[Bug Solved & Solution] VS Code codex extension blank sidebar in Remote SSH on version 26.707.91948

Open 💬 2 comments Opened Jul 17, 2026 by PeiranLi0930
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

What version of the IDE extension are you using?

26.707.91948

What subscription do you have?

Pro Max

Which IDE are you using?

VS Code

What platform is your computer?

_No response_

What issue are you seeing?

After updating the VS Code Codex extension to openai.chatgpt 26.707.91948, the Codex sidebar shows a blank panel when used in a VS Code Remote SSH window.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

  1. Open a project using VS Code Remote SSH.
  2. Install or update the Codex VS Code extension to 26.707.91948 on the remote SSH side.
  3. Open the Codex sidebar.
  4. Observe that the sidebar is blank.

What is the expected behavior?

_No response_

Additional information

Solution

I reproduced this with VS Code Remote-SSH and openai.chatgpt 26.707.91948.

The failure is caused by the bundled Zod v4 environment check accessing navigator inside the Node.js remote extension host:

typeof navigator !== "undefined"

This triggers VS Code’s PendingMigrationError and can leave the Codex webview blank or unresponsive.

Immediate workaround

Create ~/.vscode-server/data/Machine/settings.json on the remote host:

~~~json
{
"extensions.supportNodeGlobalNavigator": true
}
~~~

Then run Developer: Reload Window. Setting this only in the local VS Code user settings did not fix the remote extension host.

Required source fix

The extension/dependency should detect Node before accessing navigator:

~~~ts
const isNode =
typeof process === "object" && process?.versions?.node;

if (
!isNode &&
typeof navigator !== "undefined" &&
navigator?.userAgent?.includes("Cloudflare")
) {
return false;
}
~~~

After applying the remote setting, the unmodified official extension loaded normally and the Codex webview mounted successfully.

View original on GitHub ↗

2 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 1 month ago

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

  • #33047
  • #32977

Powered by Codex Action

MrcsTang · 19 days ago

I reproduced the same issue on a newer extension version.

Environment

  • VS Code: 1.132.0
  • Codex VS Code extension: openai.chatgpt 26.803.41515
  • Local OS: Windows 11
  • Remote OS: Ubuntu Linux via VS Code Remote-SSH

Actual behavior

Opening the Codex sidebar in a Remote-SSH window initially showed only:

Codex couldn't load its resources.

The actionable error was only visible in the extension-host logs:

PendingMigrationError: navigator is now a global in nodejs

I observed this error in both the local and remote extension-host logs. Reinstalling the extension and clearing its cache did not resolve it.

Workaround

Adding the following compatibility setting on the remote host allowed the remote extension host to start:

{
  "extensions.supportNodeGlobalNavigator": true
}

I also added the same setting locally to eliminate the local extension-host error, then reloaded the VS Code window.

Expected behavior

The extension or its dependency should avoid accessing navigator in the Node extension-host environment, so users do not need a manual compatibility setting.

At minimum, the Codex UI should surface the actionable PendingMigrationError instead of the generic “couldn't load its resources” message.