Windows Computer Use native pipe fails: helper paths unavailable on 26.527.31326

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

• #25512
• #25507
• #25391

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Additional local evidence from read-only diagnostics:

1. The plugin client expects the native pipe path from:

globalThis.nodeRepl?.env?.SKY_CUA_NATIVE_PIPE_DIRECTORY

If that value is missing, scripts/computer-use-client.mjs throws:

Computer Use native pipe path is unavailable

1. Desktop logs show an even earlier failure before the plugin client can connect:

[computer-use-native-pipe] computer-use notify config ensure finished platform=win32 reason=missing-helper-path status=skipped
[computer-use-native-pipe] computer-use native pipe startup failed errorMessage="Windows Computer Use helper paths are unavailable" platform=win32

1. The expected helper binary does exist inside the installed bundled plugin:

...\plugins\computer-use\node_modules\@oai\sky\bin\windows\codex-computer-use.exe

with size about 1,683,456 bytes.

1. The package code appears to default to this helper path from @oai/sky:

bin\windows\codex-computer-use.exe

So this no longer looks like a missing installed plugin file. It looks more like the desktop/native-pipe startup code is failing to resolve or pass through the helper path even though the helper binary is present in the bundled plugin tree.

More local diagnostics suggest this may be related to WindowsApps package relocation / protected package files on this machine:

• The running process path is under:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\Codex.exe

• But that package path is a junction to:

D:\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.527.3686.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

• The actual package files under D:\WindowsApps\... have Encrypted / Application Protected attributes according to cipher /c. For example:

E codex.exe
  Compatibility Level:
    Application Protected

E node.exe
  Compatibility Level:
    Application Protected

E codex-computer-use.exe
  Compatibility Level:
    Application Protected

• Attempting to run the helper directly for a minimal smoke test fails with Windows Access is denied:

Program 'codex-computer-use.exe' failed to run ... Access is denied.

• Desktop logs also show broader bundled executable relocation failures, not only Computer Use:

bundled_executable_relocation_failed ... executableName=codex.exe operation=copy_file ... sourcePath="C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\...\app\resources\codex.exe"
bundled_executable_relocation_failed ... executableName=node.exe operation=copy_file ... sourcePath="C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\...\app\resources\node.exe"
bundled_executable_relocation_failed ... executableName=node_repl.exe operation=copy_file ... sourcePath="C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\...\app\resources\node_repl.exe"
bundled_executable_relocation_failed ... executableName=rg.exe operation=copy_file ... sourcePath="C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\...\app\resources\rg.exe"

• The target cache directory exists but is empty:

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\bin

So a plausible local trigger is: Codex is installed as a WindowsApps package whose real storage target is D:\WindowsApps; bundled executables are application-protected/encrypted and relocation from the WindowsApps package to %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\bin fails. Computer Use then reports missing-helper-path / Windows Computer Use helper paths are unavailable.

A likely workaround to test would be installing/moving Codex onto the normal system WindowsApps location on C: rather than the redirected/junctioned D:\WindowsApps package location.

I can reproduce a very similar failure on a freshly reinstalled Codex Desktop for Windows, but with a newer Store package/version.

Environment:

• Windows, PowerShell session
• Codex Store package: OpenAI.Codex_26.602.3474.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Codex version from AppX: 26.602.3474.0
• Computer Use plugin cache/version present: computer-use/26.602.30954
• Browser Use appears to be available; multiple codex-browser-use... named pipes exist
• Computer Use named pipe is missing

Observed behavior:

• The bundled Computer Use client exists at:

<USER>\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\computer-use\26.602.30954\scripts\computer-use-client.mjs

• Running the official bootstrap/reset flow still fails before sky.list_apps() returns.
• globalThis.nodeRepl?.env is {}
• globalThis.nodeRepl?.nativePipe is missing/undefined
• Windows named pipe enumeration shows codex-browser-use... and codex-ipc, but no Computer Use / sky pipe.

Exact error:

Computer Use native pipe is unavailable: Error: failed to connect native pipe: 지정된 파일을 찾을 수 없습니다. (os error 2)

Troubleshooting already tried:

• Reset the JS execution session and retried bootstrap
• Restarted Codex
• Restarted Windows
• Toggled browser access permission
• Reinstalled Codex Desktop
• Ran Reset-AppxPackage / AppX re-register repair; package status returned to Ok

Result after reinstall/repair is unchanged: Browser Use pipe exists, but Computer Use native pipe is not injected into the turn and the Computer Use bootstrap cannot connect.

