codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Chrome plugin is missing from Codex Plugins on Windows even though local plugin files exist [2 comments, 3 participants]

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

26.506.3741.0 Package: OpenAI.Codex_26.506.3741.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Windows x64 Codex is installed as a Microsoft Store / WindowsApps package: OpenAI.Codex_26.506.3741.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0 Install location: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.506.3741.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

What issue are you seeing?

Chrome plugin is missing from Codex Plugins on Windows even though all local plugin files exist.

Codex package: OpenAI.Codex_26.506.3741.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

The installed app bundle contains the Chrome plugin:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.506.3741.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\plugins\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome.codex-plugin\plugin.json

Test-Path result: True

However, the automatically generated active bundled marketplace cache does not contain Chrome. After clearing the bundled marketplace cache and restarting Codex, it regenerates only:

C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled.agents\plugins\marketplace.json C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled\plugins\browser-use.codex-plugin\plugin.json C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled\plugins\latex-tectonic.codex-plugin\plugin.json

Chrome is missing from the regenerated active marketplace cache.

I also tried creating a persistent local marketplace manually:

C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex\local-marketplaces\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome.codex-plugin\plugin.json

Test-Path result: True

I also repaired the plugin cache manually:

C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome\0.1.7.codex-plugin\plugin.json

Test-Path result: True

I also added this to config.toml:

[marketplaces.openai-bundled] source_type = "local" source = 'C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex\local-marketplaces\openai-bundled'

[plugins."chrome@openai-bundled"] enabled = true

But Codex Plugins UI still does not show Chrome. Searching for Chrome in Plugins returns no result. Creating a new thread and trying to use @Chrome also does not make Chrome available.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Uploaded thread: aa5155e6-c083-494a-9e8c-56b1658b6d05

1. Install / update Codex on Windows from Microsoft Store.

2. Open Codex and check the version.

   Current version: 26.506.3741.0

   Package: OpenAI.Codex_26.506.3741.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0

3. Open Codex → Plugins.

4. Search for Chrome.

5. Chrome plugin is not listed.

6. Close Codex and clear the generated bundled marketplace cache:

   Get-Process Codex -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force

   $cacheRoot = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE ".codex.tmp\bundled-marketplaces"

   if (Test-Path $cacheRoot) { Rename-Item $cacheRoot ("bundled-marketplaces.backup-" + (Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd-HHmmss")) }

7. Start Codex again and wait for it to regenerate the bundled marketplace cache.

8. Check the regenerated cache:

   $cache = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE ".codex.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled"

   Get-ChildItem $cache -Recurse -Depth 5 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { $_.FullName -match "chrome|plugin.json|marketplace.json" } | Select-Object FullName

9. Actual result:

   The regenerated cache only contains browser-use and latex-tectonic:

   .agents\plugins\marketplace.json plugins\browser-use.codex-plugin\plugin.json plugins\latex-tectonic.codex-plugin\plugin.json

   It does not contain:

   plugins\chrome.codex-plugin\plugin.json

10. Verify that Chrome does exist inside the installed Codex app bundle:

$pkg = Get-AppxPackage OpenAI.Codex $chromePath = Join-Path $pkg.InstallLocation "app\resources\plugins\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome" Test-Path $chromePath

Result: True

1. Manually copy the bundled marketplace to a persistent local path:

C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex\local-marketplaces\openai-bundled

1. Verify that Chrome exists there:

C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex\local-marketplaces\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome.codex-plugin\plugin.json

Test-Path result: True

1. Add the local marketplace and enable Chrome in config.toml:

[marketplaces.openai-bundled] source_type = "local" source = 'C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex\local-marketplaces\openai-bundled'

[plugins."chrome@openai-bundled"] enabled = true

1. Start Codex again.

2. Open Codex → Plugins and search for Chrome.

3. Actual result:

Chrome is still missing from the Plugins UI.

What is the expected behavior?

Chrome plugin should appear in Codex → Plugins.

Expected behavior:

1. Codex should include the Chrome plugin in the active bundled marketplace cache, because the installed app bundle already contains it.

2. Searching for Chrome in Codex → Plugins should show the Chrome plugin.

3. I should be able to select / install / enable the Chrome plugin from Codex.

4. After setup, Chrome should be available in new Codex threads, for example via @Chrome or the documented Chrome plugin workflow.

5. Codex should not silently regenerate the active bundled marketplace without the Chrome plugin when the installed app bundle already contains:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.506.3741.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\plugins\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome

Additional information

This appears to be a plugin registry / marketplace cache issue rather than a missing local file issue.

Summary of diagnostics:

Installed Codex bundle contains Chrome: True

Path: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.506.3741.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\plugins\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome.codex-plugin\plugin.json

Automatically regenerated active bundled marketplace does not contain Chrome: False

Path checked: C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome.codex-plugin\plugin.json

Persistent local marketplace contains Chrome: True

Path: C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex\local-marketplaces\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome.codex-plugin\plugin.json

Plugin cache contains Chrome: True

Path: C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled\chrome\0.1.7.codex-plugin\plugin.json

config.toml contains:

[marketplaces.openai-bundled] source_type = "local" source = 'C:\Users\kurushin_gi.codex\local-marketplaces\openai-bundled'

[plugins."chrome@openai-bundled"] enabled = true

Despite this, Codex Plugins UI still does not list Chrome.

This looks like Codex Desktop is either ignoring the local marketplace registration, filtering chrome@openai-bundled from the Plugins UI / runtime registry, or applying a feature flag / availability filter after local plugin discovery.