Windows Desktop: Browser/Computer Use show unavailable in Settings while runtime bootstrap succeeds

[zhatlas]

Summary

On Windows Codex Desktop, the Settings/plugin UI reports the bundled Browser and Computer Use plugins as unavailable or missing, but the same local install can bootstrap both plugin runtimes successfully from the current Codex thread.

This looks like a mismatch between the Desktop Settings / plugin marketplace state and the runtime plugin cache/tool bootstrap state.

Environment

• Platform: Windows x64
• Windows product name observed from registry: Windows 10 Pro
• Codex Desktop package path/version observed from running processes:
  • OpenAI.Codex_26.623.13972.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Codex app/runtime version observed in node_repl environment:
  • BROWSER_USE_CODEX_APP_VERSION=26.623.101652
• Bundled plugin cache version observed:
  • browser: 26.623.81905
  • chrome: 26.623.81905
  • computer-use: 26.623.81905
• Desktop setting:
  • runCodexInWindowsSubsystemForLinux = false
  • integratedTerminalShell = "wsl"
• This is a Windows-native Codex app-server session, not WSL agent/app-server mode.

User-visible behavior

In Codex Desktop Settings / plugin UI:

• Browser / in-app browser is shown as unavailable.
• Computer Use is shown as unavailable.
• The plugin list does not show the Browser and Computer Use bundled plugins as available.

However, the local config still enables all three bundled plugins:

[plugins."browser@openai-bundled"]
enabled = true

[plugins."chrome@openai-bundled"]
enabled = true

[plugins."computer-use@openai-bundled"]
enabled = true

Local state that seems inconsistent

The configured bundled marketplace points to a generated local marketplace directory:

[marketplaces.openai-bundled]
last_updated = "2026-07-01T08:01:16Z"
source_type = "local"
source = ".../.codex/.tmp/bundled-marketplaces/openai-bundled"

That generated marketplace currently contains only:

.codex/.tmp/bundled-marketplaces/openai-bundled/plugins/chrome

It does not contain browser or computer-use entries.

But the actual plugin cache contains all three bundled plugins:

.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/browser/26.623.81905
.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/chrome/26.623.81905
.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/computer-use/26.623.81905

The cached browser and computer-use packages both contain valid .codex-plugin/plugin.json, skills, and scripts:

browser/26.623.81905/scripts/browser-client.mjs
computer-use/26.623.81905/scripts/computer-use-client.mjs

One additional difference noticed:

chrome/latest -> chrome/26.623.81905   exists as a junction
browser/latest                         missing
computer-use/latest                    missing

Runtime smoke test succeeds

Despite the Settings/plugin UI reporting the plugins as unavailable, the runtime bootstrap works from the active Codex thread.

Redacted smoke-test result:

{
  "browserRuntime": "ok",
  "browserTypes": ["extension", "iab"],
  "hasInAppBrowser": true,
  "iabTabCount": 0,
  "computerUseRuntime": "ok",
  "appCount": 40,
  "runningAppCount": 15
}

This was obtained by importing the cached bundled clients directly through the provided node_repl path:

await import("file:///.../.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/browser/26.623.81905/scripts/browser-client.mjs")
await setupBrowserRuntime({ globals: globalThis })
await agent.browsers.get("iab")
await agent.browsers.list()

await import("file:///.../.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/computer-use/26.623.81905/scripts/computer-use-client.mjs")
await setupComputerUseRuntime({ globals: globalThis })
await sky.list_apps()

So this does not appear to be a simple missing-file or helper-dead case. The cached runtime can use both Browser and Computer Use, while the Settings/plugin UI reports them as unavailable/missing.

Expected behavior

The Settings / plugin marketplace UI and runtime availability should agree.

If Browser and Computer Use can bootstrap successfully from the current Windows-native Codex session, Settings should not show them as unavailable or missing.

If the Settings page intentionally uses a separate marketplace state, that state should be regenerated so it includes the same bundled plugins that the runtime can actually use.

Actual behavior

• Settings/plugin UI says Browser and Computer Use are unavailable/missing.
• Generated openai-bundled marketplace directory contains only chrome.
• Runtime plugin cache contains browser, chrome, and computer-use.
• Direct runtime smoke tests for Browser and Computer Use both succeed.

Related issues

These look related but do not capture this exact mismatch where runtime bootstrap succeeds:

• Computer Use and in-app browser plugins unavailable on Windows #30894: Computer Use and in-app browser plugins unavailable on Windows
• Chrome / Computer Use plugin disappeared although bundled plugin is installed #30730: Chrome / Computer Use plugin disappeared although bundled plugin is installed
• [Windows] Bundled plugins (Computer Use, Browser, Chrome, LaTeX) unavailable — copyfile fails on EFS-encrypted WindowsApps files #25220: Windows bundled plugins unavailable due to WindowsApps copy failures
• Computer Use plugin becomes unavailable after Codex Desktop restart #26429: bundled plugin startup/runtime marketplace race on Desktop
• Windows Desktop: Chrome/Computer Use enabled but mcp__node_repl__js is not exposed; js_repl remains removed false #30486: bundled plugins installed/enabled but node_repl/js not exposed
• Windows Store Codex v26.623: Computer Use plugin/cache/runtime valid after EFS workaround, but session tools are not injected and node_repl is never started #31023: plugin/cache/runtime valid but session tools are not injected

Request

Please check the Desktop Settings / bundled marketplace generation path for Windows Store builds. In this case, the generated bundled marketplace appears stale or incomplete (chrome only), while the actual runtime cache and plugin bootstrap state show that browser and computer-use are available and usable.

[github-actions]

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

• Bundled Browser/Chrome/Computer Use plugins disappear after Windows app updates due to stale bundled marketplace path #30270
• Chrome / Computer Use plugin disappeared although bundled plugin is installed #30729
• Computer Use and in-app browser plugins unavailable on Windows #30894

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