee-4ce4-af31-9e0ecede4782" />
<img width="1574" height="1602" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6a13fc39-f70d-4c96-b5a7-21c90fc44106" />
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Setup MCP and check.
What is the expected behavior?
_No response_
Additional information
_No response_
4 Comments
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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Problem still exist.
I'm having the same issue with xcodebuildmcp
Subject: Codex desktop not launching enabled MCP server (xcodebuildmcp)
I’m reporting a Codex desktop MCP issue on macOS.
Date:
March 10, 2026
Problem:
Codex desktop shows my custom MCP server xcodebuildmcp as enabled, but in-session Codex exposes zero MCP resources and zero MCP resource templates. The desktop logs show repeated mcpServerStatus/list calls, but no attempt to launch the configured MCP server process.
Configured MCP server:
Name: xcodebuildmcp
Command: npx
Args: -y @smithery/cli@latest run cameroncooke/xcodebuildmcp
Working directory: /Users/josephmccraw/Dropbox/My Mac (MacBook-Air)/Documents/GitHub/JoesProxy
Expected behavior:
Codex desktop should launch the MCP server and make its MCP resources/tools available to the session.
Actual behavior:
No MCP resources are available in-session
No MCP resource templates are available in-session
Logs show mcpServerStatus/list activity only
Logs do not show any xcodebuildmcp launch attempt for the current session
What I already tried:
Fully restarting Codex desktop multiple times
Toggling the MCP server off and back on
Confirming the project is trusted
Closing Xcode
Fixing the MCP working directory
Starting Codex from the project directory
Important detail:
The MCP working directory was previously set to invalid ~/code, but I corrected it to:
/Users/josephmccraw/Dropbox/My Mac (MacBook-Air)/Documents/GitHub/JoesProxy
After a full Codex restart, the problem still remained.
Evidence:
Config file:
/Users/josephmccraw/.codex/config.toml
Example current log:
/Users/josephmccraw/Library/Logs/com.openai.codex/2026/03/10/codex-desktop-382a0615-dc96-4a34-afa1-1eea80f54340-90110-t0-i1-164205-0.log
Additional context:
Historical logs on this same machine show that xcodebuildmcp did work previously, so this appears to be a regression or a current desktop-side MCP wiring issue rather than a bad server definition.
If helpful, I can also provide the exact relevant log excerpts showing:
enabled MCP config present
current session returning zero MCP resources/templates
desktop logs showing mcpServerStatus/list without any xcodebuildmcp startup attempt
Now it is solved somehow.