codex - 💡(How to fix) Fix Codex Desktop Remote SSH: in-app browser sidebar works but @browser is unavailable in remote thread

What version of Codex is running?

Local client:

• Codex Desktop on macOS: TODO: fill from About Codex dialog
• Connection type: Codex Desktop Remote SSH / Remote Connections

Remote host:

• Provider: GCP VM
• Access path: SSH over Tailscale
• OS: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
• Kernel: Linux home-vm 6.1.0-45-cloud-amd64 x86_64
• Codex CLI: codex-cli 0.130.0

What issue are you seeing?

In Codex Desktop using the new Remote SSH / Remote Connections flow, the in-app browser sidebar can be opened manually and can load the target URL successfully.

However, inside the remote SSH-backed Codex thread, Browser Use / @browser is not available to the agent. I cannot tag @browser in the composer even though the browser sidebar itself works.

This appears specific to Remote SSH sessions. Local Codex Desktop threads do not show the same behavior.

Why this seems Remote SSH-specific

The visible browser webview is working in the desktop UI, so this does not look like a basic network/Tailscale reachability problem. The failure appears to be that the Remote SSH thread’s tool/plugin surface does not expose Browser Use / @browser, or the local browser sidebar state is not being bridged into the remote app-server session.

Recent related issues suggest Remote Connections can desync app-server/thread/tool state, but I did not find an exact issue for this Browser Use exposure problem.

Possibly related:

• #21326: repeated remote connection selection/reconciliation plus Browser Use native pipe/sidebar initialization
• #20399: Remote connections can mix project/thread host state
• #19590: SSH remote can tunnel to the wrong app-server
• #22187: Remote Connections sessions do not inject the same context as remote CLI

Steps to reproduce

1. On macOS Codex Desktop, configure a Remote SSH connection to a GCP VM reachable over Tailscale.
2. Open a remote project/thread through Codex Desktop Remote Connections.
3. Open the in-app browser from the Codex Desktop sidebar.
4. Navigate to the target URL in the sidebar browser.
5. Observe that the URL opens and works.
6. Return to the remote SSH-backed thread composer.
7. Try to tag or invoke @browser.

Expected behavior

If the in-app browser is available in Codex Desktop while using a Remote SSH thread, Browser Use / @browser should be available to the agent, or the UI should clearly explain that Browser Use is unsupported for Remote SSH sessions.

Actual behavior

The sidebar browser opens and works, but @browser cannot be tagged/used in the remote SSH thread.

Additional information

This is not a generic “remote server cannot access the URL” problem: the desktop in-app browser can load the URL. The problem appears to be the Remote SSH session’s browser/tool exposure.