Windows Codex Desktop: Chrome integration installed but chrome-native-hosts-v2.json is never created; stale latest junction after update #42520

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

26.901.1978.0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

The Codex Desktop Google Chrome integration reports "Installed", but the ChatGPT Chrome side panel cannot connect to the desktop app because the Codex app-server registration is missing.

Errors observed:

"Unable to start ChatGPT
Codex app-server manifest entry is missing required path resourcesPath"

After clean removal/reinstallation:

"Open or update the ChatGPT desktop app"
"The Chrome side panel could not connect to the ChatGPT desktop app"
Technical details:
"No compatible Codex app-server entry was found"

Investigation / reproducible findings:

1. After a Codex update, the Chrome plugin cache contained the current version:

C:\Users\user.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome\26.901.20858

However, the "latest" NTFS junction was still pointing to a removed old version:

latest -> C:\Users\user.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome\26.818.41705

As a result, all paths through "latest" were broken, including:

• .codex-plugin\plugin.json
• scripts\browser-client.mjs
• scripts\browser-service.mjs
• extension-host\windows\x64\extension-host.exe

I manually repaired the junction:

latest -> 26.901.20858

All of those files then resolved correctly.

2. Even after repairing the junction and fully restarting Codex Desktop, BOTH expected v2 app-server manifests remain missing:

C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\chrome-native-hosts-v2.json

C:\Users\user.codex\chrome-native-hosts-v2.json

Both return Exists=False.

3. The normal Chrome Native Messaging registration IS installed.

The manifest exists at:

C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\OpenAI\extension\com.openai.codexextension.json

Its extension-host resolves to the current plugin cache:

C:\Users\user.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome\26.901.20858\extension-host\windows\x64\extension-host.exe

The executable exists.

Therefore the remaining failure appears specific to Codex app-server/v2 registration rather than basic Chrome Native Messaging.

4. I inspected the shipped Codex Desktop app.asar.

The current production package contains explicit Windows implementation for "chrome-native-hosts-v2.json", schemaVersion 2 / appServerProtocolVersion 2.

The code explicitly targets BOTH Windows locations:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\chrome-native-hosts-v2.json

%USERPROFILE%.codex\chrome-native-hosts-v2.json

It constructs entries containing:

• appVersion
• cliVersion
• nativeHostVersion
• entryId
• installId
• extensionIds
• nativeHostNames
• browserClientPath
• browserServicePath
• codexCliPath
• codexHome
• extensionHostPath
• nodePath
• nodeModuleDirs
• nodeReplPath
• resourcesPath
• presence
• proxyHost / proxyPort

So the implementation exists in the shipped Windows app, but this synchronization/provisioning path appears not to execute successfully.

5. Before the clean reinstall, stale chrome-native-hosts-v2.json files existed from version 26.818.41705 and referenced an AppX resourcesPath that had already been removed.

After removing the stale registration and reinstalling the integration, Codex successfully recreated the Native Messaging registration and reports Chrome integration as Installed, but it NEVER recreated either chrome-native-hosts-v2.json file.

6. There may also be a separate Windows detection issue.

The Desktop app is running and has spawned:

C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\OpenAI\Codex\bin\994e8469124a0d31\codex.exe ... app-server ...

However, codex doctor --json reports the desktop application as "running: false" / "desktop application is not running" while those processes are visibly running.

Current versions / paths:

Codex Desktop AppX: 26.901.1978.0

Desktop bundled codex CLI:
codex-cli 0.153.0-alpha.5

Chrome plugin cache:
26.901.20858

Resources:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.901.1978.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources

Suspected regression:

There appear to be two related Windows update/reconciliation failures:

1. The Chrome plugin "latest" junction can remain pointed at a deleted plugin version after an update.

2. After reinstall/reconciliation, the Chrome Native Messaging host can be successfully installed while the required chrome-native-hosts-v2.json app-server registrations are never generated.

The Codex UI nevertheless reports the Chrome integration as Installed.

Expected:

An update/reinstall should reconcile the "latest" junction and generate valid current chrome-native-hosts-v2.json entries before reporting the Chrome integration as Installed.

A normal Windows user should not need to inspect production app.asar, repair NTFS junctions, registry/native messaging state, or app-server manifests after an automatic Codex update.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Install/update Codex Desktop on Windows.

2. Install the Google Chrome integration from Codex Desktop.
   Codex reports the Chrome integration as "Installed".

3. Open the ChatGPT Chrome side panel.

4. The side panel fails to connect to Codex Desktop with:
   "No compatible Codex app-server entry was found."

5. Check the Chrome plugin cache:
   %USERPROFILE%.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome

   The current plugin version exists:
   26.901.20858

   However, the "latest" junction may still point to the removed previous version:
   26.818.41705

6. Repair "latest" so it points to the existing 26.901.20858 directory.

7. Fully restart Codex Desktop.

8. Check:
   %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenAI\Codex\chrome-native-hosts-v2.json
   %USERPROFILE%.codex\chrome-native-hosts-v2.json

9. Both files are still missing.

10. Meanwhile, the Chrome Native Messaging manifest and current extension-host.exe exist and Codex Desktop continues to report the Chrome integration as "Installed".

Result:
The Chrome integration is left in a partially installed state: Native Messaging is registered, but the required Codex app-server v2 registration is not provisioned.

What is the expected behavior?

After installing or updating the Chrome integration, Codex Desktop should:

1. Point the Chrome plugin "latest" junction to the currently installed plugin version.
2. Register the current Native Messaging host.
3. Generate valid chrome-native-hosts-v2.json app-server registrations in both expected Windows locations.
4. Verify that the app-server registration is usable before showing the Chrome integration as "Installed".
5. Allow the ChatGPT Chrome side panel to connect to the running Codex Desktop app without manual filesystem or registry repair.

Additional information

This started after Codex updates and appears to be an update/reconciliation regression rather than a fresh-install configuration problem.

The most concrete abnormal state found was:

latest -> 26.818.41705 (directory no longer exists)

while the actually installed Chrome plugin was:

26.901.20858

Repairing that junction fixed the broken plugin paths, but did not trigger regeneration of chrome-native-hosts-v2.json.

I spent over an hour tracing this as an end user, including clean reinstall, Native Messaging validation, process inspection, and inspection of the shipped app.asar. I stopped further manual repair because this state may recur after future automatic updates.

Please let me know if specific logs or diagnostics are needed; I can provide them.