Browser Use blocks external and custom-host URLs with "cannot determine if ... is allowed" on macOS app

What issue are you seeing?

In the Codex macOS desktop app, Browser Use can control the in-app browser for explicit local URLs such as 127.0.0.1 and localhost, but it blocks public external URLs with an allow/preflight error.

The error is:

Browser Use cannot determine if https://www.google.com is allowed. Please try again later or use another source.

Environment

• OS: macOS 15.7.4
• Codex Desktop originator: Codex Desktop
• Browser Use plugin: openai-bundled/browser-use/0.1.0-alpha1
• In-app browser backend: iab
• Explicit local development URLs such as http://127.0.0.1:<port>/... work.

What works

Browser Use can open and inspect explicit local URLs:

• http://127.0.0.1:<port>/...
• http://localhost:<port>/...

What fails

Browser Use refuses to navigate to:

• https://www.google.com/

It fails with this allow/preflight style error:

Browser Use cannot determine if https://www.google.com is allowed. Please try again later or use another source.

Expected behavior

Browser Use should either:

1. allow normal external navigation when permitted by the current app permission mode, or
2. surface a clearer permission prompt/error explaining which allow/preflight check failed.

Possibly related

This may be related to Browser Use external navigation / site preflight behavior discussed in:

• https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/19187

That issue reports a different low-level error on Windows, but it also points to Browser Use external navigation and site_status / allow preflight behavior.