›_ Codex Issues
Codex Issues / #21959

Codex Windows app plugins/marketplace UI inconsistency

Open 💬 3 comments Opened May 9, 2026 by mike-elio
💡 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)?

26.506.31421

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus.

What platform is your computer?

windows

What issue are you seeing?

Bug report: Codex Windows app plugins/marketplace UI inconsistency

Component:
Codex Windows app, Plugins UI, Marketplace management.

Problem:
After uninstalling/reinstalling Codex and deleting old Codex local data, the Plugins page showed only LaTeX Tectonic. Browser plugin did not appear in the UI, although config.toml showed both plugins enabled:

[plugins."latex-tectonic@openai-bundled"]
enabled = true

[plugins."browser-use@openai-bundled"]
enabled = true

The Browser plugin files were present locally under .codex bundled marketplace/cache paths. @Browser also worked after config/manual marketplace repair, which means the plugin was installed/enabled but hidden or not properly registered in the UI.

Steps attempted:

  1. Opened Plugins UI, only LaTeX Tectonic appeared.
  2. Tried Add marketplace with local folder and GitHub source.
  3. Add marketplace repeatedly failed with generic "Failed to add marketplace" message, without diagnostic details.
  4. Cloned https://github.com/openai/plugins.git manually.
  5. Verified .agents/plugins/marketplace.json exists.
  6. Added local marketplace manually in config.toml.
  7. Browser plugin started working.

Expected:
If config.toml has browser-use enabled and the bundled marketplace exists, Browser should appear in Plugins UI. If Add marketplace fails, the app should show a specific error reason.

Actual:
Browser plugin was enabled in config.toml but hidden/not shown in the Plugins UI. Add marketplace failed with only a generic error.

Environment:
Windows Codex app.
User path:
C:\Users\mike_elio

Relevant config:
[marketplaces.openai-bundled]
source_type = "local"
source = '\\?\C:\Users\mike_elio\.codex\.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled'

[plugins."latex-tectonic@openai-bundled"]
enabled = true

[plugins."browser-use@openai-bundled"]
enabled = true

Workaround:
Cloned openai/plugins locally and manually added a local marketplace entry in config.toml.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Install Codex Windows app.
  1. Enable bundled plugins, especially Browser and LaTeX Tectonic.
  1. Uninstall Codex or delete local Codex data folders, including some of:

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Codex
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Codex
C:\Users\<user>\.codex

  1. Reinstall or reopen Codex.
  1. Open the Plugins page.
  1. Observe that only LaTeX Tectonic appears in the Plugins UI, while Browser is missing.
  1. Open:

C:\Users\<user>\.codex\config.toml

  1. Notice that Browser may still be enabled in config:

[plugins."browser-use@openai-bundled"]
enabled = true

  1. Try adding the OpenAI plugins marketplace from the UI using:

https://github.com/openai/plugins.git
or a local clone of that repo.

  1. Click Add marketplace.
  1. The UI shows only:

Failed to add marketplace
without a detailed error reason.

What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

Additional information

_No response_
Related Codex feedback/session ID:
eae2d8c6-d6e8-43e8-85cf-82324a9c9977

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.

  • #21440
  • #21862
  • #21936
  • #21138
  • #20371

Powered by Codex Action

likefallwind · 3 months ago

I hit a closely related failure mode on Windows while adding a custom Codex marketplace from the desktop Plugins UI.

Environment / context:

  • Windows Codex desktop app
  • Marketplace repo: https://github.com/likefallwind/courseskills.git
  • Correct marketplace manifest exists at .agents/plugins/marketplace.json

What happened:

  1. I initially tried adding the marketplace with incorrect settings, including wrong sparse paths such as .codex-plugin/ / other non-marketplace paths.
  2. The desktop UI showed only the generic Failed to add marketplace message.
  3. After fixing the fields to the correct values:
  • Source: https://github.com/likefallwind/courseskills.git
  • Git ref: main
  • Sparse paths: .agents/plugins

the desktop UI still showed Failed to add marketplace.

  1. There was no obvious way in the desktop UI to see or remove the partially/incorrectly added marketplace entry.
  2. Installing the Windows Codex CLI and running a CLI removal fixed it:

``powershell
codex plugin marketplace remove courseskills
codex plugin marketplace add "https://github.com/likefallwind/courseskills.git" --ref main --sparse ".agents/plugins"
``
After removing the stale entry from CLI and re-adding it, the marketplace worked.

Expected behavior:

  • If adding a marketplace fails validation, it should not leave behind a stale/hidden marketplace entry that blocks future correct additions.
  • If a marketplace with the same name/source already exists or is corrupted, the UI should show a specific error rather than only Failed to add marketplace.
  • The Plugins UI should expose a way to remove or reset custom marketplaces, or at least link to the exact CLI command.

This looks like a combination of non-transactional failed add / stale marketplace state and missing UI diagnostics/removal controls.

zemeng5208 · 16 days ago

I maintain WinBridge Recovery for Windows Codex Desktop local plugin/marketplace consistency: https://github.com/zemeng5208/winbridge-recovery

The bundled-plugin part of this report is within the tool's diagnostic scope: a plugin can be enabled in config.toml and present on disk while the active marketplace/discovery layer used by Desktop does not expose it, leaving the Plugins UI inconsistent with local files. WinBridge checks the current installed AppX bundled source, active openai-bundled marketplace, plugin cache/latest, and config references together instead of treating any one of them as proof that the plugin is usable.

If the bundled marketplace is stale/partial or points at the wrong local source, WinBridge can rebuild the user-owned bundled state from the already installed official package with validation/backups. If those local layers are healthy and the UI still filters the plugin, it reports that as an upstream UI/availability problem rather than forcing another marketplace entry.

The custom third-party marketplace add/remove case mentioned later in this thread is not the main target of WinBridge; the project is focused on recovering the official bundled Windows Browser/Chrome/Computer Use state.