Windows Codex Chrome extension recurrently disappears while native host remains healthy

What version of the Codex App are you using?

26.721.4979.0 (Windows x64)

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT subscription; exact tier not relevant to the local integration failure.

What platform is your computer?

Windows x64, Google Chrome 150.0.7871.182.

What issue are you seeing?

The Codex Desktop Chrome integration recurrently becomes unavailable because the ChatGPT Chrome Extension is absent from the active Chrome profile even though:

• Google Chrome is installed and running.
• Codex's native messaging host manifest exists and is correct.
• The HKCU native-host registry key points to that manifest.
• The expected extension origin is present in allowed_origins.
• Codex previously controlled logged-in Chrome tabs during the same broader workflow.

Before reinstalling the extension, the prescribed diagnostic reported:

{
  "extensionId": "hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg",
  "selectedProfileDirectory": "Default",
  "installed": false,
  "enabled": false,
  "profiles": [
    {
      "profileDirectory": "Default",
      "installed": false,
      "registered": false,
      "enabled": false,
      "versions": []
    }
  ],
  "exitCode": 2
}

At the same time, the native-host diagnostic reported:

{
  "manifestPath": "C:\\Users\\<user>\\AppData\\Local\\OpenAI\\extension\\com.openai.codexextension.json",
  "registryKey": "HKCU\\Software\\Google\\Chrome\\NativeMessagingHosts\\com.openai.codexextension",
  "nameMatches": true,
  "hasExpectedOrigin": true,
  "registryMatchesManifestPath": true,
  "correct": true,
  "problem": null
}

Codex then returned:

Browser is not available: extension

After the user manually reinstalled the ChatGPT Chrome Extension from the Chrome Web Store, the same diagnostic immediately reported:

{
  "selectedProfileDirectory": "Default",
  "installed": true,
  "enabled": true,
  "registered": true,
  "versions": ["1.2.27221.15725_0"],
  "exitCode": 0
}

The Codex browser runtime then acquired the Chrome extension backend successfully without repairing or changing the already-correct native host.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Use Codex Desktop with the ChatGPT Chrome Extension in the default Chrome profile.
2. Restart Codex/Windows during a long-running browser-assisted workflow.
3. Resume the task and attempt to acquire the Chrome extension backend.
4. Observe Browser is not available: extension.
5. Run check-extension-installed.js --json: the selected profile reports the extension absent.
6. Run check-native-host-manifest.js --json: the native host is still correct.
7. Manually reinstall the extension from the Web Store.
8. The backend becomes available immediately.

The disappearance is recurrent for this user. The exact removal trigger has not yet been isolated.

What is the expected behavior?

The Chrome extension should remain installed across Codex and Windows restarts. If it is unexpectedly absent, Codex should:

1. distinguish that state clearly from native-host failure;
2. provide an explicit reconnect/reinstall recovery path;
3. preserve enough diagnostic state to determine why the extension disappeared;
4. avoid showing the Chrome integration as connected when the active profile lacks the extension.

Additional information

• Codex Chrome-control bundle: 26.721.41059
• ChatGPT Chrome Extension after reinstall: 1.2.27221.15725_0
• Active Chrome profile: Default
• The failure blocked maintenance of authenticated social-media tabs.
• No credentials, browsing history, private page content, or social-media data are included in this report.
• A separate Windows sandbox ACL corruption occurred in the same session and was reported on #34276. This Chrome issue remained distinct: after the ACL state was repaired, the browser runtime worked but could not acquire Chrome until the missing extension was reinstalled.