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[macOS, 26.903.61454, Edge] Extension discovery succeeds but tab enumeration times out, including in a fresh task #44390
Description
App and Platform
- ChatGPT desktop / Codex-integrated app and bundled browser components: 26.903.61454.
- macOS: 26.0.1, build 25A362, Apple Silicon.
- Microsoft Edge: 152.0.4191.66.
- OpenAI ChatGPT Edge extension: 1.26.901.11451, installed and enabled in the selected browser profile.
Problem
The official Computer Use integration can discover and select the Edge extension browser, but tab enumeration fails after approximately 30 seconds with:
Error: nodeRepl.fetch request failed
This prevents browser automation before any target website content is read. The failure was reproduced in both an existing task and a newly created diagnostic task. No sensitive site was used in the diagnostic task.
Observed Results
| Operation | Result |
|---|---|
| Native Computer Use inspection and menu interaction on the ordinary Edge extension-store page | Succeeds |
Standalone cua.listBrowsers() in the fresh task |
Succeeds in 87 ms; returns Edge with type extension |
cua.getBrowser({id: observedEdgeId}) |
Returns the official Selected Browser documentation for Edge |
browser.nameSession(...) in the original task |
Fails after approximately 30 seconds |
browser.user.openTabs() in the original task |
Fails after approximately 30 seconds |
cua.listTabs({browser: observedEdgeId, emit:false}) in the fresh task |
Fails after 30,094 ms |
Aggregate cua.getState() |
Times out or returns a browser-fetch error; this does not mean standalone extension discovery failed |
One diagnostic timing wrapper had a local undeclared-variable error after browser selection returned its documentation. This was kept separate from the connection failure: the subsequent cua.listTabs call used the browser ID from the successful live discovery directly, without relying on the failed variable assignment.
Reproduction
- Run the desktop app and Edge with the OpenAI extension installed and enabled in the selected profile.
- Open the official ChatGPT Edge Add-ons listing; no private website is needed.
- Initialize the official Computer Use tool using its documented entry point.
- Run standalone
cua.listBrowsers()and obtain the live Edge browser ID. - Select that Edge browser using
cua.getBrowser({id: observedEdgeId}). - Independently run
cua.listTabs({browser: observedEdgeId, emit:false}). It fails after approximately 30 seconds with the error above. - In a newly created diagnostic task, repeat live discovery and the single enumeration call. Discovery still succeeds and enumeration still fails.
Expected Behavior
After discovery and selection, tab enumeration should succeed or return an actionable error identifying the failing component. A fresh task should not reproduce an opaque connection error if the issue is solely stale state in the old task.
Diagnostics and Recovery Already Tested
- The bundled official running-browser check passed.
- The installed-browser and extension checks passed; the extension was enabled in the selected profile.
- The native-host manifest check passed, including allowed extension origins.
- The running native-host version matched the current desktop/browser components.
- Strict code-signature verification passed and identified the official OpenAI signer. No manual re-signing or host repair was performed.
- A new normal Edge window in the same profile did not restore tab enumeration.
- A full normal Edge quit/relaunch also restarted its native host. The same profile and extension instance remained, but naming and tab enumeration still failed.
- A new task was tested following the official troubleshooting guidance and reproduced successful discovery followed by failed enumeration.
- Cookies, site permissions and safety settings were not changed; no alternate automation transport was used.
Related Report and Request
Related: #43787 reports similar behavior on an earlier app version with Chrome. This report adds a reproduction on app version 26.903.61454 with Edge and a fresh-task test. A shared root cause has not been established.
Please advise on a supported diagnostic or recovery for the tab-enumeration/control channel, without disabling safety checks, changing origin permissions or manually modifying the native host.
This report excludes account identifiers, email addresses, financial data, local paths, extension-instance identifiers, task IDs, credentials, screenshots, conversation transcripts and raw logs.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Sep 10, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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VidyFoo commentedon Sep 27, 2026
This may help investigate the macOS extension discovery/control split; our successful test used Chrome, not Edge.
On September 27, 2026, enabling FlClash TUN restored actual Chrome control on desktop 26.924.22138 (build 11645) with extension 1.26.901.11451_0.
Before: system proxy enabled, extension/native-host checks passed, side panel worked, but browser tools timed out. The app-bundled Node helper was observed making stalled direct connections. After the user enabled TUN: the supported CUA tool returned all 11 Chrome tabs, opened
https://example.com/, read its heading/body/link, and closed the test tab successfully. No official runtime/plugin files or authentication/security checks were patched.Full diagnostic evidence and verification.
This is an environment-specific workaround where direct connectivity is unavailable and helper traffic needs the existing proxy. It requires TUN to remain operational, does not identify the exact failed authenticated prerequisite, and is not a universal fix for every
nodeRepl.fetcherror. No private logs or browser contents are attached.whyy9527 commentedon Oct 9, 2026
Thank you for tracking this issue. I would like to add a similar observation from macOS on October 9, 2026, using ChatGPT desktop version 26.1002.52244 (build 13536).
The following read-only checks were performed in the same diagnostic conversation:
mcp__node_repl__js:nodeRepl.write(2)await cua.getState()withtimeout_ms: 20000js execution timed out; kernel reset, rerun your requestawait cua.getApp("Microsoft Edge")await cua.listBrowsers()await cua.listTabs({browser: observedBrowserId})using the ID returned by discoverynodeRepl.fetch request failedThis appears consistent with the distinction reported here: extension discovery and native app observation can work while extension-backed tab enumeration fails. In this observation, the standalone tab-list failure was immediate, whereas the earlier aggregate inventory call reached its timeout. Native Edge observation provided a usable fallback; this does not establish that the extension path has recovered.
We have not established the underlying cause or verified a permanent fix. No browser profiles, cookies, permissions, native-host registrations, or vendor runtime files were changed during these checks.
I hope these additional observations are helpful. Please let us know if there is a supported, targeted diagnostic that would help distinguish the failing fetch/control path. Thank you for your work on this.