Windows Codex Desktop: Browser Use fails because import.meta.__codexNativePipe is undefined

Open 💬 2 comments Opened Apr 26, 2026 by seank-com

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

Codex 26.422.30944 © OpenAI

What subscription do you have?

Plus plan

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Codex Desktop: 26.422.3464.0
Codex CLI: 0.125.0
OS: Windows
Plugin: browser-use 0.1.0-alpha1

Issue:
In-app browser opens and navigates normally, and a browser-use named pipe exists:
\\.\pipe\codex-browser-use\...

But Browser Use from node_repl fails because:
import.meta.__codexNativePipe === undefined

Result:
Browser Use cannot connect to the in-app browser and reports:
failed to start codex app-server: The system cannot find the path specified. (os error 3)

Evidence:
nodeRepl.requestMeta has x-codex-turn-metadata with session_id and turn_id.
import.meta.__codexNativePipe is undefined even after js_reset.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Steps to reproduce

  1. Install/update Codex Desktop on Windows.
  2. Install/update Codex CLI to 0.125.0.
  3. Launch the desktop app with:
codex app
  1. Open a Codex Desktop thread with the in-app browser visible.
  2. In the in-app browser, navigate manually to any page, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/
  1. Ask Codex to use the Browser Use plugin / in-app browser automation to inspect the selected tab.
  2. From Node REPL, inspect the browser bridge state:
nodeRepl.write(JSON.stringify({
  hasNativePipe: !!import.meta.__codexNativePipe,
  nativePipeType: typeof import.meta.__codexNativePipe,
  nativePipeKeys: import.meta.__codexNativePipe
    ? Object.keys(import.meta.__codexNativePipe)
    : null,
  turnMeta: nodeRepl.requestMeta?.["x-codex-turn-metadata"],
}, null, 2));
  1. Observe that import.meta.__codexNativePipe is undefined.
  1. Attempt to initialize Browser Use:
const { setupAtlasRuntime } = await import(
  "C:/Users/<user>/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/browser-use/0.1.0-alpha1/scripts/browser-client.mjs"
);

await setupAtlasRuntime({
  globals: globalThis,
  backend: "iab",
});
  1. Observe Browser Use failure:
failed to start codex app-server: The system cannot find the path specified. (os error 3)
  1. Optional confirmation: verify that the browser-use named pipe exists from PowerShell:
Get-ChildItem -Path '\\.\pipe\' |
  Where-Object { $_.Name -match 'codex-browser-use' } |
  Select-Object Name,FullName

Example observed pipe:

\\.\pipe\codex-browser-use\<guid>

Expected behavior

Browser Use should connect to the in-app browser backend and allow reading the selected tab URL, DOM snapshot, screenshots, and normal browser automation.

Actual behavior

The in-app browser works visually and can navigate manually, and a codex-browser-use pipe exists, but Browser Use cannot connect because the Node REPL environment does not expose import.meta.__codexNativePipe.

What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

Additional information

_No response_

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