macOS Remote Control: enable/client list succeed but pairing never starts; UI shows “Unable to update remote control status”

Summary

On macOS, Remote Control cannot be enabled from Settings. The UI shows “Unable to update remote control status”. The backend calls to enable Remote Control and list clients succeed, but the flow never proceeds to pairing / QR-code generation.

Environment

• macOS
• Codex/ChatGPT desktop app version: 26.818.21641
• Personal ChatGPT account
• MFA enabled
• Only one desktop instance/process observed

Latest reproduction

At Beijing time 2026-08-21 00:37:20–00:38:00:

• 00:37:23.286 — remoteControl/enable succeeded in 2 ms, errorCode=null
• 00:37:28.487 — remoteControl/client/list succeeded in 1051 ms, errorCode=null
• No Pairing / pairing-code request was logged
• No Workspace-related error in this reproduction window
• No 401/403/409 in this reproduction window
• No warning/error entries related to Remote Control

The UI still reports “Unable to update remote control status” and no QR / pairing code appears.

Earlier observations

• Earlier sessions had HTTP 403 Forbidden: Multi-factor authentication required; MFA has since been enabled and that error no longer appears in the latest reproduction.
• One earlier session returned 401: Must use workspace account for this operation, but this did not recur in the latest reproduction.
• App Server startup, handshake, and connection are normal; no restart loop, conflict, or 409 was observed.
• In an earlier attempt, a transient UI message mentioned ensuring only one instance was running, but no duplicate process was found.

Expected behavior

After enabling Remote Control in Settings, the desktop app should proceed to pairing and display a QR / pairing code.

Actual behavior

remoteControl/enable and remoteControl/client/list succeed, but the app never emits a pairing request and the UI shows “Unable to update remote control status.”

The flow appears to stop between successful Remote Control enablement/client-list retrieval and the pairing stage.

Reproduce the macOS flow and trace handling after the successful remoteControl/enable and remoteControl/client/list calls, using the reported logs to find where pairing stops. Done means the app emits a pairing request and displays the QR or pairing code instead of the update-status error.