What happened
Codex Desktop's Node helper / node_repl can fail to reach network resources in environments that rely on a local proxy. The rest of the terminal environment is configured to use the proxy, but Node helper fetch() appears to connect directly unless a TUN mode is enabled.
In my case Chrome and normal terminal commands worked through 127.0.0.1:7890, but Codex browser/Chrome helper setup was blocked because Node fetch('https://chatgpt.com/') timed out without TUN.
Expected behavior
Codex Node helper should respect either:
- macOS system proxy settings, or
- standard proxy environment variables such as
HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, ALL_PROXY, http_proxy, https_proxy
so users do not need to enable TUN just for Codex helper processes.
Actual behavior
The shell environment had proxy variables and macOS proxy enabled, but Node helper fetch did not use them automatically.
Manual workaround in the helper process fixed it:
const { setGlobalDispatcher, ProxyAgent } = await import('undici');
setGlobalDispatcher(new ProxyAgent('http://127.0.0.1:7890'));After that, fetch('https://chatgpt.com/') returned quickly instead of timing out.
Environment
- Codex Desktop / Codex app
- Codex version cache: 0.128.0
- macOS: 26.4.1 (25E253)
- Bundled Node used by helper: v24.14.0 at
/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/node
- System proxy: HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS on
127.0.0.1:7890
- Shell env also had
http_proxy, https_proxy, and ALL_PROXY
Suggested fix
When starting the Node helper, install an Undici ProxyAgent automatically when proxy env vars or OS proxy settings are present, or expose a Codex config option for the Node helper proxy. This would make browser/chrome helper startup work in proxy-based network environments without requiring full-device TUN mode.
What happened
Codex Desktop's Node helper /
node_replcan fail to reach network resources in environments that rely on a local proxy. The rest of the terminal environment is configured to use the proxy, but Node helperfetch()appears to connect directly unless a TUN mode is enabled.In my case Chrome and normal terminal commands worked through
127.0.0.1:7890, but Codex browser/Chrome helper setup was blocked because Nodefetch('https://chatgpt.com/')timed out without TUN.Expected behavior
Codex Node helper should respect either:
HTTP_PROXY,HTTPS_PROXY,ALL_PROXY,http_proxy,https_proxyso users do not need to enable TUN just for Codex helper processes.
Actual behavior
The shell environment had proxy variables and macOS proxy enabled, but Node helper fetch did not use them automatically.
Manual workaround in the helper process fixed it:
After that,
fetch('https://chatgpt.com/')returned quickly instead of timing out.Environment
/Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/node127.0.0.1:7890http_proxy,https_proxy, andALL_PROXYSuggested fix
When starting the Node helper, install an Undici
ProxyAgentautomatically when proxy env vars or OS proxy settings are present, or expose a Codex config option for the Node helper proxy. This would make browser/chrome helper startup work in proxy-based network environments without requiring full-device TUN mode.