Chrome plugin backend times out even though extension native host reports connected

[wdqyb]

What happened?

The Codex Chrome plugin backend consistently times out while initializing, even though the Chrome extension appears installed, enabled, and connected to the native host.

From Codex, initializing the Chrome browser-use backend hangs and eventually times out after 30 seconds before it can list or claim Chrome tabs.

Thread ID: 019e0bc5-5fe2-7d62-a905-9c5ee667449f

Environment

• Codex app: 26.506.31421
• macOS: 26.4.1 (25E253)
• Google Chrome: 148.0.7778.97 arm64
• Chrome profile: Default
• Codex Chrome Extension: 1.1.4
• Extension ID: hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg
• Native host: com.openai.codexextension

What I tried / verified

• Verified Chrome is running normally.
• Verified the Codex Chrome Extension is installed, enabled, and registered in the Default profile.
• Verified the native messaging manifest exists and points to the bundled extension-host.
• Verified the native host binary exists, is executable, is Mach-O arm64, and does not have the com.apple.quarantine attribute.
• Verified the extension-host process is running.
• Verified the Chrome extension details page includes the native messaging permission.
• Toggled the Codex Chrome Extension off and on; the service worker and native host restarted.
• In the extension service worker DevTools, chrome.storage.local.get("NATIVE_HOST_STATUS") reported state: "connected".
• Restarted the Codex desktop app and retried the Chrome plugin connection twice; both attempts still timed out after 30 seconds.
• Checked /tmp/codex-browser-use sockets and confirmed the extension-host process is holding a socket under that directory.
• Temporarily isolated stale/non-Chrome browser-use sockets during diagnosis; the Chrome backend still timed out. The temporary changes were restored.

Expected behavior

Codex should connect to the running Chrome extension/native host and be able to list or claim open Chrome tabs.

Actual behavior

Codex hangs during Chrome backend initialization and times out after 30 seconds. It never reaches tab listing/claiming.

Additional notes

This appears to match the troubleshooting case where the extension shows as connected but Codex still cannot use Chrome. I did not find an existing open issue that exactly matches com.openai.codexextension / hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg / this native host timeout behavior.

[github-actions]

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

• Chrome plugin connection times out despite extension showing Connected #21890
• Chrome plugin hangs during backend setup despite extension and native host running #21879
• Codex Desktop Chrome plugin connection times out despite extension and native host checks passing #21851
• Chrome plugin discovery still times out after socket cleanup; extension-host socket does not respond to getInfo #21681
• Codex Desktop Chrome plugin times out during extension handshake despite extension and native host checks passing #21705

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[Ahmet-Dedeler]

Adding another current macOS repro that seems connected to this report and #21672 / #21719.

Environment:

• Codex Desktop 26.506.31421 / build 2620
• Chrome plugin openai-bundled/chrome 0.1.7
• Google Chrome 148.0.7778.168
• Codex Chrome Extension 1.1.4_0
• Profile Default

Local checks all passed: Chrome running, extension installed/registered/enabled, and native host manifest correct.

The failing state had one Chrome extension-host socket plus several Codex-owned Browser Use / IAB sockets under /tmp/codex-browser-use. @Chrome timed out before tab listing.

After moving only the non-extension-host socket pathnames out of /tmp/codex-browser-use, the same Chrome backend call immediately succeeded and browser.user.openTabs() returned tabs. No Chrome reinstall, extension reinstall, or native-host repair was needed.

So at least for this repro, this does not look like gating or a broken extension install. It looks like Browser Use discovery is waiting on unrelated/stale sockets before selecting the Chrome extension backend.

cc @viyatb-oai @eternal-openai — adding because this looks like app-server / browser-use runtime discovery, not a site-specific Chrome issue.