Codex Desktop Chrome plugin bridge fails on Windows: node_repl transport closed / spawn setup refresh elevation error

Summary

Codex Desktop on Windows cannot connect to the Chrome plugin / Chrome bridge. The Chrome extension appears connected or installed at times, but Codex cannot use Chrome because the node_repl bridge fails before it reaches Chrome.

Feedback uploaded from the Codex app:

019e981f-00ab-7090-9c2a-33626ff45ff4

Environment

• OS: Windows
• Codex Desktop app observed: 26.602.3474.0
• Chrome plugin observed: chrome@openai-bundled 26.602.30954
• Codex CLI observed: codex-cli 0.137.0-alpha.4
• Chrome extension ID observed in plugin files: hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg

User-visible behavior

• Chrome plugin connection fails repeatedly.
• The plugin disappeared from the Codex plugin list after uninstall/reconnect attempts.
• Reinstalling/restarting did not fix it.
• The node_repl tool in Codex reports:

tool call failed for `node_repl/js`
Caused by:
    Transport closed

Logs / errors observed locally

Earlier attempts showed the bridge failing below the Chrome layer:

windows sandbox failed: spawn setup refresh

The sandbox log showed node_repl launching a Node kernel and then failing to spawn the sandbox setup helper from the user-cache runtime:

setup refresh: spawning C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\bin\fb2111b91430cb17\codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe
setup refresh: failed to spawn ... codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe: The requested operation requires elevation. (os error 740)

Regular shell commands in the same Codex app session were able to use the app-packaged sandbox helper successfully:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.602.3474.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe
setup binary completed

Troubleshooting already attempted

The user has already spent hours trying to recover this, including:

• Restarting Codex repeatedly.
• Uninstalling and reinstalling Codex.
• Uninstalling/reinstalling or reconnecting the Chrome extension/plugin.
• Re-checking that Chrome itself is running.
• Confirming the Codex Chrome extension appears connected in Chrome / Codex UI at points.
• Restoring the bundled Chrome plugin cache locally.
• Restoring the Chrome native-host registry entry and host config.

After restoring the Chrome native-host registration, the plugin script check returned correct: true for the native-host manifest, but the Codex node_repl tool still remained closed in the active thread.

Additional diagnostic detail

Running the user-cache node_repl.exe directly with its official direct-start option works from PowerShell:

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\bin\34ab3e1324cc55b5\node_repl.exe --disable-sandbox

A direct MCP initialize request succeeds, and a direct tools/call to js can run:

direct-js-ok

However, the in-app node_repl/js tool still reports Transport closed. Testing the Chrome runtime from raw PowerShell gets past basic bridge startup but fails because it lacks Codex turn metadata:

Missing required Codex turn metadata: session_id, turn_id

So this appears to be an app / MCP bridge startup or session transport issue on Windows rather than a normal Chrome tab/profile problem.

Expected behavior

After Chrome plugin installation/reconnection, Codex Desktop should be able to start the node_repl bridge and use the Chrome plugin. If sandbox setup fails with elevation error 740, Codex should either recover, use the same working sandbox helper path as shell commands, or show a clear actionable repair path.

Actual behavior

The bridge remains unavailable to Codex with Transport closed, even after Chrome/native-host checks are repaired and the direct node_repl.exe --disable-sandbox path can run JavaScript outside the app tool layer.