ChatGPT account can generate images on chatgpt.com, but Codex CLI sessions never receive the image_generation tool

Open 💬 1 comment Opened Aug 7, 2026 by aiodoggmd

💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

What version of Codex CLI is running?

Codex CLI: 0.147.0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Free

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.6-luna (via Codex CLI 0.147.0)

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 Pro х64

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

Windows Terminal (running PowerShell)

Codex doctor report

codex doctor
Codex Doctor v0.147.0 · windows-x86_64

Environment
  ✓ system       ru-RU
      os                       Windows 10.0.26200 (Windows 11 Professional) [64-bit]
      OS language              ru-RU
      VISUAL                   not set
      EDITOR                   not set
  ✓ runtime      npm (package C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, bin C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\bin, resources C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-resources, path C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-path)
      version                  0.147.0
      install method           npm (package C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, bin C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\bin, resources C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-resources, path C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-path)
      commit                   unknown
      executable               C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\bin\codex.exe
  ✓ install      consistent
      context                  npm (package C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, bin C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\bin, resources C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-resources, path C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-path)
      managed by               npm: yes · bun: no · pnpm: no · package root C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex
      PATH entries (2)         C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\codex
                               C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\codex.cmd
      npm update target        C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex
  ✓ search       file exists (bundled, C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-path\rg.exe)
      search command           C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex\node_modules\@openai\codex-win32-x64\vendor\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\codex-path\rg.exe
      search provider          bundled
      search command readiness file exists
  ✓ git          git version 2.55.0.windows.3
      selected git             C:\Program Files\Git\cmd\git.exe
      version                  git version 2.55.0.windows.3
      exec path                C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/libexec/git-core
      repo detected            false
      PATH entries (1)         C:\Program Files\Git\cmd\git.exe
  ✓ terminal     Windows Terminal
      terminal                 Windows Terminal
      stdin is terminal        true
      stdout is terminal       true
      stderr is terminal       true
      terminal size            120x30
      color output             enabled
      WT_SESSION               present
      console input code page  65001
      console output code page 65001
      stdout console mode      0x00000007 (VT processing: true)
      stderr console mode      0x00000007 (VT processing: true)
  ✓ title        default · project odogg
      title source             default
      title items              activity, project-name
      activity item            true
      project source           cwd
      project value            odogg
  ✓ state        databases healthy
      CODEX_HOME               C:\Users\odogg\.codex (dir)
      log dir                  C:\Users\odogg\.codex\log (dir)
      sqlite home              C:\Users\odogg\.codex (dir)
      state DB                 C:\Users\odogg\.codex\state_5.sqlite (file) · integrity ok
      log DB                   C:\Users\odogg\.codex\logs_2.sqlite (file) · integrity ok
      goals DB                 C:\Users\odogg\.codex\goals_1.sqlite (file) · integrity ok
      memories DB              C:\Users\odogg\.codex\memories_1.sqlite (file) · integrity ok
      active rollouts          13 files · 23.60 MB (avg 1.82 MB)
      archived rollouts        0 files · 0 B (avg 0 B)
      queue DB                 C:\Users\odogg\.codex\queue_1.sqlite (file)
      queue DB integrity       ok
      thread history DB        C:\Users\odogg\.codex\thread_history_1.sqlite (file)
      thread history DB integrity ok
  ✓ threads      rollout files and state DB thread inventory agree
      default model provider   openai
      rollout DB active files  13
      rollout DB archived files 0
      rollout DB scan errors   0
      rollout DB malformed file names 0
      rollout DB scan cap reached false
      rollout DB rows          13
      rollout DB active rows   13
      rollout DB archived rows 0
      rollout DB missing active rows 0
      rollout DB missing archived rows 0
      rollout DB stale rows    0
      rollout DB archive mismatches 0
      rollout DB duplicate rollout thread ids 0
      rollout DB duplicate DB paths 0
      rollout DB model providers openai=13
      rollout DB sources       cli=6, exec=6, subagent:other=1

