Windows Store Codex: Chrome backend not registered and Computer Use native pipe missing

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

• #26329
• #26528
• #26470
• #26744
• #26929

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I have a very similar Windows Store Codex case and filed #27866 before seeing this issue.

Additional data point:

• OS: Windows, Korean locale
• Codex Desktop: OpenAI.Codex 26.609.3341.0
• Chrome plugin cache: openai-bundled/chrome/26.609.30741
• Chrome: 142.0.7444.163
• Codex Chrome Extension: 1.1.5_0
• Selected Chrome profile: Default
• Chrome extension is installed/enabled.
• Native host manifest and HKCU registry key are valid.
• Chrome launches extension-host.exe through native messaging.
• agent.browsers.list() returns only the Codex in-app browser (type: "iab") in my case, rather than an empty list.
• agent.browsers.get("extension") still fails with Browser is not available: extension.

So this looks like the same Windows Store / bundled helper activation issue, except the in-app browser backend is registered while the Chrome extension backend is not.

One extra diagnostic note: on Korean Windows, reg query /ve can show the default registry value localized as (기본값), and one diagnostic path appeared to misread that as the key being missing. A direct node scripts/check-native-host-manifest.js --json run reports the manifest as correct, so this may be a separate diagnostics/localization issue rather than the root cause.

Additional reproduction on a newer Windows Store Codex build.

Environment:

• OS: Windows 11 Pro, 10.0.26200, ko-KR
• Codex App package: OpenAI.Codex_26.609.4994.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• App-bundled / user-local Codex runtime: 0.140.0-alpha.2
• Bundled Computer Use plugin: openai-bundled/computer-use/26.609.41114
• Bundled @oai/sky: 0.4.10
• computer-use@openai-bundled is enabled in ~/.codex/config.toml
• Feature flags include computer_use
• A named pipe exists under \\.\pipe\codex-computer-use-...
• Remote/mobile connection is enabled and a mobile device has connected successfully

Observed failure 1: documented Computer Use bootstrap fails before contacting the helper:

Package subpath './dist/project/cua/sky_js/src/targets/windows/internal/computer_use_client_base.js' is not defined by "exports" in C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\789504f803e82e2b\bin\node_modules\@oai\sky\package.json

The bundled plugin imports:

import { WindowsComputerUseClientBase } from "@oai/sky/dist/project/cua/sky_js/src/targets/windows/internal/computer_use_client_base.js";

but @oai/sky/package.json exports only:

"exports": {
  ".": "./dist/project/cua/sky_js/src/index.js"
}

The target file exists, and direct file URL import works and exposes WindowsComputerUseClientBase.

Observed failure 2: for diagnosis only, I copied computer-use-client.mjs to a workspace-local file and changed only that import to a file URL. That bypassed the exports error, but bootstrap then failed with:

Computer Use native pipe is unavailable

Current Node REPL inspection from the affected session:

{
  "hasNodeRepl": true,
  "hasConfig": false,
  "hasNativePipe": false,
  "nativePipeKeys": [],
  "hasCreateConnection": false,
  "hasCreateElicitation": false,
  "requestMetaKeys": ["progressToken", "threadId", "x-codex-turn-metadata"]
}

So this still appears two-layered on 26.609.4994.0 / plugin 26.609.41114:

1. computer-use-client.mjs imports a non-exported @oai/sky package subpath.
2. Even after bypassing that import for diagnosis, the active session lacks the privileged nodeRepl.nativePipe / approval bridge expected by NativePipeComputerUseTransport.create().

codex doctor --json from the accessible user-local CLI reports config.load: ok and feature flags include computer_use; network.websocket_reachability: ok; installation is locally consistent, though PATH contains multiple Codex entries. Running the MSIX-bundled app/resources/codex.exe directly from C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\... is blocked by Windows access control, but the user-local CLI path runs.

Impact: Computer Use is shown as installed/enabled and documented as available for Windows desktop app control, but the bundled bootstrap path is unusable in this Windows Codex App session. I did not modify bundled plugin/runtime files; the patched file was only a local diagnostic copy.

I maintain WinBridge Recovery, an independent Windows Codex Desktop local-state diagnostic/recovery utility: https://github.com/zemeng5208/winbridge-recovery

This thread has two layers that are worth separating. The Chrome/Computer Use entries can be installed and enabled while the active session still lacks the expected extension backend / privileged nodeRepl.nativePipe; separately, one reproduction shows the bundled computer-use-client.mjs importing an @oai/sky subpath that the bundled package does not export.

WinBridge can help with the first when it is caused by mixed local state: active CODEX_HOME, bundled marketplace, concrete plugin cache/latest, cua_node/node_repl, and native-host paths are checked against the official installed package as one set, with backup and verification before local repair. It also avoids treating localized reg query output as proof that the registry entry is absent.

It cannot legitimately fix an internally incompatible official plugin/package pair or manufacture the privileged native pipe if Desktop never provisions it. If those official resources are mutually inconsistent, the correct result is an upstream diagnosis rather than patching package code.

If anyone with either reproduction tries WinBridge, please record whether it was ✅ fixed, 🟡 local state repaired but backend still missing, or ❌ unchanged at https://github.com/zemeng5208/winbridge-recovery/issues/4. That distinction is exactly the field data I am trying to collect.

Update from the original reporter:

This appears to be fixed for my machine now.

I originally filed this against the Windows Store Codex 26.609.x builds, where the Chrome extension/native host was installed but the Chrome backend did not register, and Computer Use was enabled in the UI but the session had no usable Computer Use runtime/pipe.

As of my current Windows Store Codex install:

• Codex package: OpenAI.Codex 26.810.4967.0
• OpenAI bundled plugins in cache: 26.810.41047
• agent.browsers.list() now returns both:
• Chrome as an extension backend
• Codex In-app Browser
• Computer Use now imports via @oai/sky
• sky.list_apps() succeeds and returns Windows apps/windows

I did not use WinBridge Recovery for this current working state. The local workaround documented earlier around copying/registering a user bundled marketplace is not what the current config.toml is using; openai-bundled is currently sourced from the normal .codex\.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled path.

So for my original reproduction, this looks fixed by a later Codex Desktop / bundled plugin update rather than by the old local workaround.

I have not tested whether older 26.609.x builds are still broken, so this may still be useful as historical diagnostics for users stuck on those builds.

Closing this from my side since the original reproduction no longer reproduces on my current build.