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codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Browser Use IAB backend can see selected tab but cannot control it on Windows [2 comments, 2 participants]

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openai/codex#19298•Fetched 2026-04-24 10:39:03
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The Browser Use plugin's in-app browser backend can discover the selected IAB tab, but control operations fail on Windows with failed to start codex app-server: 系统找不到指定的路径。 (os error 3).

This blocks navigation and DOM inspection through Browser Use, even when the in-app browser is already open and loaded.

Error Message

The Browser Use plugin's in-app browser backend can discover the selected IAB tab, but control operations fail on Windows with failed to start codex app-server: 系统找不到指定的路径。 (os error 3). Error: failed to start codex app-server: 系统找不到指定的路径。 (os error 3)

  • backend: "chrome" separately failed with expected native-host connection error, so this report is specifically about the IAB backend/app-server path.

Root Cause

The Browser Use plugin's in-app browser backend can discover the selected IAB tab, but control operations fail on Windows with failed to start codex app-server: 系统找不到指定的路径。 (os error 3).

This blocks navigation and DOM inspection through Browser Use, even when the in-app browser is already open and loaded.

Code Example

const { setupAtlasRuntime } = await import('.../browser-client.mjs');
await setupAtlasRuntime({ globals: globalThis, backend: 'iab' });
await agent.browser.tabs.selected();

---

{
  "selected": true,
  "title": "百度一下，你就知道",
  "url": "https://www.baidu.com/"
}

---

await agent.browser.tabs.new();
await tab.goto('https://www.baidu.com/');
await tab.playwright.domSnapshot();

---

failed to start codex app-server: 系统找不到指定的路径。 (os error 3)
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Summary

The Browser Use plugin's in-app browser backend can discover the selected IAB tab, but control operations fail on Windows with failed to start codex app-server: 系统找不到指定的路径。 (os error 3).

This blocks navigation and DOM inspection through Browser Use, even when the in-app browser is already open and loaded.

Environment

  • OS: Windows
  • Codex desktop app
  • Browser Use plugin: 0.1.0-alpha1
  • In-app browser tab tested with: https://www.baidu.com/

What works

Using Browser Use's Node runtime setup with backend: "iab" succeeds, and the selected tab is visible:

const { setupAtlasRuntime } = await import('.../browser-client.mjs');
await setupAtlasRuntime({ globals: globalThis, backend: 'iab' });
await agent.browser.tabs.selected();

Observed selected tab shape:

{
  "selected": true,
  "title": "百度一下，你就知道",
  "url": "https://www.baidu.com/"
}

What fails

These operations fail:

await agent.browser.tabs.new();
await tab.goto('https://www.baidu.com/');
await tab.playwright.domSnapshot();

Error:

failed to start codex app-server: 系统找不到指定的路径。 (os error 3)

The stack points into the generated Browser Use Node kernel around kernel.js:1675.

Additional observations

  • Named pipe check showed only a codex-browser-use\\<uuid> pipe.
  • No codex-browser-use-iab pipe was present.
  • Retrying after restarting Codex produced a new codex-browser-use\\<uuid> pipe but still no codex-browser-use-iab pipe.
  • backend: "chrome" separately failed with expected native-host connection error, so this report is specifically about the IAB backend/app-server path.
  • The Chrome DevTools MCP fallback worked against the same in-app browser/page, so the browser page itself was reachable by another tool.

Expected behavior

After setupAtlasRuntime({ backend: 'iab' }) succeeds and the selected IAB tab is visible, Browser Use should be able to navigate, inspect DOM snapshots, and control the tab.

Actual behavior

Read-only tab discovery works, but control operations fail while starting codex app-server due to a missing path on Windows.

extent analysis

TL;DR

The issue is likely due to a missing path or incorrect configuration of the codex app-server on Windows, causing control operations to fail.

Guidance

  • Verify that the codex app-server is properly installed and configured on the Windows system, and that the necessary paths are correctly set.
  • Check the system's environment variables and path settings to ensure that the codex app-server executable is accessible.
  • Investigate the kernel.js:1675 line in the Browser Use Node kernel to understand how the codex app-server is being started and what path it is trying to access.
  • Consider retrying the operations with a different backend configuration, such as backend: "chrome", to see if the issue is specific to the IAB backend.

Example

No code snippet is provided as the issue is more related to configuration and system setup.

Notes

The issue seems to be specific to the Windows environment and the IAB backend, and may be related to the way the codex app-server is started or configured. Further investigation is needed to determine the root cause of the issue.

Recommendation

Apply workaround: Try to manually configure the codex app-server path or environment variables to see if it resolves the issue, as the problem seems to be related to a missing path or incorrect configuration.

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FAQ

Expected behavior

After setupAtlasRuntime({ backend: 'iab' }) succeeds and the selected IAB tab is visible, Browser Use should be able to navigate, inspect DOM snapshots, and control the tab.

#API middleware#SSR setup#ISR setup#authentication setup#request error

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codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Browser Use IAB backend can see selected tab but cannot control it on Windows [2 comments, 2 participants]