[macOS Desktop] In-app Browser control unavailable because bundled node_repl MCP client never becomes ready

What version of the Codex App are you using?

Codex Desktop 26.803.61601 (build 6396), Chromium 151.0.7922.76.

Platform

macOS, Apple Silicon (arm64).

What issue are you seeing?

The in-app Browser opens pages normally, but Codex cannot inspect, click, type, or otherwise control the page because the bundled Browser/Computer Use MCP tool is absent from the task.

The same setup worked on 2026-08-13. Beginning on 2026-08-14, Browser control stopped working and remains unavailable after fully quitting and restarting Codex multiple times.

Local logs repeatedly show:

omitting MCP server without an exact ready client server_name=node_repl

The previous working session logged successful initialization of the same service:

server_name=node_repl ... Service initialized as client ... version 1.5.0

Other MCP services initialize normally in the failing sessions. The bundled Browser plugin is enabled, its files are present, the configured node_repl executable exists and responds to --help, and the target web origin is allowed. No Browser/Computer Use tool is exposed to the task.

No private page content, credentials, complete configuration files, or raw log database are attached publicly.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Codex Desktop on macOS.
2. Open a page in the in-app Browser.
3. In a task, reference Browser and ask Codex to inspect the current page title or click/type on the page.
4. Observe that no Browser/Computer Use MCP tool is available.
5. Fully quit Codex Desktop and reopen it.
6. Create a new task and repeat.
7. Observe that the failure persists and the log contains:
   omitting MCP server without an exact ready client server_name=node_repl.

Expected behavior

The bundled node_repl MCP client should initialize and expose the Browser/Computer Use tools, allowing Codex to inspect and interact with the in-app Browser.

Actual behavior

The in-app Browser renders pages, but the control bridge never becomes ready. Codex omits the node_repl server from the tool catalog, so page inspection and interaction are impossible.

Additional information

• This worked on the same installation on 2026-08-13.
• It failed on 2026-08-14 without an intentional configuration change.
• Full application restarts do not recover it.
• The target site's login and page rendering still work; only the control interface is unavailable.
• Related but not identical: #38342 (plugin skill present while its stdio MCP tools are absent). This report concerns the bundled Browser/Computer Use node_repl service.

Start by tracing the bundled node_repl initialization around the log message omitting MCP server without an exact ready client server_name=node_repl, then compare it with the earlier successful initialization. Reproduce on macOS with the in-app Browser and verify that the client reaches ready state and Browser/Computer Use tools appear in the task.