view_image fails to read local images on Windows with apply deny-read ACLs
Resolved 💬 4 comments Opened Jul 6, 2026 by Traveller23 Closed Jul 10, 2026
What version of Codex CLI is running?
codex-cli 0.142.5
What subscription do you have?
Business
Which model were you using?
gpt-5.5
What platform is your computer?
Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
PowerShell
Codex doctor report
{
"schemaVersion": 1,
"generatedAt": "1783347166s since unix epoch",
"overallStatus": "ok",
"codexVersion": "0.142.5",
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"summary": "background server is not running",
"details": {
"control socket": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\.codex\\app-server-control\\app-server-control.sock",
"daemon state dir": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\.codex\\app-server-daemon",
"mode": "ephemeral",
"pid file": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\.codex\\app-server-daemon\\app-server.pid (missing)",
"settings": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\.codex\\app-server-daemon\\settings.json (missing)",
"status": "not running",
"update-loop pid file": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\.codex\\app-server-daemon\\app-server-updater.pid (missing)"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"auth.credentials": {
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"auth file": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\.codex\\auth.json",
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"enabled feature flags": "<redacted>",
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"git exec path": "C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/libexec/git-core",
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"repo detected": "true",
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"PATH codex #1": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\codex",
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"current executable": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex-win32-x64\\vendor\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\bin\\codex.exe",
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"managed by bun": "false",
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"managed package root": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex",
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"mcp.config": {
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},
"network.env": {
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"category": "network",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "network-related environment looks readable",
"details": {
"proxy env vars": "none"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"network.provider_reachability": {
"id": "network.provider_reachability",
"category": "reachability",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "active provider endpoints are reachable over HTTP",
"details": {
"openai API base URL": "https://api.openai.com/v1 reachable (HTTP 404)",
"openai API route probe": "https://api.openai.com/v1/<redacted> route exists (HTTP 401)",
"reachability mode": "API key auth"
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"network.websocket_reachability": {
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"details": {
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"auth mode": "chatgpt",
"connect timeout": "15000 ms",
"endpoint": "wss://chatgpt.com/backend-api/<redacted>",
"handshake result": "HTTP 101 Switching Protocols",
"model provider": "openai",
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"provider name": "OpenAI",
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"durationMs": 1700
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"runtime.provenance": {
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"status": "ok",
"summary": "running npm on windows-x86_64",
"details": {
"commit": "unknown",
"current executable": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex-win32-x64\\vendor\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\bin\\codex.exe",
"install method": "npm (package C:\\Users\\Pello\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex-win32-x64\\vendor\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, bin C:\\Users\\Pello\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex-win32-x64\\vendor\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\bin, resources C:\\Users\\Pello\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex-win32-x64\\vendor\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\codex-resources, path C:\\Users\\Pello\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex-win32-x64\\vendor\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\codex-path)",
"platform": "windows-x86_64",
"version": "0.142.5"
},
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"durationMs": 0
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"runtime.search": {
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"category": "search",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "search is OK (bundled)",
"details": {
"search command": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex-win32-x64\\vendor\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\codex-path\\rg.exe",
"search command readiness": "file exists",
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"durationMs": 0
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"sandbox.helpers": {
"id": "sandbox.helpers",
"category": "sandbox",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "sandbox configuration is readable",
"details": {
"approval policy": "OnRequest",
"codex-linux-sandbox helper": "none",
"execve wrapper helper": "none",
"filesystem sandbox": "restricted",
"network sandbox": "restricted"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"state.paths": {
"id": "state.paths",
"category": "state",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "state paths and databases are inspectable",
"details": {
"CODEX_HOME": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\.codex (dir)",
"active rollout files": "54 files, 76842224 total bytes, 1423004 average bytes",
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"goals DB": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\.codex\\goals_1.sqlite (file)",
"goals DB integrity": "ok",
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"log DB integrity": "ok",
"log dir": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\.codex\\log (dir)",
"memories DB": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\.codex\\memories_1.sqlite (file)",
"memories DB integrity": "ok",
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"details": {
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"system.environment": {
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"status": "ok",
"summary": "OS language zh-CN",
"details": {
"EDITOR": "not set",
"VISUAL": "not set",
"os": "Windows 10.0.26200 (Windows 11 Core) [64-bit]",
"os language": "zh-CN",
"os type": "Windows",
"os version": "10.0.26200"
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"terminal title project source": "git repo root",
"terminal title project value": "openai-agents",
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"updates.status": {
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"summary": "update configuration is locally consistent",
"details": {
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"check for update on startup": "true",
"last checked at": "2026-07-05T20:18:10.180788300Z",
"latest version": "0.142.5",
"latest version status": "current version is not older",
"npm update target": "C:\\Users\\Pello\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@openai\\codex",
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}
}
}What issue are you seeing?
The Codex image viewing tool cannot read local image files on Windows. Calls to view_image fail with a Windows sandbox ACL error, even when the file exists and can be read by PowerShell.
Example failing path:
C:\Users\Pello\Downloads\shared\人员分配.jpg
Error from view_image:
unable to locate image at `C:\Users\Pello\Downloads\shared\人员分配.jpg`: fs sandbox helper failed with status exit code: 1: windows sandbox failed: helper_unknown_error: apply deny-read ACLsThe same failure also happens for screenshots generated inside the workspace, for example files under:
C:\data\javascript\verzeta\openai-agents\test-results\*.png
PowerShell can confirm that the file exists. For example, this command succeeded:
Get-Item -LiteralPath 'C:\Users\Pello\Downloads\shared\人员分配.jpg' | Select-Object FullName,Length,LastWriteTime
Output:
FullName Length LastWriteTime
-------- ------ -------------
C:\Users\Pello\Downloads\shared\人员分配.jpg 33061 2026-06-12 16:28:09
So the problem appears to be specific to the Codex view_image tool / Windows sandbox file access, not the file path or file existence.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Start Codex CLI on Windows.
- Ask Codex to inspect a local image file using view_image, for example:
C:\Users\Pello\Downloads\shared\人员分配.jpg
- view_image fails with:
Additional reproduction from workspace screenshots:
- Use Playwright in Codex to generate screenshots under test-results/.
- Confirm the screenshots exist and have nonzero size with PowerShell.
- Ask Codex to open the screenshot with view_image.
- view_image fails with the same ACL error.
Restarting Windows did not fix the issue.
What is the expected behavior?
- Open those screenshots via view_image.
- Visually inspect the screenshots as part of the agent validation loop.
Additional information
This blocks fully automated UI visual validation. Codex can still:
- open the browser with Playwright,
- operate the page,
- generate screenshots,
- verify DOM/layout/computed styles,
- confirm screenshot files exist,
but it cannot visually inspect the generated screenshots because view_image cannot read local images.
This also happened earlier with apply_patch update/delete operations failing with similar Windows sandbox ACL read errors. The user worked around that by allowing precise PowerShell write scripts, but there
is no equivalent workaround for view_image visual inspection.
This issue has 4 comments on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