Codex App Appshots fail: Failed to spawn managed Computer Use service
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.519.31651
What subscription do you have?
ChatGPT Pro x5
What platform is your computer?
Darwin 25.5.0 arm64 arm
What issue are you seeing?
Appshots consistently fail with “Unable to attach appshot”.
The Appshot hotkey is received, Appshots are enabled, and the frontmost app is detected, but the capture worker fails before producing either a screenshot or Accessibility text.
This happens with Finder / Shortcuts / Chrome, so it does not appear to be specific to Chrome, Gmail, or a website.
Relevant logs:
- appshotsEnabled=true
- Appshot hotkey pressed hotkey=DoubleCommand
- Dispatching appshot hotkey target=existing-chat
- Appshot shortcut received
- Appshot shortcut found target bundleIdentifier=com.apple.shortcuts name=捷徑
- Appshot capture request created
- Codex Computer Use capture worker failed
- errorMessage="Failed to spawn managed Computer Use service"
- Failed to reconcile managed Computer Use service
- Appshot capture settled hadAxText=false hadScreenshot=false status=failed
macOS permissions checked:
- System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording:
- Codex: on
- Codex Computer Use: on
- Google Chrome: on
- System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility:
- Codex: on
- Codex Computer Use: on
The Appshots settings page appears normal:
- Appshots page loads normally
- Hotkey is set to Command + Command
- No visible permission warning
- No visible repair / reauthorization prompt
Restarting the Codex App did not fix the issue.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Feedback ID: no-active-thread-019e4f28-29df-7a40-a3b2-5caff693782d
What is the expected behavior?
When pressing both Command keys, Codex should capture the frontmost window and attach the Appshot to the current or new Codex thread.
Additional information
This does not look like:
- A missing Appshots setting.
- A hotkey problem.
- A Chrome extension problem.
- A Gmail problem.
- An obvious macOS Screen Recording / Accessibility permission denial.
The failure appears to be that Codex cannot start its internal managed Computer Use service, which prevents the Appshot capture worker from producing a screenshot or Accessibility text.
Questions:
- Is this a known issue in Codex App 26.519.31651?
- Is there a supported way to repair or reinstall the managed Computer Use service without resetting macOS permissions?
- Which diagnostic logs or crash reports should I provide?
- Should the permission entries be “Codex”, “Codex Computer Use”, or another helper process?
- Is there any additional macOS permission or background service requirement for Appshots beyond Screen & System Audio Recording and Accessibility?
Screenshots available:
- “Unable to attach appshot” toast errors.
- Appshots settings page.
- macOS Screen & System Audio Recording permissions page.
- macOS Accessibility permissions page.
- Relevant Codex logs showing “Failed to spawn managed Computer Use service”.
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