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Codex Issues / #20556

macOS: Screenshot freeze/stuck after enabling Codex Computer Use screen/audio recording permissions

Open 💬 3 comments Opened May 1, 2026 by larryisthere
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

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

Version 26.429.20946 (2312)

What subscription do you have?

Pro

What platform is your computer?

26.4.1 (25E253)

What issue are you seeing?

After enabling Codex and the Computer Use features for screen and system audio recording on macOS, Command + Shift + 4( + Control) can still activate screenshot area selection, but selecting a region causes the screen to freeze.

Observed behavior:

  • The screenshot area-selection UI appears and I can choose a region.
  • After selection, most keyboard and mouse clicks become unresponsive across the screen.
  • The system recovers automatically after about ~1 minute.
  • The screenshot capture does not complete normally.

Additional finding:

  • A separate screenshot tool (Snipaste) also behaves abnormally: its screenshot UI appears only after several seconds after pressing the shortcut, and selected captures are often mostly transparent images.

Important confirmation:

  • After I revoked Codex and Computer Use permissions for screen recording and system audio recording in macOS settings, both screenshot functions immediately returned to normal.
  • This strongly suggests the freeze is related to Codex/Computer Use capture permission workflow.

Related open issues found:

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Open Codex on macOS.
  2. Enable/allow Computer Use with screen and system audio recording permissions.
  3. Press down (Control + )Command + Shift + 4.
  4. Start selecting the screenshot region.
  5. Finish the selection.

What is the expected behavior?

Screenshot selection and capture should complete normally and return control immediately.

Additional information

  • The freeze is much more reproducible while Codex + Computer Use recording permissions are enabled.
  • Disabling Codex/Computer Use permissions for screen recording and system audio recording restores normal capture behavior instantly.
  • I suspect interaction between Codex/Computer Use capture hooks and macOS screen capture pipeline on this machine.
  • If helpful, I can provide a short timeline log and system logs from a fresh repro.

View original on GitHub ↗

3 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 3 months ago

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

  • #20313

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IgorGanapolsky · 3 months ago

Screenshot freezing right after enabling Screen Recording + Accessibility,
without an error, is the classic AppleScript-error-1743 ("Not allowed to
send Apple events") presented as a hang — the Computer Use helper did
get screen permission, but is silently blocked on the AppleScript bridge
because the parent process lacks Automation permission.

ps -o ppid=,command= -p $$
# Grant Automation to the actual parent (Warp / cmux / iTerm / Zed)
# in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation,
# then restart that parent process.

Full walkthrough with this and 5 other Computer-Use-on-macOS root causes:
https://igorganapolsky.github.io/openclaw-mac-ai-workstation-setup/troubleshooting.html

Free local script (scripts/self-diagnose.mjs) captures the parent chain +
TCC posture. If the bundle doesn't make the cause obvious, $19 quick read
confirms the root cause and the next command.

lucase1143 · 1 month ago

Adding a reproducible Snipaste-specific data point. My symptom is narrower than a full screenshot freeze, but it appears strongly correlated with the Codex Computer Use capture helper.

Environment:

  • Codex Desktop: 26.707.91948 (bundle 5440)
  • Bundle identifier: com.openai.codex
  • macOS: 26.4 (25E246)
  • Snipaste: 2.11.3
  • Display setup: built-in display plus an external display

Snipaste is configured so that left-button double-click copies the selected region to the clipboard and exits capture.

Observed behavior:

  • After taking several screenshots, double-clicking the selected region stops triggering the configured copy action.
  • All other Snipaste capture functions continue to work normally.
  • Pressing Enter in the same active Snipaste capture still copies the image to the clipboard and exits correctly.
  • Therefore, this does not appear to be a general clipboard failure or a failure of Snipaste's copy operation itself.
  • Restarting Snipaste temporarily restores double-click copy, but in one test it failed again after only about two captures.

Isolation result:

  1. I terminated SkyComputerUseService.
  2. I restarted Snipaste.
  3. I tested 8 consecutive screenshot-and-double-click-copy operations across both the built-in and external displays.
  4. All 8 operations copied successfully while SkyComputerUseService remained stopped.

This A/B result suggests that the Codex Computer Use capture helper may interfere with Snipaste's mouse double-click completion action. I have not confirmed the exact underlying cause, so this may still be an interaction in the shared macOS screen-capture/event pipeline.

This may be related to #20313, although my case does not cause the entire screenshot UI to freeze: keyboard completion via Enter remains functional while mouse double-click completion fails.

I can provide additional process samples or macOS unified logs from a fresh reproduction if that would help.