Codex Desktop 26.707: Browser and Chrome bootstrap fail with 'Cannot redefine property: process'

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

26.707.9564.0 (Microsoft Store package OpenAI.Codex_26.707.9564.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0)

Bundled Browser and Chrome plugin cache version: 26.707.71524.

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT subscription (exact tier not relevant to this local runtime failure).

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Both the bundled Chrome plugin and the in-app Browser plugin fail during browser runtime bootstrap, before any browser tab or website is accessed.

The exact error is:

Cannot redefine property: process

The failure occurs while importing and initializing the official bundled scripts/browser-client.mjs through the provided mcp__node_repl__js tool. Reinstalling browser permissions and resetting the JavaScript kernel do not help.

This worked in June 2026 and started failing on the current July build, so it appears to be a recent regression in the interaction between the bundled browser client and the JavaScript runtime.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Install/open Codex Desktop for Windows version 26.707.9564.0.
2. Enable the official bundled Chrome or Browser plugin (26.707.71524).
3. Start a fresh Codex task and ask it to use Chrome or the in-app browser.
4. The skill follows the documented bootstrap sequence:

if (globalThis.agent?.browsers == null) {
  const { setupBrowserRuntime } = await import(
    "C:/Users/<user>/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/chrome/26.707.71524/scripts/browser-client.mjs"
  );
  await setupBrowserRuntime({ globals: globalThis });
}

The same failure occurs with the Browser plugin path:

C:/Users/<user>/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/browser/26.707.71524/scripts/browser-client.mjs

Actual result in both cases:

Cannot redefine property: process

Resetting the JavaScript kernel and repeating the documented bootstrap produces the same result. The failure happens before agent.browsers.get("extension") or agent.browsers.get("iab") can be used.

What is the expected behavior?

setupBrowserRuntime({ globals: globalThis }) should initialize successfully, after which Codex should be able to select the Chrome extension backend or the in-app browser backend and control a tab.

Additional information

• Both official browser surfaces fail with the identical error, suggesting the issue is in their shared browser-client/runtime bootstrap rather than Chrome permissions, native messaging, authentication, or a particular website.
• The bundled browser-client.mjs contains code that installs a process shim on the global object. The error suggests a conflict with the current JavaScript runtime's handling of the global process property.
• The issue reproduces before any page navigation and with no user data involved.
• Another user reported the exact same error on July 14, 2026: https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1uw05ll/anyone_else_not_able_to_have_codex_open_the_codex_browser/