openai / openai/codex

Connected GitHub plugin does not expose issue creation tool; Codex falls back to brittle browser automation

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app bug skills tool-calls
Dominant language
Rust
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Forks
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PR merge metrics
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Description

Bug

After connecting GitHub in Codex, tool discovery still did not expose a usable GitHub issue-creation tool for filing an issue in openai/codex. Codex had to fall back to browser automation against the GitHub web UI.

Repro

  1. Ask Codex to file a GitHub issue against openai/codex.
  2. Connect GitHub when prompted/available.
  3. Ask Codex to file the issue directly.
  4. Codex searches available/deferred tools for GitHub issue creation.
  5. No callable issue-creation tool appears, so Codex uses browser automation instead.

Expected

Once GitHub is connected, Codex should expose a reliable semantic tool for creating an issue, or clearly explain why the connected GitHub plugin cannot perform issue creation.

Actual

Tool discovery showed Codex app/browser/automation/plugin-management tools, but no GitHub create-issue tool. Codex then had to:

  • Open the GitHub issue page in a browser panel
  • Fill the form using browser automation
  • Recover after a stale tab error
  • Inspect DOM/button text manually
  • Click the Create button by index

The issue did eventually file, but the path was brittle and much slower than a connector-backed action should be.

Impact

This makes a normal workflow, "file a bug on GitHub," feel unreliable after the user has already connected GitHub. It also pushes Codex toward fragile UI automation for a task that should be a straightforward API/connector operation.

Related context

This happened while filing issue #41372 about heartbeat automation latency.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

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.

Research direction

The issue names no source file or test; begin at the connected GitHub plugin's tool discovery and the available/deferred-tool path described in the reproduction. Trace why issue creation is absent after connection, then verify that a connected account exposes a callable semantic create-issue action or receives a clear capability explanation without relying on browser automation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
github
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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