Windows MSIX: Computer Use and pet creation fail because bundled runtime relocation leaves bin/cua_node empty

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

26.707.3748.0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Computer Use and pet creation fail on Windows Codex Desktop.

Symptoms:

• Settings > Computer Use shows the plugin is unavailable.
• Pet creation fails with: Unable to start pet creation.
• This reproduces both on my original Windows user and on a newly created local administrator user.

Codex app:

• Microsoft Store / MSIX install
• Version: 26.707.3748.0
• Package path:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.707.3748.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

Troubleshooting already attempted:

• Restarted Codex
• Updated/reinstalled Codex
• Reset/Repaired Codex from Windows Settings
• Cleared/renamed Codex runtime cache:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI
%USERPROFILE%\.codex\.tmp\bundled-marketplaces

• Added Defender exclusions
• Ran sfc /scannow, which repaired some system files
• Ran DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth successfully
• Tested with a newly created local Windows administrator user

Observed technical details:

• Codex creates these directories:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\bin
%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node

but both directories remain empty.

• The bundled runtime files exist in the WindowsApps package:

app\resources\codex.exe
app\resources\cua_node\bin\node.exe
app\resources\cua_node\bin\node_repl.exe
app\resources\cua_node\bin\node_modules\@oai\sky\bin\windows\codex-computer-use.exe

• Manually copying the bundled executable from WindowsApps to %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex fails with:

The specified file could not be encrypted.

• Running cipher /c on the source executable shows:

Compatibility Level: Application Protected

Expected behavior:
Codex should successfully relocate the bundled runtime files from the MSIX/WindowsApps package into %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex, and Computer Use / pet creation should start.

Actual behavior:
The local runtime directories remain empty, so node_repl / Computer Use native helper paths are unavailable and Computer Use plus pet creation cannot start.

Likely issue:
The Windows/MSIX build appears to fail when relocating Application Protected bundled executable files from WindowsApps to the user-writable runtime directory on this machine.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Feedback ID: 019f32c2-80ba-7ea3-b2d2-364bbdf96d0c

What is the expected behavior?

Codex should successfully relocate its bundled runtime files from the MSIX/WindowsApps package into:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\bin
%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node

After that, Settings > Computer Use should be available, node_repl should start, Computer Use should be able to launch, and pet creation should work without "Unable to start pet creation".

Additional information

Troubleshooting already attempted:

• Restarted Codex.
• Updated/reinstalled Codex.
• Reset/Repaired Codex from Windows Settings.
• Cleared/renamed Codex runtime cache:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI
%USERPROFILE%\.codex\.tmp\bundled-marketplaces

• Added Defender exclusions.
• Ran sfc /scannow. It repaired some system files.
• Rebooted.
• Ran DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth successfully.
• Rebooted again.
• Tested with a newly created local Windows administrator user.

Observed technical details:

• Codex creates these directories but leaves them empty:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\bin
%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node

• Bundled runtime files exist in the MSIX package:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.707.3748.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\codex.exe
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.707.3748.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\cua_node\bin\node.exe
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.707.3748.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\cua_node\bin\node_repl.exe
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.707.3748.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\cua_node\bin\node_modules\@oai\sky\bin\windows\codex-computer-use.exe

• Manual copy from WindowsApps to %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex fails with:

The specified file could not be encrypted.

• Running cipher /c on the source executable shows:

Compatibility Level: Application Protected

Likely related errors:

• bundled_executable_relocation_failed
• node-repl-missing
• computer-use native pipe helper paths unavailable