Windows Desktop: Chrome plugin unavailable in Norway/EU even though extension is connected

[EirikViking]

Summary

Codex Desktop on Windows does not expose the Chrome plugin / @Chrome route for a user in Norway, even after the Chrome extension is installed and shows Connected.

This may be related to a regional rollout/gating issue for EU/UK users, but the local evidence also points to Desktop feature/plugin filtering: the extension/native bridge works, while the Codex chat runtime only advertises the in-app browser backend (iab) and the Plugins UI cannot discover Chrome.

Related issues: #19251, #16808, #16783.

Environment

• Region/location: Norway (Europe/Oslo), possible EU/UK availability concern reported by users on X
• Platform: Windows
• Codex Desktop package: OpenAI.Codex_26.506.2004.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Desktop version shown in process logs: 26.506.20924
• Embedded CLI/runtime: codex-cli 0.129.0-alpha.15
• Model in use: gpt-5.5
• Chrome extension version: 1.1.4
• Chrome extension ID: hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg

Expected behavior

The official docs say the Chrome extension is set up from Codex → Plugins → Add Chrome plugin. After setup and a new thread, @Chrome should be invokable and Codex should be able to use the user’s Chrome profile.

Docs: https://developers.openai.com/codex/app/chrome-extension

Actual behavior

• Codex Desktop → Plugins search for Chrome shows no Chrome plugin / no matching result.
• The “Built by OpenAI” selector cannot be cleared; it is the only selected marketplace source.
• Manually installed Chrome extension shows Connected.
• Clicking the gear in the Chrome extension opens Codex settings, so the extension can deep-link back into Codex.
• Starting a completely new Codex chat still leaves @chrome list my open tabs as plain text, with no plugin/mention route.
• Browser runtime exposed to the turn only lists the in-app browser backend:

{
  "x-codex-browser-use-available-backends": ["iab"]
}

• Attempting to acquire the Chrome extension backend fails:

Browser is not available: extension

Local diagnostics

codex features list reports the relevant features as enabled:

browser_use              stable true
browser_use_external     stable true
computer_use             stable true
in_app_browser           stable true
plugins                  stable true

The packaged Windows app contains the Chrome plugin and marketplace entry:

%ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.506.2004.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\plugins\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome

But Desktop session logs repeatedly show the runtime bundled marketplace being written without Chrome:

bundled_plugins_runtime_marketplace_written pluginCount=2 pluginNames=["browser-use","latex-tectonic"] targetMarketplaceRoot=%USERPROFILE%\.codex\.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled

Then Chrome is uninstalled/removed from the bundled plugin set:

bundled_plugin_uninstall_requested pluginId=chrome@openai-bundled pluginName=chrome reason=not_in_bundled_marketplace_plugin_names

The Chrome native host is registered and points at a valid host manifest:

HKCU\Software\Google\Chrome\NativeMessagingHosts\com.openai.codexextension
%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\extension\com.openai.codexextension.json

The manifest points to the installed extension host executable under the local Codex plugin marketplace.

Why this looks like a Codex Desktop gating/availability bug

• The extension side is installed and connected.
• The native host registration exists.
• The packaged app contains the Chrome plugin.
• The runtime says browser_use_external is enabled.
• But Desktop only advertises iab to the chat turn and filters Chrome out of the bundled marketplace cache.

If Chrome is intentionally not available yet in EU/UK/EEA accounts, the app/docs should state that clearly. If it is supposed to be available, Desktop should not hide/remove the Chrome plugin while the extension shows Connected.

Repro steps

1. Use Codex Desktop on Windows from Norway / Europe.
2. Open Plugins and search for Chrome.
3. Observe no Chrome plugin result.
4. Install/load the Codex Chrome extension manually; confirm Chrome popup shows Connected.
5. Start a new Codex chat.
6. Type @chrome list my open tabs.
7. Observe no @Chrome mention/plugin route is available.
8. Inspect available browser backends for the turn; only iab is present.

