macOS ChatGPT app Browser control fails: Cannot redefine property: process

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

• #32938
• #32936
• #32935
• #32925
• #32934

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Local workaround confirmed on macOS for app version 26.707.71524.

The cached file was:

~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/browser/26.707.71524/scripts/browser-client.mjs

At the top of the file, the process shim setup was changed to:

globalThis.processShim = processShim;
try {
  globalThis.process = processShim;
} catch {}

globalThis.global = globalThis.global ?? globalThis;
try {
  globalThis.global.process = processShim;
} catch {}

The minified bundle's direct field reads were then changed from global.process.<field> to global.processShim.<field>. In this build, the affected fields were:

• env
• exit in two places
• listeners
• on in two places
• version

A plain global.process check was left unchanged.

After resetting the JavaScript tool session and loading the patched Browser client again, Browser control connected to the existing in-app Browser and returned its full documentation. It is now controlling Instagram successfully.

This is only a local workaround. Reloading bundled plugins or updating ChatGPT may overwrite it.

Local workaround worked - thanks

Independent macOS reproduction confirming this remains fully blocking.

Environment

• ChatGPT desktop app: 26.707.71524 (build 5263)
• Bundled Browser plugin: openai-bundled/browser 26.707.71524
• Codex CLI: 0.144.1
• macOS: 26.3
• Architecture: Apple Silicon / arm64

Reproduction

1. Open a page in the in-app Browser.
2. Start a Codex task and ask it to use the Browser.
3. Load the official bundled client from:

~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/browser/26.707.71524/scripts/browser-client.mjs

1. Import fails during module evaluation at line 33:

TypeError: Cannot redefine property: process

1. Reset the Node-backed JavaScript session and retry. The same failure occurs.

The exact failing assignment is:

globalThis.process = processShim;

The failure happens before setupBrowserRuntime can expose agent.browsers, before selecting the in-app Browser backend, and before any page or tab is inspected.

As a control, the same target site was successfully navigated and verified through the separate Playwright plugin, so this is not a website, authentication, tab-state, or network failure.

Impact: the visible in-app Browser works manually, but Codex cannot inspect, click, type, or perform visual QA through it. Restarting and resetting the JavaScript session do not resolve the incompatibility.

No client data, credentials, or session transcript are included in this report.

Additional macOS reproduction affecting an unattended scheduled task.

Environment:

• macOS 26.3 (25D125), Apple Silicon
• ChatGPT desktop app 26.707.72221 (build 5307)
• Bundled Browser plugin cache: 26.707.71524
• Session ID: 019f49f5-df91-76d1-afa2-80f77d343970

Observed behavior:

1. A local scheduled task started at 2026-07-15 10:17 Asia/Shanghai and invoked @Browser.
2. Browser bootstrap failed before any website or tab was accessed.
3. Resetting the JavaScript runtime and retrying in the same scheduled run failed again.
4. The task aborted before its discovery/capture/update steps. Its configured error notification was sent successfully.
5. A manual/scheduled run of the same workflow had succeeded on the previous day, so the failure appears capable of varying with the Browser runtime/bootstrap state.

The local stack trace is the same failure reported here:

TypeError: Cannot redefine property: process
    at .../browser/26.707.71524/scripts/browser-client.mjs:33:22

Impact: Browser-dependent local scheduled tasks are not reliable for unattended operation because the run cannot recover once Browser initialization fails.

Additional macOS reproduction affecting both the built-in Codex Browser and the Chrome/Browser plugin.

Environment:

• Codex Desktop: 26.707.72221
• macOS: 26.5 (25F71), Apple Silicon arm64
• Target: Codex in-app Browser and the user's Chrome session

Observed behavior:

• The Codex in-app Browser is visibly open, but Codex cannot connect to or control its tab.
• The Chrome/Browser plugin also cannot initialize or discover tabs.
• Reinstalling the Browser plugin does not resolve the issue.
• Browser-dependent tasks are blocked before page interaction, including authenticated web workflows.

Errors observed during bootstrap:

• Module not found: ./node_modules/classic-level.mjs
• After the incomplete bundled dependency snapshot was restored, bootstrap reached:

Cannot redefine property: process

The failure occurs before tab discovery, navigation, authentication, or any target-site interaction. This appears consistent with the current bundled Browser/Chrome client and the protected globalThis.process in the Codex Node runtime, rather than a Chrome profile, login, or target website problem.

A clean reinstall of the same current plugin/app version did not change the behavior. The previous bundled version 26.707.62119 was reported by other users to work, while the 26.707.x update introduced this regression.