codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Codex Desktop: Computer Use blocks get_app_state(Codex) with "not allowed ... for safety reasons" even after reinstall [1 comments, 2 participants]

Summary

After fully quitting and reinstalling the Codex desktop app, Computer Use still cannot inspect the Codex app itself. Calling get_app_state on Codex returns:

Computer Use is not allowed to use the app 'com.openai.codex' for safety reasons.

This is different from a generic permissions issue. The error appears specifically when the target app is the Codex desktop app itself.

Environment

• App: Codex Desktop
• Platform: macOS
• Target app bundle: com.openai.codex
• Installation state: fresh reinstall from a newly downloaded app
• Context: current session after restart + reinstall

What I expected

I expected get_app_state(Codex) to either:

• return the current app state, or
• return a permissions prompt / approval flow that I can complete, if Codex Desktop supports self-inspection in this session.

What actually happened

get_app_state(Codex) returns:

Computer Use is not allowed to use the app 'com.openai.codex' for safety reasons.

This happens even after:

• fully quitting Codex
• relaunching Codex
• reinstalling Codex from a fresh download

Reproduction steps

1. Open Codex Desktop on macOS.
2. Fully quit the app.
3. Reinstall Codex from a fresh download.
4. Relaunch Codex.
5. In a session that has Computer Use available, call get_app_state with the Codex app target.
6. Observe the safety error.

Notes

This is not the same as:

• a missing Accessibility permission
• a Screen Recording permission problem
• a plugin not being installed
• a stale resumed thread approval issue

The target is the Codex desktop app itself, and the error is a direct safety refusal rather than a permissions prompt.

Related issues

I found closely related issues, but none that match this exact self-targeting safety block after reinstall:

• #18803
• #18522
• #21846

Why this matters

This blocks any attempt to use Computer Use to inspect or validate Codex Desktop itself, including:

• app-state inspection
• UI verification
• troubleshooting the desktop app through the same session

That makes it difficult to distinguish a real app problem from a tool-layer restriction when debugging Codex Desktop behavior.

Requested fix / clarification

Please clarify whether this is:

1. intended behavior by design,
2. a missing permission/authorization path for self-targeting Codex app inspection, or
3. an overly broad safety rule that should return a more explicit unsupported/error state.

If self-targeting the Codex app is intentionally blocked, it would help to document that clearly and return a message that distinguishes policy restriction from setup failure.