Requested fix / clarification

Please clarify whether the Chrome plugin is region-gated for EU/UK/EEA users. If not, please fix Codex Desktop so the Chrome plugin is discoverable/enabled and the chat runtime advertises the Chrome/extension backend when the extension is connected.

[github-actions]

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

• Computer Use does not appear in Settings despite plugin and helper existing #21579
• Intel macOS: Computer Use unavailable because computer-use bundled plugin is missing #19932

Powered by Codex Action

[EirikViking]

Additional context: this increasingly looks like a regional availability / rollout communication issue, not a local install failure.

Public corroboration:

• A third-party Codex writeup states that the Codex Computer Use plugin was not officially opened in the UK and Europe, with the visible symptom being Computer Use plugin unavailable: https://ecwuuuuu.com/post/enable-codex-computer-use-plugin-outside-us/
• A Reddit thread reports the same class of issue from Europe: Codex Computer Use not available in Europe?: https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1sp9jug/codex_computer_use_not_available_in_europe/
• Another Reddit discussion says Computer Use is not available in EU without workarounds: https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1sz1ozr/what_are_you_actually_using_computer_use_in_codex_for/

For this Windows/Norway user, the confusing part is that the Chrome extension itself can show Connected, while Codex Desktop still does not expose the Chrome/extension backend to chats and the Plugins UI gives no clear regional-availability explanation.

If EU/UK/EEA users are intentionally excluded for now, the Desktop UI and official docs should say that explicitly instead of leading users through plugin/extension setup that cannot complete in-region.

[arditlleshi]

Same issue here in Albania — Chrome extension not available.

[morganschp]

Same here from Germany on macOS.

• Specs: Codex App 26.506.21252 (2575), codex-cli 0.128.0, macOS 15.7.5 (24G624), arm64

Chrome does not appear in the Plugins tab/search, and my local plugin cache does not include a chrome plugin entry.

[btnd99-stack]

I’m seeing the same issue on Windows. The Chrome extension is installed, enabled, and shows Connected, but Codex cannot acquire the Chrome backend.

Environment:

• OS: Windows 11 Version 23H2, Build 22631.6199
• Chrome: 139.0.7207.2, 64-bit
• Chrome executable: C:\Users\Ke_yo\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
• Chrome profile: C:\Users\Ke_yo\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Profile 5
• Codex Chrome extension version: 1.1.4
• Extension ID: hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg

Local checks:

• The Codex Chrome extension is visible in chrome://extensions, enabled, and has the expected ID:
  hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg

• The extension popup shows Connected.

• Native Messaging host registry exists from my normal PowerShell session:

  HKCU\Software\Google\Chrome\NativeMessagingHosts\com.openai.codexextension
  (Default) REG_SZ C:\Users\Ke_yo\AppData\Local\OpenAI\extension\com.openai.codexextension.json

• The manifest exists:
  C:\Users\Ke_yo\AppData\Local\OpenAI\extension\com.openai.codexextension.json

• The manifest points to:
  C:\Users\Ke_yo.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome\latest\extension-host\windows\x64\extension-host.exe

Observed Codex runtime behavior:

• The turn metadata includes both browser backends:

  x-codex-browser-use-available-backends = ["chrome", "iab"]

• But agent.browsers.list() only returns the in-app browser:

  Codex In-app Browser / type: iab

• Trying either backend ID fails:

  agent.browsers.get("chrome")
  => Browser is not available: chrome

  agent.browsers.get("extension")
  => Browser is not available: extension

Additional note:

• Codex shell commands appear to run under a sandbox user:

  whoami = yonghongke\codexsandboxoffline

  while my interactive PowerShell is my normal desktop user. This may explain why Codex-side registry checks don’t see the same HKCU values, but Chrome itself is running under my normal user and the extension shows Connected.

This looks like the Chrome feature is allowed for the turn (chrome appears in available backends), but the actual Chrome extension backend is not discovered/registered as a browser. It does not look like a wrong Chrome profile or missing extension issue.