Chrome/firefox/safari- browser does not auto-start on macOS unless Selenium Standalone is manually launched

Start with the reported codecept.conf.js WebDriver configuration, especially the services: ["chromedriver"] setting and the macOS environment details. Reproduce the configuration on macOS and verify whether the browser starts without manually launching Selenium Standalone; done means the connection error no longer occurs.

Please share the macOS-supported codecept.conf.js file. With the current configuration below, the local automation does not automatically start ChromeDriver on macOS
Error | Error: Can't connect to WebDriver
We need to explicitly start standalone Selenium to launch the browser

node version-v14.15.5
npm version-6.14.5

exports.config = {
tests: "./*_test.js",
output: "./output",
/** -----------------------------

• 🚀 HELPERS
• ----------------------------- /
  helpers: {
  WebDriver: {
  url: prop.url,
  browser: browser,
  restart: false,
  smartWait: 10000,
  waitForTimeout: 50000,
  windowSize: windowSize,
  /* Auto-start ChromeDriver on Mac /
  services: ["chromedriver"],
  capabilities: {
  acceptInsecureCerts: true,
  'goog:chromeOptions': {
  excludeSwitches: ['enable-automation'],
  prefs: {
  download: {
  default_directory: prop.downloadDir,
  prompt_for_download: false
  }
  }
  }
  }
  },
  /* Custom Helpers /
  ChaiWrapper: {
  require: "codeceptjs-chai",
  },
  MyHelper: {
  require: "./myHelper.js",
  },
  },
  /* -----------------------------
• BOOTSTRAP + TEARDOWN
• ----------------------------- /
  bootstrap: require("./dist/Bootstrap/bootstrap.js").bootstrap,
  teardown: require("./dist/Bootstrap/bootstrap.js").teardown,
  teardownAll: require("./src/get_all_reports.js"),
  include: {
  I: prop.stepFilePath,
  },
  /* -----------------------------
• PARALLEL EXECUTION
• ----------------------------- /
  multiple: {
  parallel: { chunks: 1 },
  sanityCases: { chunks: 2 }
  },
  /* -----------------------------
• BDD (Gherkin)
• ----------------------------- /
  gherkin: {
  features: [
  './src//features//.feature',
  "./src//src///.feature"
  ],
  steps: "./dist//implementation///*.js"
  },
  name: prop.projectName,
  / -----------------------------
• PLUGINS
• ----------------------------- /
  plugins: {
  xpathValidate: {
  require: "./src/xpathValidation.js",
  enabled: true
  },
  retryFailedStep: { enabled: true },
  tryTo: { enabled: true },
  screenshotOnFail: {
  enabled: true,
  uniqueScreenshotNames: true
  },
  /* ❌ WDIO plugin is removed – not needed */
  // wdio: { ... } → deleted
  autoDelay: {
  enabled: true,
  delayBefore: 1000,
  delayAfter: 500,
  methods: ['click', 'fillField', 'checkOption']
  },
  allure: {
  enabled: true,
  require: '@codeceptjs/allure-legacy'
  },
  selenoidOptions: {
  sessionTimeout: "300s",
  enableVNC: false,
  enableVideo: false
  },
  require: ["ts-node/register"]
  }
  };

@danielrentz @davert