Computer Use fails on Windows before any app can be controlled (`EPERM` on bundled runtime path)

Open 💬 3 comments Opened Aug 14, 2026 by davidoffereins
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

Summary

The official Computer Use plugin cannot initialize on Windows. This is not specific to Edge: Computer Use fails before it can enumerate or control any desktop application.

The failure occurs when the sandboxed Node REPL loads the bundled Computer Use package:

EPERM: operation not permitted, lstat '%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex'

Impact

  • Computer Use cannot list, launch, inspect, or control any Windows app.
  • Edge, Chrome, Beeper, Blender, and other desktop applications are all affected.
  • Other Codex functions continue to work.

Environment

  • OS: Windows
  • Installed AppX package: OpenAI.Codex 26.803.10989.0
  • Desktop client version reported in current logs: 26.803.81509
  • Current Computer Use runtime directory: %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node\23828fd353da361d
  • Plugin: official bundled Computer Use plugin

Reproduction

  1. Install and enable the official Computer Use plugin and its server/skill toggles.
  2. Start a Codex chat and request a basic Computer Use action, such as listing available apps or opening Edge.
  3. The Computer Use bootstrap attempts to import @oai/sky in node_repl.
  4. Initialization fails immediately with the EPERM/lstat error above.

Expected result

The bundled @oai/sky package loads, after which Computer Use can enumerate permitted applications and request any necessary approval.

Actual result

The import fails before an app is selected or launched. Changing Edge permissions or testing a different application therefore does not affect the error.

Diagnostic observations

  1. The same bundled Node executable can successfully run fs.lstat on %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex when invoked directly outside node_repl.
  2. Inside node_repl, access to the workspace, %USERPROFILE%\.codex, and the temporary directory succeeds, but lstat on %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex returns EPERM.
  3. NODE_REPL_NODE_MODULE_DIRS points to the bundled runtime's node_modules directory.
  4. NODE_REPL_TRUSTED_CODE_PATHS explicitly includes that same runtime node_modules directory.
  5. This suggests a Windows sandbox/path-policy mismatch: the module path is configured as trusted but its parent runtime path is denied to the process that must load it.
  6. Windows app repair, restarting the app, and re-enabling Computer Use did not restore functionality.

Request

Could you confirm whether this is a known Windows Computer Use sandbox regression? In particular, please check whether the Node REPL sandbox is expected to allow lstat and module resolution under %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\runtimes\cua_node.

A fixed build or a targeted safe workaround would be preferable to resetting or uninstalling the app, because local Codex sessions and settings should not need to be removed to repair a bundled runtime access issue.

Privacy note

No project files, conversation transcripts, email content, authentication tokens, or unreviewed app logs are included in this report. Additional sanitized diagnostics can be provided if required.

View original on GitHub ↗

3 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 13 days ago

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

  • #38293
  • #37293
  • #37364

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MilkyWay008 · 13 days ago

That EPERM is the sandbox's 'hide users' step tripping on the system-protected C:\Users\Default folder, then the whole node_repl runtime loses access to %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex and Computer Use dies before enumerating anything. Check %USERPROFILE%\.codex\.sandbox\sandbox.log for 'hide users: failed' / SetFileAttributesW lines to confirm, same cascade as #37293/#37364/#38293. Relocating the runtime won't stick because the desktop app rewrites config.toml back on restart, so honestly this needs a fixed build, skip the reset/uninstall dance for now. Oh also, btw, I built a portable Hermes OTG and I run it on USB as my rescue agent; super handy doing quick diagnose & fix, check it, imo it'll help you. https://github.com/MilkyWay008/Hermes-OTG

davidoffereins · 13 days ago

Thanks — your diagnosis fixed the issue. Much appreciated.