Codex Desktop: installed Sites plugin exposes design picker but omits deployment connector actions

Start by reproducing the task with the explicit Sites plugin mention and inspect the provisioned capabilities. Trace how the desktop task attaches the Sites connector and compare the available design-picker capability with the missing deployment actions. Done means the task receives the required Sites actions and can save a version, deploy privately, and poll its status.

What version of the Codex App are you using?

Codex Desktop for Windows 26.707.12708
Bundled Codex CLI 0.144.5
Sites plugin 0.1.27

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Plus

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 Professional x64

What issue are you seeing?

The Sites plugin is installed and enabled, and its connector action schemas are present in the local Codex app cache, including:

• sites.save_site_version
• sites.deploy_private_site_version
• sites.get_deployment_status
• sites.create_site

However, tasks explicitly created with [@sites](plugin://sites@openai-bundled) receive only the sites-design-picker MCP capability. The actual Sites app deployment actions are not provisioned to the task, so an already validated Sites archive cannot be saved or privately deployed.

The agent repeatedly concludes that the Sites plugin must be added or reattached, even though it is already installed, enabled, authenticated, and explicitly mentioned in the prompt. Creating fresh tasks and reattaching the plugin reproduces the same failure.

A fallback codex exec worker also loaded the Sites plugin but could not reach the desktop connector service. It failed with:

Error: failed to initialize in-process app-server client: Access is denied. (os error 5)

This appears to be a task-level connector provisioning or desktop app-server attachment bug, not a project build, plugin installation, or user authorization problem.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install and enable the bundled Sites plugin in Codex Desktop on Windows.
2. Open an existing validated Sites project containing .openai/hosting.json and a deployment archive.
3. Start a fresh task with an explicit Sites mention, for example:
   [@sites](plugin://sites@openai-bundled) Deploy the validated build privately and continue through version saving and deployment.
4. Observe that the task receives the Sites skills and sites-design-picker, but not the Sites app actions needed for create_site, save_site_version, deploy_private_site_version, or get_deployment_status.
5. Reattach/reinstall the plugin or create another fresh task. The same behavior repeats.

Expected behavior

An explicit Sites plugin mention should provision the installed and authorized Sites connector actions to the task. The task should be able to create or reuse a site, save the validated version, deploy it privately, and poll deployment status.

Additional information

• The deployment archive is valid and contains dist/server/index.js, client assets, .openai/hosting.json, and D1 migrations.
• The committed source SHA and archive remain unchanged across attempts.
• The local app cache contains the schemas and connector resource URIs for the missing deployment actions.
• The same account and Sites connector successfully completed private deployments in another Codex task previously.
• Reinstalling or reattaching Sites is not a workaround.
• I can provide private task IDs and logs to OpenAI staff if needed, but omitted them from this public report.