macOS: Chrome plugin manifest points to missing `chrome/latest` native host after reinstall

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

26.730.61639

What subscription do you have?

Pro Plan, $200/mo

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.5.0 arm64 arm

What issue are you seeing?

The bundled Chrome plugin cannot connect to Google Chrome after reinstalling the plugin and fully restarting Codex. The browser runtime returns:

Error: Browser is not available: chrome

Chrome is running, and the ChatGPT Chrome extension is installed, registered, and enabled in the selected profile. The extension side panel says “Install the app to use ChatGPT in Chrome” even while Codex is open.

The native messaging manifest exists at:

$HOME/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/NativeMessagingHosts/com.openai.codexextension.json

Its path points to:

$HOME/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/chrome/latest/extension-host/macos/arm64/ChatGPT for Chrome

That path does not exist because the entire chrome/latest entry is missing. The native-host executable does exist inside the installed version directory:

$HOME/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/chrome/26.730.61639/extension-host/macos/arm64/ChatGPT for Chrome

There is also a diagnostic false positive. Running:

node scripts/check-native-host-manifest.js --browser chrome --json

returns "correct": true and "problem": null even though the executable named by the manifest does not exist.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Feedback ID: 019fd3a1-c35d-7f42-9534-5089e015f77e

What is the expected behavior?

The bundled plugin installer or updater should atomically create or refresh the chrome/latest indirection, or write the valid versioned native-host executable path into the Chrome manifest.

After installation, the Chrome extension should connect to the running Codex app and @chrome should be able to list and control tabs.

The native-host diagnostic should also return a failure when the manifest's path does not exist or is not executable.

Additional information

• Google Chrome: 151.0.7922.75
• ChatGPT Chrome extension: 1.2.27236.6274
• Extension ID: hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg
• Selected Chrome profile: Profile 2
• Codex plugin cache version: 26.730.61639

I searched existing issues before filing. Several issues cover related Chrome bridge failures, and #24296 discusses the risks of registering the native host through the mutable chrome/latest path on Windows. I did not find an existing report for this specific macOS failure where chrome/latest is absent after reinstall while the diagnostic incorrectly reports the manifest as correct.

This appears to be a bundled-plugin installer regression rather than a Chrome profile, extension, or authentication problem. It also started as of today, it worked yesterday. Also I tried it on the desktop app as well as the terminal, neither worked.