[Windows 26.814] In-app Browser control fails because browser-service.mjs is rejected as outside the trusted code path

Resolved 💬 7 comments Opened Aug 19, 2026 by NatLego Closed Aug 19, 2026
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

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

26.814.41407

What subscription do you have?

Pro

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 x64

What issue are you seeing?

This is an independent reproduction of #39414.

The built-in browser opens normally and I can use the signed-in website myself, but Codex cannot inspect or control the tab. Browser control fails before tab discovery with this error:

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

This functionality worked on 18 August 2026 and failed on 19 August 2026. The failure blocks work in existing authenticated browser sessions.

Open Codex Desktop 26.814 on Windows 11 x64.

Open a website in the built-in browser and sign in.

Ask Codex to inspect or control the current in-app browser tab.

Codex attempts to initialise Browser control.

Initialisation fails before tab discovery with the trusted RPC dependency error shown above.

Restart Codex, reopen the same task and retry.

The same failure occurs.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Feedback ID: 01a018b7-84b1-7c03-87c3-a032aafab47d

What is the expected behavior?

Codex should connect to the existing signed-in in-app browser tab and be able to inspect the page, click controls and initiate authorised downloads.

The browser tab itself should remain usable, and restarting Codex should correctly reload the Browser control service.

Additional information

The website remains visible and usable manually. The failure is specifically in the connection between Codex and Browser control.

Codex has been restarted multiple times.

The problem also persists in a fresh task.

The bundled Browser plugin and the Browser service file are present and version-matched at 26.814.41407.

Codex generates a trusted-service mapping that points to browser-service.mjs, but its own browser helper then rejects that same file as outside the trusted code path.

A targeted trusted-path correction was overwritten when Codex restarted.

No reinstall or restart has resolved the problem.

This is the same failure described in #39414 and appears related to #39136, #39173 and #39236.

This is blocking a real authenticated production reporting workflow. A separate cloud browser is not an equivalent workaround because it does not share the existing authenticated session.

View original on GitHub ↗

7 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 9 days ago

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

  • #39414
  • #39318
  • #39387
  • #39212
  • #39136

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donghu2015-lgtm · 9 days ago

Independent reproduction on Windows x64.

Environment:

  • ChatGPT/Codex desktop: 26.814.5167.0
  • Bundled Browser plugin: 26.814.41407
  • Microsoft Store package: 9PLM9XGG6VKS

The in-app browser opens and the webpage remains usable manually, but Codex cannot inspect or control the tab. Initialization fails with:

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

Troubleshooting attempted:

  • Multiple complete app restarts
  • Forced reinstall using the official Microsoft Store package
  • Verified that browser-client.mjs and browser-service.mjs exist
  • Retested in a freshly started app session

The failure persists after reinstall. No logs are attached.

NatLego · 9 days ago

Update: browser control is working again after the latest desktop update, but the first launch showed what appears to be a plugin-cache timing issue.

Environment:

  • Codex desktop: 26.814.5517.0
  • Updated Browser plugin: 26.814.41957
  • Previous Browser plugin: 26.814.41407

What happened:

  1. Immediately after updating and restarting, Browser initialization still failed. The error had changed to:

Cannot find module 'C:\Users\<user>\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\browser\26.814.41957\scripts\browser-service.mjs'

  1. The installed Codex package already contained Browser plugin 26.814.41957, but the local plugin cache initially contained only 26.814.41407.
  1. Shortly afterwards, the 26.814.41957 cache directory appeared automatically. SHA-256 checks confirmed that plugin.json, browser-client.mjs, and browser-service.mjs exactly matched the files bundled in the installed Codex package.
  1. Browser initialization continued to fail in the existing control session until that session was reset and reinitialised using the new 26.814.41957 Browser client.
  1. After the reset, Codex successfully connected to the in-app browser, opened an authenticated production page and inspected its DOM. Browser control is now working.

No browser code was manually modified or overwritten. This suggests the updated plugin cache finished populating after the app had already started, while the existing Browser control session retained the earlier missing/stale module state.

musashi-garami · 8 days ago

I can't update to the new version you mentioned, I'm assuming rolling updates? I'm still on:

Codex Desktop: 26.814.41407

Browser: 26.814.41407

With browser not working, (internal, or chrome plugin etc.)

Do we have any idea when broader user base will get the newer version with fixed browser work ? Really needing that feature at this moment

NatLego · 8 days ago

There is a temporary workaround while waiting for the update.

Before I received the newer version, Codex could operate the visible in-app browser using Windows computer control instead of the broken Browser control plugin. It controlled the mouse and keyboard visually, so it was slower and occasionally needed manual help, but it allowed work in the existing authenticated browser session.

You can ask Codex:

“Use Windows computer control to operate the browser visually. Do not use the Browser plugin.”

This does not fix the underlying fault, but it may keep the browser usable until the updated version reaches you.

musashi-garami · 8 days ago

Thank you for that suggestion, I haven't experimented with full computer control yet, but that makes sense and I'll give it a go in the meantime. Appreciate the response

musashi-garami · 8 days ago

I have just received the update, and can confirm browser bug is fixed.