Hacktoberfest 2026: the issues maintainers tagged for October, open and beginner-friendly. Browse Hacktoberfest issues

Windows: browser control trusted Node child exits before connecting to Edge

Open
  • Is something wrong?
#52,377 2 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Maintainers usually reply within 1 day

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
12/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Needs clarification
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
javascript, nodejs
Domain
desktop-dev, devtools

Research direction

The failure is in the bundled trusted Node child runtime on Windows, reached through cua.getState(), cua.createBrowserTab() and cua.getTab() in mcp__cua_repl.js. The issue does not name a file to change, and the root cause is unconfirmed. Starting point: capture the child process exit code and stderr on Windows. Done would mean an identified cause or a reproducible, supported recovery path.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

app browser bug tool-calls windows-os

Summary

On Windows, Codex browser control fails during initialization with:

trusted Node process exited unexpectedly; kernel reset, rerun your request

The failure happens before any browser inventory, tab handle, or page contents are returned. It also reproduces with a minimal trusted Node REPL call. The bundled Node executable runs successfully when invoked directly, and ordinary local shell commands work in this chat.

This report is being prepared at the affected user's explicit request. No private paths, credentials, browsing contents, or full session logs are included.

Environment

  • Platform: Windows, x64; OS version 10.0.26200 (verified with Win32_OperatingSystem).
  • Observed: October 9, 2026 (Asia/Shanghai).
  • Installed desktop package: OpenAI.Codex, version 26.930.7945.0, x64 (verified with Get-AppxPackage, and also recorded in local logs).
  • Bundled browser / Computer Use plugin version: 26.930.61225.
  • Bundled Node: v24.21.0; runtime manifest: 24.21.0-cua.1.
  • Runtime archive version: 0.0.27/20260927214556-b77d38801cca.
  • User's configured browser: Microsoft Edge. The user reports that the browser extension is installed in Edge.
  • Local configuration enables the browser, unified-computer-use, computer-use, and chrome plugins. It also contains a node_repl MCP entry pointing to the bundled runtime. A clean/default-config reproduction has not been tested.

Reproduction

  1. In the desktop app, call the documented inventory entry point through mcp__cua_repl.js:

    await cua.getState();

  2. Observe the trusted Node exit error before any inventory is returned.

  3. Reset the tool session and retry; the same error occurs.

  4. Explicitly target Edge:

    let edgeTab = await cua.createBrowserTab("edge", "https://www.wsj.com/", {
  sessionName: "News reading"
});

    The same error occurs before a browser/tab handle is returned.

  5. A minimal trusted Node REPL call also fails with the same error:

    nodeRepl.write("runtime connection test");

  6. In a later attempt, accessing an existing in-app GitHub tab through cua.getTab fails with the same error, before page access.

Verified diagnostic findings

  • Resetting the JavaScript kernel succeeds, but initialization fails again immediately.
  • Desktop logs report the outer node_repl and cua_repl MCP services as ready. The failure is in the trusted child runtime, rather than proof that the entire MCP service cannot start.
  • Direct execution of the bundled node.exe --version prints v24.21.0.
  • Direct execution of basic JavaScript with the bundled Node also succeeds.
  • Ordinary local shell commands work in this chat. This differs from reports where all sandboxed command execution is blocked.
  • The inspected desktop logs did not expose an actionable trusted-child exit reason.
  • A separately approved Windows Application event-log check did not find matching Node crash events during the checked time window.
  • No browser permissions, ACLs, sandbox protections, runtime binaries, or plugin settings have been changed as a repair attempt.
  • No application-restart, Windows-reboot, or clean-reinstall success/failure is claimed for this machine.

Expected behavior

Browser control initializes and connects to the selected Edge browser, or reports the underlying trusted-child failure with enough detail for a supported recovery.

Related reports and limits

These reports share the visible trusted Node exit message. The exact underlying cause on this machine is not yet established. In particular, Windows error 32 / runtime ACL sharing violations have not been confirmed here, and ordinary shell execution remains functional.

Please advise how to capture the trusted child process exit reason and whether a supported runtime repair or fixed desktop build is available.

Dominant language
Rust
Stars
130k
Forks
20.5k
Avg merge
1m
Merged PRs (30d)
997

Getting set up

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

More from openai/codex

All issues in openai/codex

Similar issues

More Rust issues

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.