Configuration
  ✓ config       loaded
      model                    gpt-5.6-luna · openai
      cwd                      C:\Users\odogg
      config.toml              C:\Users\odogg\.codex\config.toml
      config.toml parse        ok
      MCP servers              1
      feature flags            39 enabled · 0 overridden (full list with --all)
  ✓ auth         auth is configured
      auth storage mode        File
      auth file                C:\Users\odogg\.codex\auth.json
      stored auth mode         chatgpt
      stored API key           false
      stored ChatGPT tokens    true
      stored agent identity    false
  ✓ mcp          1 server (1 stdio) · 0 disabled
      configured servers       1
      disabled servers         0
      stdio servers            1
  ✓ sandbox      restricted fs + restricted network · approval OnRequest
      approval policy          OnRequest
      filesystem sandbox       restricted
      network sandbox          restricted
      linux helper             none
      execve wrapper helper    none

Updates
  ✓ updates      update configuration is locally consistent
      startup update check     true
      update action            npm install -g @openai/codex
      version cache            C:\Users\odogg\.codex\version.json
      cached latest version    0.147.0
      last checked at          2026-08-07 16:19 UTC
      npm update target        C:\Users\odogg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\@openai\codex
      latest version           0.147.0
      latest version status    current version is not older

Connectivity
  ✓ network      no proxy env vars
      proxy env vars           none
  ✓ websocket    connected (HTTP 101 Switching Protocols) · 15s timeout
      model provider           openai
      provider name            OpenAI
      wire API                 responses
      supports websockets      true
      proxy env vars           none
      connect timeout          15000 ms
      auth mode                chatgpt
      endpoint                 wss://chatgpt.com/backend-api/<redacted>
      DNS                      2 IPv4, 2 IPv6, first IPv4
      handshake result         HTTP 101 Switching Protocols
      reasoning header         false
      models etag present      true
      server model present     false
  ✓ reachability active provider endpoints are reachable over HTTP
      reachability mode        ChatGPT auth
      ChatGPT base URL         https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/ reachable (HTTP 403)

Background Server
  ○ app-server   not running (ephemeral mode)
      daemon state dir         C:\Users\odogg\.codex\app-server-daemon
      settings                 C:\Users\odogg\.codex\app-server-daemon\settings.json (missing)
      pid file                 C:\Users\odogg\.codex\app-server-daemon\app-server.pid (missing)
      update-loop pid file     C:\Users\odogg\.codex\app-server-daemon\app-server-updater.pid (missing)
      control socket           C:\Users\odogg\.codex\app-server-control\app-server-control.sock
      status                   not running
      mode                     ephemeral

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
17 ok · 1 idle · 0 warn · 0 fail ok

--summary compact output   --all expand truncated lists
--json redacted report

What issue are you seeing?

Environment

OS: Windows 11
Codex CLI: 0.147.0
Authentication: ChatGPT Login (not API key)
Responses API
Claude Code with Codex integration

Expected behavior

If the ChatGPT account has access to image generation on chatgpt.com,
Codex sessions should receive the image_generation tool.

Actual behavior

Image generation works in ChatGPT web.

However, inside Codex:

image_generation feature = true
codex doctor passes
authentication is valid
plugin status is OK

But the active session does not receive any image generation tool.

The agent reports:

"There is no image_gen, image_generation or any image generation tool available in this session."

Even asking Codex directly to generate an image produces:

"The built-in image generator is unavailable in this mode."

Diagnostics

codex doctor:

version 0.147.0
auth mode: chatgpt
wire API: responses
websocket connected
image_generation feature enabled

codex features list:

image_generation stable true

Verification

The exact same ChatGPT account successfully generates images on chatgpt.com.

Therefore the account clearly has image generation access.

The issue appears to be that Codex sessions are not being provisioned with the image_generation tool.

What steps can reproduce the bug?