I can reproduce this on a newer Codex Desktop Windows build after the 26.602 update.

Environment:

• OS: Windows 10 Pro x64, Windows 10 22H2 family
• Codex Store package/process path: OpenAI.Codex_26.602.4764.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Computer Use bundled plugin present: computer-use version 26.602.40724
• Runtime bundled marketplace snapshot includes browser, chrome, computer-use, and latex
• computer-use@openai-bundled is enabled in config
• codex-computer-use.exe exists under the bundled Computer Use plugin tree
• %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\bin contains node_repl.exe, node.exe, codex.exe, and codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe

Observed:

• Browser native pipes exist, e.g. codex-browser-use... / browser...pipe
• No Computer Use / CUA / sky named pipe exists under \\.\pipe\
• Node REPL probe:
• hasNativePipe: false
• hasCreateConnection: false
• SKY_CUA_NATIVE_PIPE_DIRECTORY: null
• relevant env keys: []
• Official Computer Use bootstrap fails immediately with:

Computer Use native pipe path is unavailable

Already tried:

• Restarted Codex Desktop
• Rebooted Windows
• Updated Codex Desktop
• Rebuilt/repaired bundled marketplace/plugin cache
• AppX re-register repair completed successfully
• Retried the official Computer Use bootstrap after restart/update

Current conclusion:
This does not look like a missing plugin file or missing helper binary. It looks like Codex Desktop is still not creating/publishing/injecting the privileged Computer Use native pipe into this turn, even though the bundled plugin and helper executable are present.

I can reproduce the same Windows Computer Use native pipe failure on a newer Codex Desktop build.

Environment

• OS: Windows
• Codex Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.602.4764.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Codex Desktop version: 26.602.4764.0
• AppX package status: 0
• Browser Use works and creates a native pipe successfully.
• Computer Use plugin and helper executable are present in the installed package.

Verified files

The bundled Computer Use plugin exists:

...\OpenAI.Codex_26.602.4764.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\plugins\openai-bundled\plugins\computer-use\scripts\computer-use-client.mjs

The Computer Use helper executable exists:

...\OpenAI.Codex_26.602.4764.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\plugins\openai-bundled\plugins\computer-use\node_modules\@oai\sky\bin\windows\codex-computer-use.exe

Runtime failure

Computer Use fails during bootstrap before sky.list_apps() can run.

Runtime state before bootstrap:

{
  "hasNodeRepl": true,
  "hasNativePipe": false,
  "hasNativePipeCreateConnection": false,
  "hasEnv": true,
  "skyCuaNativePipeDirectory": null,
  "envKeysContainingPipeOrCua": []
}

Bootstrap error:

Computer Use native pipe path is unavailable

Stack excerpt:

Error: Computer Use native pipe path is unavailable
    at getComputerUsePipePath (...\plugins\openai-bundled\plugins\computer-use\scripts\computer-use-client.mjs:197:9)
    at NativePipeComputerUseTransport.create (...\plugins\openai-bundled\plugins\computer-use\scripts\computer-use-client.mjs:50:22)
    at setupComputerUseRuntime (...\plugins\openai-bundled\plugins\computer-use\scripts\computer-use-client.mjs:19:53)

Desktop logs

2026-06-05T20:28:58.090Z info [browser-use-native-pipe-server] browser-use native pipe listening pipePath=\\.\pipe\codex-browser-use-...
2026-06-05T20:28:58.440Z info [computer-use-native-pipe] computer-use notify config ensure finished platform=win32 reason=missing-helper-path status=skipped
2026-06-05T20:28:58.442Z warning [computer-use-native-pipe] computer-use native pipe startup failed errorMessage="Windows Computer Use helper paths are unavailable" errorName=Error platform=win32
2026-06-05T20:29:02.922Z info [BrowserUseThreadConfig] computer_use_native_pipe_thread_config_skipped platform=win32 reason=not-ready

Troubleshooting already tried

• Uninstalled and reinstalled Codex Desktop.
• Verified the new Codex package is installed and running.
• Verified the Computer Use plugin and helper executable exist in the installed package.
• Updated local config.toml so notify points at the helper in the currently installed Codex package.
• Fully restarted Codex after updating config.toml.
• Retested with a clean JavaScript runtime session.
• Confirmed Browser Use works and creates its own native pipe.
• Confirmed no Computer Use pipe is visible under \\.\pipe\.

