Windows 26.623: Browser/Chrome plugins installed and runtime present, but node_repl js tool is not exposed

Summary

On Windows with Codex Desktop 26.623.8305.0, Browser/Chrome plugin files and UI are present, Chrome extension is connected, and cua_node runtime has been manually restored, but fresh threads still do not expose the required mcp__node_repl__js tool. As a result, Browser/Chrome skills cannot control the in-app browser or Chrome through the documented browser-client.mjs path.

Environment

• OS: Windows
• Codex Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.623.8305.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Bundled plugin version: 26.623.61825
• Marketplace source in config.toml: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.623.8305.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\plugins\openai-bundled
• Enabled plugins:
• browser@openai-bundled
• chrome@openai-bundled
• computer-use@openai-bundled

Current UI state

• Computer Use settings show Google Chrome as connected to the browser extension.
• Browser settings now show Browser as enabled/toggleable, not missing.
• MCP settings show regular servers such as garmin; in one restart playwright also appeared, but this is not the Chrome/Browser plugin tool surface.

Verified local state

Browser/Chrome plugin cache is present and linked to real directories:

C:\Users\Administrator\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\browser\latest
  -> C:\Users\Administrator\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\browser\26.623.61825

C:\Users\Administrator\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome\latest
  -> C:\Users\Administrator\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome\26.623.61825

Relevant skill files exist:

C:\Users\Administrator\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\browser\26.623.61825\skills\control-in-app-browser\SKILL.md
C:\Users\Administrator\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome\26.623.61825\skills\control-chrome\SKILL.md

Both skills depend on the Node REPL JS tool, typically exposed as mcp__node_repl__js, and load:

...\scripts\browser-client.mjs

The local cua_node runtime has also been restored from the app package:

C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\120c650ffb83\bin\node_repl.exe

The restored node_repl.exe hash matches the current app package version:

SHA256 88BC2245755492AA3A3365ECCA92EF45F8895867F28A64B1B61DC5FD6D980083

Repro

1. Start Codex Desktop on Windows.
2. Enable Browser, Chrome, and Computer Use plugins in settings.
3. Confirm Chrome extension shows connected.
4. Start a fresh thread.
5. Ask the agent to discover node_repl js, mcp__node_repl__js, Browser, Chrome, or DOM control tools.
6. Observe that tool_search("node_repl") and tool_search("node_repl js") return 0 results.

Actual behavior

Fresh threads do not expose mcp__node_repl__js. Browser/Chrome skills and plugin files are present, but the callable tool surface is missing. The model can see instructions that require Node REPL, but cannot execute them.

Expected behavior

When Browser/Chrome plugins are installed/enabled and the runtime is present, fresh threads should expose the trusted Node REPL JS tool so the documented flow works, e.g. importing browser-client.mjs and using:

globalThis.chrome = await agent.browsers.get("extension");
globalThis.browser = await agent.browsers.get("iab");

Local remediation already attempted

• Cleared/rebuilt .codex generated plugin/cache/tmp/browser/computer-use state while preserving auth, sessions, memories, and config.
• Removed stale notify hook to an old missing codex-computer-use.exe.
• Removed stale chrome-native-hosts-v2.json entries pointing at older 26.602 / 26.609 resources.
• Repaired broken browser/latest and chrome/latest junctions.
• Copied Browser plugin from app resources into plugin cache, working around WindowsApps/EFS copy failures.
• Restored the cua_node runtime from current app resources into %LOCALAPPDATA%.
• Restarted Codex repeatedly and tested in fresh threads.

Notes

This appears to be below the plugin-file layer and below the runtime-file layer: it looks like a tool registration / rollout / app-server exposure issue where node_repl js is not being surfaced to the model despite installed Browser/Chrome plugins and a present runtime.