computer-use-fix

name	computer-use-fix
description	Repair Codex Desktop on Windows when Computer Use or bundled local plugins become unavailable after restart or Store update. Use when Settings says "Computer Use plugin unavailable", plugin icons are broken, bundled plugins disappear, `openai-bundled` is missing from `codex plugin list`, or `.codex\.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled` keeps reverting to a partial cache.

Computer Use Fix

Use this skill on Windows only. The common failure pattern is:

• Codex Desktop starts, but Computer Use says the plugin is unavailable.
• Bundled plugins such as Computer Use, Browser, Chrome, Sites, or LaTeX disappear or show broken icons.
• codex plugin list does not show openai-bundled, or the temporary bundled marketplace contains only chrome.

The stable fix is to stop trusting the temporary bundled marketplace under .codex\.tmp. Copy the official bundled plugin marketplace from the installed Codex package into a persistent marketplace under .codex\marketplaces\openai-bundled, then point config.toml at that persistent copy.

Quick Repair

Run the bundled repair script:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "<this skill>\scripts\repair-codex-windows-computer-use.ps1"

If the user explicitly wants to refresh files even when the script thinks the state is already OK, add -Force.

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "<this skill>\scripts\repair-codex-windows-computer-use.ps1" -Force

After the script succeeds, ask the user to fully quit and reopen Codex Desktop. A newly created conversation may be needed before Computer Use tools are injected into that turn.

What The Script Does

The script performs a narrow local repair:

1. Finds the installed Windows Store package OpenAI.Codex.
2. Copies app\resources\plugins\openai-bundled from that package to %USERPROFILE%\.codex\marketplaces\openai-bundled.
3. Copies bundled plugin versions into %USERPROFILE%\.codex\plugins\cache\openai-bundled.
4. Updates %USERPROFILE%\.codex\config.toml to use the persistent marketplace.
5. Enables computer-use@openai-bundled, latex@openai-bundled, browser@openai-bundled, chrome@openai-bundled, and sites@openai-bundled.
6. Sets features.computer_use = true.
7. Sets windows.sandbox = "unelevated".
8. Sets the user environment variable CODEX_ELECTRON_ENABLE_WINDOWS_COMPUTER_USE=1.
9. Writes a backup beside config.toml before editing it.

It does not modify C:\Program Files\WindowsApps in place, does not install a startup task, and does not require admin rights in normal Codex installs.

Verification

After repair, verify with the local Codex CLI if available:

codex plugin list

If codex from WindowsApps returns Access is denied, do not treat that as the plugin failure. Find the local CLI instead:

Get-ChildItem "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\OpenAI\Codex\bin" -Recurse -Filter codex.exe |
  Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending |
  Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty FullName

Then run:

& "<local codex.exe>" plugin list

Expected result:

• Marketplace openai-bundled points at %USERPROFILE%\.codex\marketplaces\openai-bundled.
• computer-use@openai-bundled is installed, enabled.
• latex@openai-bundled is installed, enabled.
• Browser/Sites/Chrome may depend on current Desktop state and installed browsers, but missing Chrome should not block Computer Use.

Check Desktop logs for Computer Use startup:

$logRoot = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Packages\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0\LocalCache\Local\Codex\Logs"
Get-ChildItem $logRoot -Recurse -File |
  Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending |
  Select-Object -First 5 |
  ForEach-Object {
    Select-String -LiteralPath $_.FullName -Pattern "computer-use native pipe startup ready|computer-use native pipe startup failed|missing-helper-path"
  }

Good sign:

computer-use native pipe startup ready

Notes

• .codex\.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled may still be recreated by Codex and may still contain only chrome. That is acceptable after this repair because config.toml no longer depends on that temporary directory.
• EBUSY warnings about removing .codex\.tmp\bundled-marketplaces\openai-bundled\plugins\chrome\extension-host are usually harmless if openai-bundled points at the persistent marketplace and Computer Use starts.
• If a current conversation cannot use Computer Use even after the Desktop log says startup is ready, start a new conversation. The native pipe is injected into eligible turns at session startup.