Explicit Microsoft Excel mentions create local spreadsheet files, while restricted permission modes route tasks through Node_Repl_JS instead of Shell

What issue are you seeing?

Codex does not consistently respect the user’s explicitly selected tool or permission intent.

There are two related behaviors:

1. Even when Microsoft Excel is explicitly mentioned using the exact plugin mention:

[@Microsoft Excel](plugin://spreadsheets@openai-primary-runtime)

the agent creates a local spreadsheet file instead of using Microsoft Excel as an application or connected service.

The mention is presented to the user as “Microsoft Excel,” but its actual behavior appears to be generic spreadsheet artifact generation. This naming is misleading because users naturally expect an explicit Microsoft Excel mention to invoke Excel-specific functionality.

1. When Codex is configured with Default permissions or Approve for me, instead of Full access, the agent often avoids Shell entirely and performs nearly every task through Node_Repl_JS.

This includes tasks that would normally be handled through Shell. As a result, Node_Repl_JS appears to become a general-purpose alternative execution path whenever Shell is restricted.

Steps to reproduce

Microsoft Excel mention

1. Open Codex.
2. Ask the agent to perform an Excel-related task.
3. Observe that the agent creates a spreadsheet file rather than interacting with Microsoft Excel as an application or connected service.

Permission-mode behavior

1. Select Default permissions or Approve for me instead of Full access.
2. Give Codex a task that would normally require Shell commands.
3. Observe the tools selected by the agent.
4. The agent avoids Shell and routes most or all operations through Node_Repl_JS.

Expected behavior

• An explicit Microsoft Excel mention should invoke genuine Excel-specific functionality.
• Selecting a restricted permission mode should not cause the agent to silently move all execution into Node_Repl_JS.
• Shell and Node_Repl_JS should follow consistent permission and approval boundaries.
• Node_Repl_JS should not act as a general-purpose workaround for restrictions applied to Shell.

Actual behavior

• The explicit Microsoft Excel mention results in a generated spreadsheet file.
• Under restricted permission modes, Shell is often not used at all.
• Tasks are instead executed through Node_Repl_JS, even when it is not the most natural or expected tool.
• This makes tool selection and permission enforcement difficult for users to understand and predict.

Why this matters

This creates two forms of user-intent mismatch:

• The displayed plugin name suggests Microsoft Excel integration, while the actual capability is spreadsheet file generation.
• Permission settings appear to affect only the selected execution path, allowing the agent to move equivalent work to Node_Repl_JS.

Users should be able to trust that explicit tool mentions and permission settings determine both which tool is used and how the task is executed.