Codex in-app browser cannot enter Cyrillic/Unicode text when virtual clipboard is missing
Summary
Codex desktop app in-app browser cannot reliably enter Cyrillic/Unicode text into normal web forms. Standard Browser/Playwright input methods fail with a virtual clipboard error, and the available fallbacks do not provide a reliable Unicode input path.
This blocks production workflows where the agent must preserve non-Latin customer names, cities, and notes exactly.
Environment
- Codex desktop app on Windows
- Codex Browser / in-app browser
- Browser plugin path observed locally:
openai-bundled/browser/26.519.41501
- Target page type: authenticated HTTPS CRM web app with normal
<input>and<textarea>fields
Reproduction
- Open Codex desktop app.
- Open any authenticated HTTPS web app with a normal text input.
- Focus a text input or use a locator for it.
- Try to fill Cyrillic/Unicode text:
await tab.playwright.locator('input[name="name"]').fill('Тест Клиент')
or:
await tab.dom_cua.type({ text: 'Тест Клиент' })
Observed behavior
The action fails before text is inserted:
Browser Use encountered an error interacting with this webpage's clipboard:
Browser Use virtual clipboard is not installed
locator.fill failed for selector input[name="name"]
Direct Cyrillic keypress is also not supported:
Unknown key: "А"
The Browser runtime's evaluate() path is read-only, so it cannot be used as a safe workaround to set form values.
Expected behavior
Codex Browser should support reliable Unicode text entry into editable fields:
locator.fill('Тест Клиент')should work.locator.type('Тест Клиент')should work.tab.dom_cua.type({ text: 'Тест Клиент' })should work.- If a virtual clipboard is required, the app should install/repair it or show a clear setup instruction before the task reaches a live form.
Impact
This is not cosmetic. It can cause real data-entry failures in production systems:
- customer names and cities cannot be preserved in Cyrillic;
- agents may be tempted to transliterate, which is incorrect;
- CRM records, project notes, and customer handoffs become wrong or unreadable;
- normal browser automation cannot complete the task safely.
Requested fix
Please provide a non-clipboard Unicode input fallback or repair the virtual clipboard dependency in the in-app browser. A regression test should cover Cyrillic/Kazakh characters in both <input> and <textarea> fields.
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