[Windows desktop] Links to HTML files provided by Codex open as static local files in internal browser

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

26.707.12708.0

What subscription do you have?

$100/month plan

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.19045.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

The Codex HTML viewer currently opens a referenced local HTML or template file through file:/// by default. This is the least useful mode for server-dependent templates: it discards the recognized source line and bypasses server processing, producing blank useless rendering.

The viewer does not provide the other two necessary ways to inspect the reference: viewing the source code at the cited line or viewing the page through HTTPS path after the application server has renders it.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Ask Codex to reference a specific line in a local .html source file.
2. Hover over the link in the response. The hover card shows the file path and line number.
3. Click the link.
4. The in-app browser opens the bare local HTML file as a local static html page. The line number is lost, and no source-code view opens.

This happened with both the normal Windows path ending in page.html:15 and the path ending in page.html#L15.

What is the expected behavior?

The HTML viewer should provide three selectable modes:

1. Source code at the referenced line — default. This is the most common use of a source-file reference and should be the initial view since all other code files behave like this.
2. Server-rendered page. Open the corresponding HTTP or HTTPS application route so the server processes the template.
3. Locally rendered HTML. Open the physical file only for standalone HTML when local rendering is actually appropriate.

The user should be able to switch among the available modes in the viewer. The current file:/// rendering behavior should not be the default as it's the least common.

Additional information

GitHub suggests #17681 as a potential duplicate, but the behavior is different. In #17681, clicking a file link successfully opens the correct file in View Code; only navigation to the referenced line fails. In this report, clicking a link to an HTML file never opens View Code. It opens the physical file as a file:/// webpage instead.

This report also covers the missing HTML viewer modes: source code at the referenced line, server-rendered output through HTTP or HTTPS, and local rendering for standalone HTML.