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Codex Issues / #21936

Chrome plugin missing from Codex Plugin Directory on macOS due to stale bundled marketplace cache

Open 💬 6 comments Opened May 9, 2026 by naveen-malla
💡 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)?

Codex.app 26.506.31421 (CFBundleVersion 2620)

What subscription do you have?

Unknown from local diagnostics.

What platform is your computer?

macOS on Apple Silicon (arm64)

What issue are you seeing?

Bug: Chrome plugin missing from Codex Plugin Directory on macOS.

This appears to be the same failure mode as #21862, but on macOS.

The installed app bundle contains the Chrome plugin at:

/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins/chrome

The bundled marketplace inside the app correctly lists chrome:

/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/.agents/plugins/marketplace.json

That marketplace lists:

browser-use, chrome, computer-use, latex-tectonic

plugin.json for Chrome shows:

name=chrome
version=0.1.7
displayName=Chrome

But the active marketplace cache used by Codex config points to:

~/.codex/.tmp/bundled-marketplaces/openai-bundled

Before manual repair, that copied marketplace only listed:

browser-use, latex-tectonic

As a result, Plugin Directory search for chrome returned No plugins found even though the app bundle includes the plugin.

After manually replacing the active marketplace cache with the bundled marketplace from /Applications/Codex.app, Chrome appeared in the install prompt, but install/load still failed with Could not load this plugin right now. Local inspection showed the installed plugin cache still only contained browser-use; chrome was absent from:

~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Install/reinstall the current macOS Codex app DMG served by the official docs.
  2. Open Codex.
  3. Go to Plugins.
  4. Search for chrome under Built by OpenAI.
  5. Observe no Chrome result even though /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins/chrome exists.

Expected behavior

The Chrome plugin should appear in the Codex Plugin Directory and install successfully from the UI on macOS.

Additional information

Local diagnostics:

Codex bundle ID: com.openai.codex
Codex version: 26.506.31421
Codex bundle version: 2620
Architecture: arm64
Chrome installed: /Applications/Google Chrome.app
Chrome version: 147.0.7727.139
Chrome extension ID from bundled plugin: hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg

Manual workaround attempted:

  1. Backed up ~/.codex/.tmp/bundled-marketplaces/openai-bundled.
  2. Replaced it with /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled.
  3. Verified active marketplace then listed browser-use, chrome, computer-use, latex-tectonic.
  4. Plugin install prompt appeared, but UI showed Could not load this plugin right now.
  5. Copied bundled Chrome plugin into ~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/chrome/0.1.7 and enabled [plugins."chrome@openai-bundled"] manually.
  6. Native host manifest can then validate, but the normal UI install path still appears broken.

Related: #21862

View original on GitHub ↗

6 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 2 months ago

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

  • #21862
  • #21929
  • #21788
  • #21724
  • #21440

Powered by Codex Action

naveen-malla · 2 months ago

Correction to the subscription field: the affected account is on ChatGPT Plus.

Tomodovodoo · 2 months ago

I have a workaround, which might be of interest!
https://x.com/Tomodovodoo/status/2053781991397429742

IgorGanapolsky · 2 months ago

Stale bundled marketplace cache is one of the six root causes I've seen for "plugin shows missing in the directory even though it's installed." The active cache lives at ~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/<plugin>/<version>/.mcp.json, and if a previous Codex release wrote a cache for a version that's no longer the current bundled one, the marketplace UI hides the newer plugin.

Quick check:

ls -la ~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/
# Multiple version dirs? Or one that doesn't match the bundled version?
ls /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/
# Remove the stale cache dir, then:
codex plugin marketplace add /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled

If the cache rebuild still doesn't surface Chrome, there's usually a second issue (multiple CODEX_HOMEs writing to different caches — Symptom 5 in my walkthrough).

Full diagnostic for "plugin missing from directory" + 5 other root causes: https://igorganapolsky.github.io/openclaw-mac-ai-workstation-setup/troubleshooting.html

Free script in the repo (scripts/self-diagnose.mjs) captures the cache state + env into a redacted bundle. $19 quick read on the same page confirms the root cause if the cache rebuild doesn't resolve it.

oleksiy-pavlenko · 2 months ago

I am seeing the same issue on macOS.

Environment

  • Codex app: 26.513.20950
  • Codex bundle version: 2816
  • Bundle ID: com.openai.codex
  • Codex CLI: codex-cli 0.130.0
  • macOS: 26.3.1 (a), build 25D771280a
  • Architecture: arm64
  • Region/account location: Finland / EU

What I see

  • Codex Settings does not show Computer Use.
  • Chrome is not available in the Codex plugin list.
  • The active plugin cache only contains the bundled Browser plugin:
~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/browser
~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/browser/0.1.0-alpha2
  • ~/.codex/config.toml only has browser@openai-bundled; there is no chrome@openai-bundled or computer-use@openai-bundled.
  • The Chrome extension ID hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg is not present under my local Chrome profile.

Important diagnostic detail

The installed Codex.app bundle does contain both plugins:

/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins/chrome
/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins/computer-use

The bundled marketplace inside the app also lists them:

/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/.agents/plugins/marketplace.json

That file lists:

browser
chrome
computer-use
latex

But the active marketplace copied into my Codex home only lists:

browser
latex

Path:

~/.codex/.tmp/bundled-marketplaces/openai-bundled/.agents/plugins/marketplace.json

So this looks like the same stale/incomplete bundled marketplace cache issue: the app bundle includes chrome and computer-use, but the active marketplace/cache used by Codex filters them out.

Expected behavior

Chrome and Computer Use should appear in Codex Plugins / Settings, or the app should explain if these are unavailable due to rollout, entitlement, or region gating.

imkebe · 1 month ago

I must admit that Codex brings great value in solving this issue... As it only takes about a month to get this open with no fix.
That's definedly the best example how usefull and great AI Agents are... 🙄