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Codex app on macOS shows 'Computer Use plugin unavailable' #18258

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Codex app on macOS shows 'Computer Use plugin unavailable'#18258
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appIssues related to the Codex desktop appbugSomething isn't workingcomputer-useskillsIssues related to skills

Description

@realhasanshoaib
realhasanshoaib
opened on Apr 17, 2026

Edit (Workaround, for people landing here)

Potential local workaround that may help some users while waiting for an official fix:

  1. Ensure features.apps = true in ~/.codex/config.toml.
  2. If logs show missing computer-use@openai-bundled, repair the cache path under ~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/computer-use so it points to the bundled plugin at /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins/computer-use.
  3. Install/launch the helper app once from the bundle into ~/Applications/Codex Computer Use.app.
  4. Confirm helper registration with: defaults read com.openai.sky.CUAService.

This is a user-side workaround, not an official root-cause fix.

Region note: Computer Use is currently unavailable at launch in EEA/UK/Switzerland.

Summary

Codex app on macOS shows Computer Use plugin unavailable in Settings, and searching computer use in Plugins returns no results.

Environment

  • Codex CLI: 0.121.0
  • Codex app: 26.415.21839
  • macOS: 26.4.1
  • Region: outside UK/EEA/Switzerland
  • Auth method: ChatGPT

What I expected

Computer Use should be available or installable.

What happened

  • Settings > Computer use shows: Computer Use plugin unavailable
  • Plugins search for computer use shows no results

Diagnostics

  • Bundled plugin files exist inside the app at:

    /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins/computer-use

  • Codex log showed:

    failed to load plugin: plugin is not installed plugin="computer-use@openai-bundled" path=/Users/macmini/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/computer-use

  • The local config has:

    • features.plugins = true
    • plugins."computer-use@openai-bundled".enabled = true

  • I enabled features.apps = true

  • I repaired the missing cache path manually and confirmed:

    • plugin metadata exists
    • bundled helper binary runs
    • helper app was manually installed and registered as com.openai.sky.CUAService

  • Even after restart, the Codex app still shows Computer Use plugin unavailable

Additional notes

  • The synced plugin marketplace shown in the Plugins browser does not appear to include computer-use, so browser search returning nothing may be expected.
  • The settings page still fails to recognize the bundled Computer Use plugin/helper.

Repro steps

  1. Open Codex app on macOS
  2. Go to Settings > Computer use
  3. Observe Computer Use plugin unavailable
  4. Go to Plugins
  5. Search computer use
  6. Observe No plugins found

Relevant paths

  • /Users/macmini/.codex/config.toml
  • /Users/macmini/.codex/log/codex-tui.log
  • /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins/computer-use
  • /Users/macmini/Applications/Codex Computer Use.app

Activity

  1. github-actions
    added
    bugSomething isn't working
    appIssues related to the Codex desktop app
    skillsIssues related to skills
    on Apr 17, 2026

  2. svenit commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @svenit
    svenit
    on Apr 17, 2026

    Same here

  3. peizh commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @peizh
    peizh
    on Apr 17, 2026

    Same here.

  4. MichaelAntonFischer commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @MichaelAntonFischer
    MichaelAntonFischer
    on Apr 17, 2026

    Same here

  5. Butterbox commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @Butterbox
    Butterbox
    on Apr 17, 2026

    same here, windows

  6. fpgnl commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @fpgnl
    fpgnl
    on Apr 17, 2026

    Same here :

    Codex app: 26.415.21839 (1763)
    macOS: 26.5 Beta (25F5042g)
    Region: UK/EEA/Luxembourg
    Auth method: ChatGPT

  7. integratorivan commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @integratorivan
    integratorivan
    on Apr 17, 2026

    same

  8. Kirchberg commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @Kirchberg
    Kirchberg
    on Apr 17, 2026

    same

  9. AyoParadis commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @AyoParadis
    AyoParadis
    on Apr 17, 2026

    same

  10. monkira99 commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @monkira99
    monkira99
    on Apr 17, 2026

    same

  11. dlxko commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @dlxko
    dlxko
    on Apr 17, 2026

    same

  12. HakkaOfDev commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @HakkaOfDev
    HakkaOfDev
    on Apr 17, 2026

    Hi!
    Right now, it isn’t available worldwide.
    It will be rolled out soon in the EU and the UK.

