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Chrome plugin connection times out despite extension showing Connected #21890

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Chrome plugin connection times out despite extension showing Connected#21890
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appIssues related to the Codex desktop appbrowserbugSomething isn't workingconnectivityIssues involving networking or endpoint connectivity problems (disconnections)

Description

@xianyuchen-king
xianyuchen-king
opened on May 9, 2026

What version of Codex CLI is running?

codex-cli 0.130.0

What subscription do you have?

Unknown

Which model were you using?

GPT-5 in Codex app (Chrome plugin task)

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.3.0 arm64 arm; macOS 26.3.1 (25D771280a)

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

Codex app / Chrome plugin workflow; terminal not involved. Shell: zsh; Ghostty installed.

What issue are you seeing?

The Codex Chrome plugin cannot connect from Codex even though the Chrome extension popup shows "Connected".

When using @chrome from Codex, the browser-client connection times out repeatedly while trying to list/control Chrome tabs. Reinstalling the Chrome plugin and reopening Chrome did not fix it.

Thread ID: 019e0b4c-4552-76e3-b094-1985eb424eb4

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Uploaded thread: 019e0b4c-4552-76e3-b094-1985eb424eb4

  1. In Codex app, use @chrome for a task that needs the signed-in Chrome browser.
  2. Codex tries to connect to Chrome and list/open tabs.
  3. The browser-client call times out.
  4. Retry after waiting.
  5. Confirm Chrome is running.
  6. Confirm Codex Chrome Extension is installed/enabled and its popup shows "Connected".
  7. Confirm native host manifest check passes.
  8. Open a fresh Chrome window for the Default profile and retry.
  9. Reinstall the Chrome plugin and retry.

Observed: the connection still times out.

What is the expected behavior?

Codex should connect to the Chrome extension and list/control Chrome tabs.

Additional information

Environment observed during troubleshooting:

  • Google Chrome 147.0.7727.138
  • Codex Chrome Extension v1.1.4
  • Extension installed/enabled check passed.
  • Native host manifest check passed.
  • Chrome running check passed.
  • Computer Use could see Chrome and the extension popup showing Connected, but @chrome browser automation remained unusable.

Activity

  1. xianyuchen-king
    added
    bugSomething isn't working
    on May 9, 2026
  2. github-actions
    added
    appIssues related to the Codex desktop app
    browser
    connectivityIssues involving networking or endpoint connectivity problems (disconnections)
    on May 9, 2026

  3. github-actions commented on May 9, 2026

    @github-actions
    github-actionsBot
    on May 9, 2026 – with GitHub Actions
    Contributor

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

    Powered by Codex Action

  4. xianyuchen-king commented on May 10, 2026

    @xianyuchen-king
    xianyuchen-king
    on May 10, 2026 – with ChatGPT Codex Connector
    Author

    Additional update after reinstalling both Codex App and the Chrome plugin:

    The issue still reproduces after a clean restart path.

    Environment:

    • Codex App: 26.506.31421, build 2620
    • macOS: darwin / arm64
    • Chrome: 147.0.7727.138
    • Codex Chrome Extension: 1.1.4_0
    • Chrome profile: Default
    • Extension ID: hehggadaopoacecdllhhajmbjkdcmajg

    What I tried:

    1. Reinstalled the Codex Chrome plugin.
    2. Reinstalled the Codex desktop app.
    3. Fully quit Chrome.
    4. Killed stale extension-host processes.
    5. Cleared /tmp/codex-browser-use/*.sock.
    6. Reopened Chrome using the Default profile.
    7. Confirmed a fresh extension-host was started and a new socket was created.

    Clean state observed:

    • Chrome started fresh at May 10 11:44.
    • extension-host started fresh at May 10 11:44.
    • /tmp/codex-browser-use contained only the current extension socket.
    • check-extension-installed.js --json reports installed/enabled.
    • Native host config was previously verified as correct.

    Result:

    • browser.user.openTabs() still times out after 30s.
    • nodeRepl.fetch('https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/me') also hangs until timeout.
    • This makes it look like the browser-client setup path or internal nodeRepl.fetch is blocking before Chrome tab discovery can complete.

    So this no longer appears to be caused only by stale sockets or stale extension-host processes.

  5. ebenezerdgailz commented on Jun 3, 2026

    @ebenezerdgailz
    ebenezerdgailz
    on Jun 3, 2026

    Hello.
    For some reason it will work when sandbox is not set up.
    Does it has anything to do with it?

  6. etraut-openai
    marked Chrome plugin backend unavailable despite extension showing Connected #25811 as a duplicate of this issue on Aug 6, 2026
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