[macOS][Chrome] tab metadata works, but DOM read on example.com times out after ~30s and resets JS kernel #42013

Environment

• Product: ChatGPT / Codex Desktop for macOS
• Desktop app version: 26.825.51511
• Bundle build: 7377
• Platform: macOS, Apple Silicon / arm64
• Browser path: official Chrome extension / browser control

The installed desktop app itself was verified with macOS native tools before reproducing:

/Applications/ChatGPT.app: valid on disk
/Applications/ChatGPT.app: satisfies its Designated Requirement
/Applications/ChatGPT.app: accepted
source=Notarized Developer ID

What issue are you seeing?

Chrome tab discovery and metadata access work normally, but an operation that actually reads the page/DOM hangs for approximately 30 seconds and then resets the JavaScript kernel.

The minimal reproduction uses example.com, so the problem does not appear specific to a complex or authenticated website.

Observed behavior:

1. Listing current Chrome tabs succeeds.
2. The existing example.com tab is found successfully (localized title displayed as 示例域).
3. Attempting to read the visible page content fails after approximately 30 seconds.
4. The exact error is:

js execution timed out; kernel reset, rerun your request

This creates a clear split between the working metadata/control-discovery path and the failing page-touching/DOM path.

Steps to reproduce

1. Start ChatGPT/Codex Desktop on macOS.
2. Start Chrome with the official ChatGPT Chrome extension/browser-control integration enabled.
3. Manually open https://example.com/ in Chrome.
4. Start a fresh Codex task.
5. Ask Codex to list the current Chrome tabs.
   • Result: succeeds immediately.
6. Ask Codex to identify the example.com tab.
   • Result: succeeds.
7. Ask Codex to read the visible page content / DOM of that tab.
8. Wait approximately 30 seconds.
9. Observe:

js execution timed out; kernel reset, rerun your request

No retry or repair operation is required to reproduce the failure.

The same failure was first observed on an authenticated legal-information website (law.wkinfo.com.cn): title/URL metadata succeeded, while visible-content reading timed out with the same error. The neutral example.com reproduction was then performed specifically to rule out site complexity/login behavior.

Expected behavior

After Codex successfully discovers an existing Chrome tab, reading the visible DOM/content of a simple page such as example.com should complete within a few seconds.

If the DOM/page operation cannot complete, it should fail with a bounded, actionable browser error rather than reaching the outer execution deadline and resetting the entire JavaScript kernel.

Troubleshooting / isolation already completed

• Reproduced in a fresh Codex task.
• Reproduced on example.com.
• Chrome tab discovery works.
• Chrome title/URL metadata access works.
• Failure occurs specifically when page content/DOM is requested.
• Timeout is consistently approximately 30 seconds.
• Full CDP access is not required/enabled for the minimal test.
• A previously staged updater app and update ZIP from an unrelated troubleshooting attempt were removed before the final reproduction.
• No Chrome profile, cookies, bookmarks, passwords, or history were deleted for this test.
• No configuration modification or automated repair was performed during the final reproduction.

Related reports

This appears closely related to:

• [macOS][Chrome] openTabs succeeds but claimTab hangs until JS kernel reset #37399 — macOS Chrome: openTabs() succeeds but a deeper control operation hangs until JS kernel reset.
• [Windows][26.814.5517.0] In-app Browser page commands consistently stall for ~21 seconds, causing the 30-second Node REPL deadline to reset the control session #39766 — metadata calls are fast while page-touching operations stall and eventually collide with the outer Node REPL deadline.
• Codex Desktop 26.820.60940: Chrome and Edge navigation consistently times out #40806 — macOS Chrome/Edge navigation hangs for ~30 seconds and returns the same kernel-reset error.

The distinguishing detail here is a minimal existing-tab reproduction where tab discovery/metadata succeeds but a direct visible-content/DOM read on example.com consistently fails after ~30 seconds.

Privacy

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