    More here: https://openai.com/index/codex-for-almost-everything/

    Hope that helps.

  13. rednikisfun commented on Apr 17, 2026

    @rednikisfun
    rednikisfun
    on Apr 17, 2026

    @HakkaOfDev I am not in EU/UK and I still have the same issue.
    Version 26.415.21839 (1763)

  14. 21 remaining items

  15. BarakXYZ commented on Apr 28, 2026

    @BarakXYZ
    BarakXYZ
    on Apr 28, 2026

    For me none of the above worked but then I literally sent an agent to fix it and it worked lol. Send your gpt 5.5 xhigh agent to fix this for you ❤️

  16. tekn0x commented on Apr 28, 2026

    @tekn0x
    tekn0x
    on Apr 28, 2026

    Issue still there Mac OS: Codex Version 26.422.62136 (2180)

  17. hanhongfei558 commented on Apr 29, 2026

    @hanhongfei558
    hanhongfei558
    on Apr 29, 2026

    macos 26.4 系统下，遇到过同样问题，最后发现彻底关闭Codex APP，然后开启系统全局代理，然后再打开Codex APP，再进入Computer Use菜单就可以了（如图），估计是首次配置这个插件需要联网，使用合适的网络就可以解决。

    Image

  18. epsalmond commented on Apr 30, 2026

    @epsalmond
    epsalmond
    on Apr 30, 2026

    It is not bundled in 'Codex-latest-x64.dmg' - it only exists in 'Codex.dmg' which only has the arm64 plugin binary. Seems like a build issue.

  19. eliasprunaire commented on May 1, 2026

    @eliasprunaire
    eliasprunaire
    on May 1, 2026

    I am sorry, but why EU still cannot access to Computer Use ??!
    Why is that ?

  20. obahareth commented on May 2, 2026

    @obahareth
    obahareth
    on May 2, 2026

    I had computer use and now it's gone.

  21. etraut-openai
    added
    computer-use
    on May 3, 2026
  22. etraut-openai
    changed the title [-]Codex app on macOS shows 'Computer Use plugin unavailable' while bundled plugin files exist[/-] [+]Codex app on macOS shows 'Computer Use plugin unavailable'[/+] on May 4, 2026

  23. Mohammad-Orabi commented on May 4, 2026

    @Mohammad-Orabi
    Mohammad-Orabi
    on May 4, 2026

    I am seeing this again after a Codex Desktop update, and I have a clean reproduction that rules out a stale local marketplace override.

    Environment:

    • macOS: 26.3 (25D125)
    • Mac: Apple Silicon / M3 Max
    • Codex Desktop: 26.429.30905 (2345)
    • Codex CLI: 0.128.0
    • Codex Desktop app-server version shown in logs: 0.128.0-alpha.1

    What I verified:

    The app bundle still contains Computer Use:

    /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/.agents/plugins/marketplace.json
plugins: browser-use, computer-use, latex-tectonic

    But the generated runtime marketplace omits it:

    ~/.codex/.tmp/bundled-marketplaces/openai-bundled/.agents/plugins/marketplace.json
plugins: browser-use, latex-tectonic

    I then removed the persisted [marketplaces.openai-bundled] config stanza and moved the generated bundled marketplace cache aside. After fully restarting Codex Desktop, Codex recreated the marketplace by itself, but still only with:

    browser-use
latex-tectonic

    Fresh log after restart:

    bundled_plugins_marketplace_sync_started enabledPluginNames=["browser-use","latex-tectonic"]
bundled_plugins_runtime_marketplace_written pluginCount=2 pluginNames=["browser-use","latex-tectonic"]
bundled_plugins_marketplace_added enabledPluginNames=["browser-use","latex-tectonic"]

    So this does not look like only stale local config/cache. The Desktop runtime marketplace generation is filtering out computer-use even though the app bundle includes it.

