Chrome and Computer Use fail with “missing field sandboxPolicy” on Windows 10

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

• #29241
• #29238
• #29234
• #29212
• #29211

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Same issue here. Feedback ID: 019ee648-9453-7462-9988-58f7f9eaa7a6

Chrome and Computer Use both fail before startup with:
codex/sandbox-state-meta: missing field sandboxPolicy

Confirmed after Codex restarts, new threads, Windows restart, Chrome restart, Chrome extension reinstall, and separate Computer Use test.

Adding another Windows data point with a privacy-scrubbed trace, rather than opening a duplicate issue.

Feedback ID: 019ee64c-3000-7332-8030-a22cfd39505e. I also submitted a performance/reliability trace from the same Codex thread.

This began for me after the latest Codex Desktop update. The important signal is that it survived a fairly exhaustive layer-by-layer troubleshooting pass, including reset/retry/new-thread checks, and still appears to fail before user JavaScript executes.

Environment, privacy-scrubbed:

• Codex Desktop AppX: OpenAI.Codex 26.616.5445.0
• OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64
• Bundled Chrome / Computer Use plugin path versions visible locally: 26.616.41845
• Workspace dependency bundle visible locally: 26.619.11828
• System Node: v24.16.0; workspace dependency Node: v24.14.0

Observed behavior:

• node_repl/js is visible in the tool inventory.
• js_reset returns success.
• A minimal JS call such as nodeRepl.write(String(1 + 1)); fails before the JS runs with:

Mcp error: -32602: js: codex/sandbox-state-meta: missing field `sandboxPolicy`

• A same-host, same-project comparison thread reproduced the same error after reset.

What the trace narrowed down:

• Shell, CMD, Git, ordinary local Node, DNS, and HTTPS checks worked.
• The in-app Browser / Browser Playwright path could open https://example.com and read the title.
• Chrome was installed and running.
• The Codex Chrome extension, native messaging manifest, and native host process were visible locally.
• Computer Use plugin/client files were visible locally.
• @Chrome and Computer Use failed upstream because node_repl/js rejected the call first.
• No proxy environment variables were visible; WinHTTP was direct.
• No direct Windows Defender block was found in the checked logs.
• The user-level config/environment visible to the trace included NODE_REPL_REQUEST_META with codex/sandbox-state-meta.sandboxPolicy, but the live js tool invocation still reported sandboxPolicy missing.

Impact:

This is not just Chrome setup and not just active desktop visibility. It blocks node_repl/js itself, and then cascades into @Chrome, Computer Use, and remote mobile Codex Desktop workflows that depend on those tools. From my side, the practical recovery steps available inside the thread do not repair the transport after the latest update.

Privacy note: I am intentionally not including local usernames, full paths, repo/project names, raw logs, tokens, cookies, screenshots, or account/subscription details here. Please use the feedback ID above to correlate the submitted trace privately.

I’m seeing the same failure on macOS.

Environment

• Codex Desktop: 26.616.41845
• Build: 4198
• OS: macOS, arm64
• Bundled node_repl path: /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/cua_node/bin/node_repl
• Browser plugin: enabled
• Chrome plugin: enabled
• sandbox_mode = "workspace-write"
• approval_policy = "on-request"
• approvals_reviewer = "user"

Observed behavior

• mcp__node_repl.js fails before any JavaScript executes.
• Minimal calls such as nodeRepl.write('ping') fail with:

Mcp error: -32602: js: codex/sandbox-state-meta: missing field `sandboxPolicy`

Impact

• Browser and Chrome plugin automation are blocked because both depend on node_repl/js.
• The failure happens before Browser/Chrome setup code runs, so it does not appear related to page content, login state, Playwright, or a specific website.

Additional local observations

• The bundled node_repl --help shows --disable-sandbox, but adding args = ["--disable-sandbox"] under [mcp_servers.node_repl] was not a durable workaround; the Desktop-generated config reverted on restart, and Desktop appeared to launch node_repl without that arg.
• The bundled node_repl binary strings indicate it expects SandboxState fields including sandboxPolicy, codexLinuxSandboxExe, sandboxCwd, and useLegacyLandlock.
• This looks like Desktop/app-server is sending incomplete or mismatched codex/sandbox-state-meta metadata to the bundled node_repl server.

Same issue here on Windows.

Environment

• Codex Desktop: OpenAI.Codex 26.616.5445.0
• Installed from Microsoft Store
• OS: Windows
• Shell: PowerShell
• Chrome plugin: enabled
• Browser automation: affected
• Computer Use: affected
• Codex Chrome extension: installed

Error

Any node_repl/js call fails before JavaScript execution with:

Mcp error: -32602: js: codex/sandbox-state-meta: missing field `sandboxPolicy`

What I observed

• Chrome automation cannot start.
• Browser automation cannot start.
• Computer Use cannot start.
• A minimal JS call also fails before execution.
• Restarting Codex did not fix it.
• Windows UAC appeared for codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe; I allowed it.
• The sandbox setup executable is signed by OpenAI OpCo, LLC.
• Codex package status appears OK locally.
• The failure still happens after the sandbox setup prompt.

Local checks

Codex package:

Name: OpenAI.Codex
Version: 26.616.5445.0
Status: Ok
InstallLocation: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.616.5445.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

Sandbox setup binary signature:

Status: Valid
StatusMessage: Signature verified.
Signer: OpenAI OpCo, LLC

Impact

This blocks Chrome control, Browser automation, and Computer Use. It does not appear to be a Chrome login, website, or user permission issue, because the failure happens before Chrome or any website interaction begins.

Computer Use fails on Windows: codex/sandbox-state-meta: missing field sandboxPolicy

Summary

I am encountering a Computer Use initialization failure in Codex Desktop on Windows. The failure occurs before the Windows helper can interact with any application.

Error

tool call failed for `node_repl/js`

MCP error: -32602:
js: codex/sandbox-state-meta: missing field `sandboxPolicy`

Environment

OS: Windows
Codex Desktop: 26.616.5445.0
codex-cli: 0.142.0-alpha.6
Computer Use plugin: 26.616.41845
node_repl runtime: 20260609.1

Steps to reproduce

1. Start a new local thread in Codex Desktop.
2. Enable computer-use@openai-bundled.
3. Ask Codex to open or control a Windows application.
4. Initialize Computer Use and call list_apps().
5. The MCP call immediately fails with the error above.

Expected behavior

Computer Use should read the thread's sandbox policy, connect to the Windows helper, and return the available applications.

Actual behavior

The MCP request is rejected because codex/sandbox-state-meta does not contain the required camelCase field sandboxPolicy.

The rollout's turn_context does contain sandbox information:

{
  "sandbox_policy": {
    "type": "workspace-write",
    "network_access": false
  }
}

This suggests that the sandbox information exists at the thread level but is lost or not converted when MCP metadata is constructed:

turn_context.sandbox_policy
          ↓ missing conversion/injection
codex/sandbox-state-meta.sandboxPolicy

Additional findings

• computer-use@openai-bundled is reported as installed and enabled.
• The Windows helper has previously completed screenInfo and screenshot requests successfully.
• The failure happens before the Computer Use bootstrap reaches the helper.
• Creating a new thread does not resolve the issue.
• The Desktop, Computer Use plugin, and runtime versions are not identical, so version compatibility may also be involved.