This looks like the Desktop app cannot resolve Windows Computer Use helper paths, so it never injects SKY_CUA_NATIVE_PIPE_DIRECTORY or nodeRepl.nativePipe.createConnection into the session.

Adding a newer data point and a more specific root-cause link for this same Windows Computer Use helper paths are unavailable symptom.

I hit this on 2026-06-08 with:

• Windows 11 Pro 25H2 / 10.0.26200 x64
• Codex Desktop: OpenAI.Codex_26.602.4764.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• computer-use@openai-bundled installed, enabled 26.602.40724
• The Computer Use helper binary and computer-use-client.mjs both existed in the stable plugin cache

In this case, the immediate precursor was not entitlement or a missing packaged helper. The Desktop log showed the Computer Use pipe had started successfully, then bundled marketplace resolution failed with EBUSY while trying to remove:

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome\extension-host\windows\x64

After that, the generated openai-bundled marketplace was left partial: it only contained plugins\chrome, and was missing .agents\plugins\marketplace.json plus plugins\computer-use. The log then switched to:

computer-use native pipe helper paths changed
computer-use notify config ensure finished reason=missing-helper-path status=skipped
computer-use native pipe startup failed errorMessage="Windows Computer Use helper paths are unavailable"

Restoring the generated marketplace manifest/directories from the installed app bundle made openai-bundled visible again, and a live smoke test with setupComputerUseRuntime(...) + sky.list_apps() succeeded, returning 40 apps.

I added the detailed timeline to #26785 because it looks like one concrete cause of the helper-path symptom here: Chrome's native host can lock the generated bundled marketplace, leave it half-materialized, and then Computer Use helper-path resolution disappears even though the installed Computer Use package/cache is intact.

I’m seeing the same Windows Computer Use failure on Codex Desktop after a conservative reinstall and targeted cache reset.

Environment:

• Windows 11 x64
• Codex Desktop Microsoft Store package: OpenAI.Codex_26.602.9276.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Codex Desktop version shown by package: 26.602.9276.0
• Native Windows agent / PowerShell, not WSL

Observed behavior:

• Settings > Computer Use shows the plugin as unavailable / disabled.
• nodeRepl.requestMeta does not contain any computerUse or native pipe metadata.
• Attempting to initialize Computer Use fails with:

Computer Use native pipe path is unavailable

Recent desktop logs repeatedly show:

[computer-use-native-pipe] computer-use notify config ensure finished platform=win32 reason=missing-helper-path status=skipped
[computer-use-native-pipe] computer-use native pipe startup failed errorMessage="Windows Computer Use helper paths are unavailable" platform=win32
[BrowserUseThreadConfig] computer_use_native_pipe_thread_config_skipped platform=win32 reason=not-ready

Additional diagnostics:

• Browser-use native pipe does start, e.g. codex-browser-use-... is listening.
• The Computer Use helper exe exists in both the Store package and plugin cache:
• Store package: app/resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins/computer-use/node_modules/@oai/sky/bin/windows/codex-computer-use.exe
• Plugin cache: .codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/computer-use/26.527.31326/node_modules/@oai/sky/bin/windows/codex-computer-use.exe
• owl-feature-bootstrap-cache.json regenerates as {"enabledOwlFeatureNames":[]}.

Things tried without resolving it:

• Microsoft Store uninstall/reinstall via winget.
• Confirmed package status is Ok.
• Opened Settings > Computer Use after reinstall; plugin remains unavailable / button disabled.
• Targeted reset of .codex/computer-use, .codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/computer-use, and owl-feature-bootstrap-cache.json.
• Confirmed config.toml has no UTF-8 BOM.
• Confirmed project is not running the agent in WSL.
• Checked EFS/encryption state for helper exe; files are not encrypted.
• Tried adding missing latest junctions for bundled plugin cache; no change.