    Also repeatedly present in the same startup logs:

    unsupported feature enablement `workspace_dependencies`: currently supported features are apps, memories, plugins, remote_control, tool_search, tool_suggest, tool_call_mcp_elicitation

  24. ytthuan commented on May 4, 2026

    @ytthuan
    ytthuan
    on May 4, 2026

    this is a codex server features gate issue, i got this working by using a proxy server created in Southeast Asia location =>
    1, run this on your mac
    ssh -N -D 127.0.0.1:7890 ubuntu_user@Proxy_ip

    2, modify config.toml

     default_permissions = "workspace"

[permissions.workspace.network]
enabled = true
proxy_url = "http://127.0.0.1:7890"
enable_socks5 = true
socks_url = "socks5://127.0.0.1:7890"
allow_upstream_proxy = true
mode = "full"

    3, restart codex -> BOOM, i am able to see all the features like Pet, Computer use, browser use, automation, plugin...

  25. IgorGanapolsky commented on May 14, 2026

    @IgorGanapolsky
    IgorGanapolsky
    on May 14, 2026

    Three commands usually surface the actual cause for this exact error:

    codex mcp list
    ls -la ~/.codex/plugins/cache/openai-bundled/computer-use/*/.mcp.json
    printenv | grep -i codex

    The third one matters more than people expect: if you have an old shell rc
    that exported a different CODEX_HOME, the runtime that's responding to text
    is a different runtime than the one that owns the Computer Use plugin.

    I documented the six real causes that produce this error (plugin cache
    miss, TCC bundle-ID mismatch, route fallback inheritance, child-process
    Apple Events posture, multiple Codex homes, session reuse) at:
    https://igorganapolsky.github.io/openclaw-mac-ai-workstation-setup/troubleshooting.html

    There's also a free read-only script in the repo that bundles all the
    checks with secret redaction. Run it, review the output, or paste into the
    $19 quick read for a confirmed root cause.

  26. grnbtqdbyx-create commented on May 31, 2026

    @grnbtqdbyx-create
    grnbtqdbyx-create
    on May 31, 2026

    A few comments here mention the same evidence chain: local plugin cache, generated bundled marketplace, app-bundle marketplace, helper app registration, and sometimes CODEX_HOME pointing at a different runtime.

    I published a read-only helper for that exact local evidence shape:

    npx trace-to-skill@latest plugin-audit ~/.codex --app /Applications/Codex.app --format json

    It does not copy raw logs. It summarizes enabled bundled plugins, cache paths, missing .mcp.json / plugin.json, generated runtime marketplaces, optional app-bundle marketplace contents, Computer Use helper app install candidates, CODEX_HOME mismatch, and unsupported feature flags.

    Release/schema:

    This is not a workaround for the root bug, just a safer way to attach the local state that this thread has been collecting manually.

  27. heidsoft commented on Jun 6, 2026

    @heidsoft
    heidsoft
    on Jun 6, 2026

    Same here

  28. ceciliayu56-cell commented on Jun 13, 2026

    @ceciliayu56-cell
    ceciliayu56-cell
    on Jun 13, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector

    I can confirm a related macOS x64 packaging variant after reinstalling Codex Desktop.

    Environment:

    • macOS host architecture: x86_64
    • Codex Desktop: 26.609.41114
    • Codex CLI: 0.140.0-alpha.2
    • App binary: /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/MacOS/Codex is Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64

    What I checked:

    /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins

    Only contains:

    browser
chrome
latex
sites

    Missing from the app bundle:

    /Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/openai-bundled/plugins/computer-use
Codex Computer Use.app

    The bundled marketplace manifest also only lists sites, browser, chrome, and latex; it does not include computer-use.

    codex plugin list --marketplace openai-bundled --available --json shows only:

    • installed/enabled: browser@openai-bundled
    • installed/enabled: chrome@openai-bundled
    • available: latex@openai-bundled

    Attempting to install fails with:

    Error: plugin `computer-use` was not found in marketplace `openai-bundled`

    I also applied the local config-side workaround from this issue:

    [features]
apps = true
plugins = true

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

    But since the app bundle itself does not contain the computer-use plugin payload or Codex Computer Use.app, the cache/helper workaround cannot be completed on this machine.

    This seems consistent with the earlier comment that the x64 DMG/build may not bundle the Computer Use payload.

  29. likohank commented on Sep 17, 2026

    @likohank
    likohank
    on Sep 17, 2026

    It's been several months now, and it seems they don't plan to support x86_64 on Mac anymore.

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