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Codex Issues / #39212

Browser plugin fails after desktop update: trusted RPC dependency error

Open 💬 6 comments Opened Aug 18, 2026 by thenorthen
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

Summary

After a Windows Codex desktop update, the built-in Browser plugin cannot initialize. This prevents all in-app browser use before any webpage or authentication step is reached.

Error

Trusted RPC dependency must resolve within a configured trusted code path: .../browser-service.mjs

Environment

  • Windows Codex desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.814.5167.0_x64
  • Browser plugin version: 26.814.41407

Reproduction

  1. Start a Codex desktop chat.
  2. Ask Codex to use the built-in Browser / @Browser.
  3. Browser runtime initialization fails immediately with the error above.

Expected behavior

The Browser plugin should initialize and open the built-in browser.

Troubleshooting already attempted

  • Fully restarted the desktop app.
  • Restarted the PC.
  • Rebuilt the Browser plugin cache; Codex recreated it, but the failure remained.
  • Used Windows Apps > OpenAI Codex > Advanced options > Repair.

No browser session, website login, application data, or logs are attached to this report.

View original on GitHub ↗

6 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 9 days ago

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

  • #39173
  • #39136
  • #39160

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alexnmramos-ux · 9 days ago

Additional reproducible case on Windows:

  • Codex Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.814.5167.0_x64
  • Browser plugin: 26.814.41407
  • The Codex app was fully reinstalled.
  • The failure was reproduced again in a newly created task after reinstalling.
  • The in-app Browser UI opens, but Browser control fails before tab discovery, page inspection, or website authentication.
  • Exact error:

``
Trusted RPC dependency must resolve within a configured trusted code path:
file:///C:/Users/<redacted>/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/browser/26.814.41407/scripts/browser-service.mjs
``

  • browser-service.mjs exists at the referenced path.
  • config.toml contains NODE_REPL_TRUSTED_CODE_PATHS including C:\Users\<redacted>\.codex, and NODE_REPL_TRUSTED_SERVICES points to the same installed Browser service/version.
  • The configured Browser client SHA-256 is present and matches the installed client.
  • Reinstalling the app and retrying from a new task did not resolve the issue.

No browser session data, website details, credentials, or user files are included in this report.

yourchik · 9 days ago

I’m also experiencing the same issue on Windows.

When I ask Codex Desktop to use the built-in Browser to test a localhost checkout flow, Browser initialization fails immediately, before any page is opened or browser interaction begins.

Error:

Trusted RPC dependency must resolve within a configured trusted code path:
file:///C:/Users/yourrchik/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/browser/26.814.41407/scripts/browser-service.mjs
adamczhang · 9 days ago

Confirmed community downgrade workaround

Cross-referencing the original workaround from #39136:

Affected users report that downgrading the Windows desktop app from 26.814.5167.0 to 26.810.7004.0, then clearing the cached Browser and Chrome plugin folders, restores browser control:

%USERPROFILE%\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\browser
%USERPROFILE%\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome

The official Store-signed x64 installer is available through OpenAI’s Windows deployment page:

https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/enterprise/windows-deployment

Because that download URL is rolling and is not permanently pinned to 26.810.7004.0, affected users may want to download and preserve the currently working installer immediately. After recovery, decline the offered update until OpenAI confirms the 26.814 Browser/Chrome trusted-RPC regression is fixed.

This is a community workaround, not an official fix. Back up relevant local state before deleting plugin caches.

yourchik · 9 days ago
### Confirmed community downgrade workaround Cross-referencing the original workaround from #39136: Reference post: Codex built-in browser plugin initialization fails: Trusted RPC dependency is not within a trusted code path #39136 (comment) Independent confirmations: Codex built-in browser plugin initialization fails: Trusted RPC dependency is not within a trusted code path #39136 (comment) and Codex built-in browser plugin initialization fails: Trusted RPC dependency is not within a trusted code path #39136 (comment) Affected users report that downgrading the Windows desktop app from 26.814.5167.0 to 26.810.7004.0, then clearing the cached Browser and Chrome plugin folders, restores browser control: `` %USERPROFILE%\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\browser %USERPROFILE%\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome ` The official Store-signed x64 installer is available through OpenAI’s Windows deployment page: https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/enterprise/windows-deployment Because that download URL is rolling and is not permanently pinned to 26.810.7004.0, affected users may want to download and preserve the currently working installer immediately. After recovery, decline the offered update until OpenAI confirms the 26.814` Browser/Chrome trusted-RPC regression is fixed. This is a community workaround, not an official fix. Back up relevant local state before deleting plugin caches.

Could you please share the exact MSIX file, SHA-256 hash, or a pinned official URL for version 26.810.7004.0? The current OpenAI deployment link now downloads 26.814.5167.0, so it can no longer be used for the downgrade.

HN84956371-code · 4 days ago

Still reproducing on Windows 11 with desktop app 26.818.5229.0 (bundled plugin 26.818.41509) — a few days newer than the 26.814.x builds in the existing reports here.

Root cause looks like a spawn-env issue rather than filesystem/ACL/trusted-root: the app-server starts the internal node_repl without passing the [mcp_servers.node_repl.env] block, so inside the worker CODEX_HOME, NODE_REPL_TRUSTED_CODE_PATHS, NODE_REPL_NODE_MODULE_DIRS and NODE_REPL_TRUSTED_SERVICES are all null. With an empty trusted-root list every import is rejected -> Trusted RPC dependency must resolve within a configured trusted code path: .../browser/<ver>/scripts/browser-service.mjs.

Evidence (read-only, on the same node_repl.exe the app uses):

  1. Launching that exact binary with the config's env values, then import(browser-client.mjs) -> setupBrowserRuntime() returns setup OK: documentation, browsers.
  2. Same binary with NODE_REPL_TRUSTED_CODE_PATHS removed reproduces the error verbatim.
  3. Probing env inside a live app task: all four vars are null.

The app main-process log also shows Failed to load shell env ... Timed out after 5000ms plus repeated app-server initialize handshake timeouts, so the app-server itself likely starts with an incomplete environment and doesn't forward the node_repl env downstream. Likely same family as #27740.

Separately, a related bridge symptom: after saving a conversation from the Chrome extension, the desktop app's recent-items list shows the title but the content pane is empty (can't read the content) — i.e. the sync reaches the list/title layer but not the content layer.