This still reproduces after restart on 26.602.9276.0, with the same missing-helper-path / Windows Computer Use helper paths are unavailable log entries.

Additional reproduction on a newer Codex Desktop build.

Environment

• Codex Desktop: 26.611.8273.0
• Codex CLI: 0.140.0-alpha.19
• OS: Windows 11 Professional, Windows NT 10.0.26200.0, x64 / AMD64
• Agent environment: Windows native, PowerShell 5.1
• Auth mode from codex doctor --all: ChatGPT auth, stored API key = false, stored ChatGPT tokens = true
• computer-use@openai-bundled: enabled in config.toml
• requirements.toml: not present; no local computer_use = false policy found

What was checked

Plugin/cache layer appears present:

• computer-use/latest exists
• computer-use-client.mjs exists
• The previous missing computer_use_client_base.js import error is no longer the active failure in this repro
• Marketplace and plugin files are present

Named pipes currently present:

\\.\pipe\codex-ipc
\\.\pipe\codex-browser-use-3e14b23b-fbde-4e1d-9d5c-af1d8a8cb43a
\\.\pipe\LOCAL\mojo.plugin_browser_pipe_Default_

No codex-computer-use-*, CUA, or sky-related pipe is created.

Node/tool environment inspection:

{
  "hasConfig": false,
  "hasNativePipe": false,
  "envKeys": [],
  "skyPipe": null,
  "codexHome": null
}

Computer Use bootstrap still fails with:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": "Error: Computer Use native pipe path is unavailable"
}

Relevant desktop logs

Current build logs repeatedly show:

[computer-use-native-pipe] computer-use native pipe helper paths unavailable missingHelperPath=true missingTransportModulePath=true platform=win32

Browser native pipe starts successfully in the same session:

[browser-use-native-pipe-server] browser-use native pipe listening pipePath=\\.\pipe\codex-browser-use-...
[electron-message-handler] browser_use_availability_resolved available=true browserPane=true platform=Windows reason=available

Earlier logs from the same machine also showed:

[computer-use-native-pipe] computer-use native pipe startup failed errorMessage="Windows Computer Use helper paths are unavailable"
[computer-use-native-pipe] computer-use notify config ensure finished platform=win32 reason=missing-helper-path status=skipped

Conclusion

This still reproduces on 26.611.8273.0: Computer Use plugin files exist, but Codex Desktop never starts or injects the Windows Computer Use native pipe. Browser-use pipe exists and works, but no Computer Use pipe is created, and the current turn receives no nodeRepl.nativePipe / SKY_CUA_NATIVE_PIPE_DIRECTORY.

Same issue on Windows. Backend runtime is fully present but the native pipe is never created by the host.

Environment:

• Codex Desktop (Windows) App version: 26.616.10790.0
• computer-use plugin: 26.616.81150 (pulled 2026-06-25)
• cua_node runtime: present and complete
• @oai/sky present at:

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\a89897d3d9baa117\bin\node_modules\@oai\sky

Symptom:

• After fully quitting and restarting Codex Desktop, no \\.\pipe\codex-computer-use-* named pipe exists.
• The plugin, cua_node runtime and @oai/sky are all in place; only the host-side native pipe fails to start.
• node_repl session never receives nodeRepl.nativePipe / SKY_CUA_NATIVE_PIPE_DIRECTORY.

So this is a host-side native pipe / helper-path startup failure, not a missing/corrupt cache. Restart did not help.

Same issue on Windows. Backend runtime is fully present but the native pipe is never created by the host.

Environment:

• Codex Desktop (Windows) App version: 26.616.10790.0
• computer-use plugin: 26.616.81150 (pulled 2026-06-25)
• cua_node runtime: present and complete
• @oai/sky present at:

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\a89897d3d9baa117\bin\node_modules\@oai\sky

Symptom:

• After fully quitting and restarting Codex Desktop, no \\.\pipe\codex-computer-use-* named pipe exists.
• The plugin, cua_node runtime and @oai/sky are all in place; only the host-side native pipe fails to start.
• node_repl session never receives nodeRepl.nativePipe / SKY_CUA_NATIVE_PIPE_DIRECTORY.

So this is a host-side native pipe / helper-path startup failure, not a missing/corrupt cache. Restart did not help.

same thing here. Is a special node version necessary?