Remote Control fails to connect on macOS – pairing code unavailable

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

26.903.61454

What subscription do you have?

Plus

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.6.0 arm64 arm

What issue are you seeing?

When I go to:
Settings → Connections → Control this Mac → Add
the pairing screen displays:
Pairing code unavailable: Remote control failed to connect
The QR/pairing code is never generated.

Troubleshooting already attempted:
Fully quit the app with Cmd+Q.
Restarted macOS.
Signed out and signed back in.
Completely uninstalled and reinstalled the Codex/ChatGPT desktop app.
Cleared local Codex application data.
Reset the ~/.codex directory.
The issue persists every time.

Actual behavior
Pairing code unavailable: Remote control failed to connect

Hardware: MacBook Air m5 32gb RAM

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Open Codex / ChatGPT desktop app on macOS.
Go to Settings → Connections → Control this Mac.
Enable Allow connections.
Click Add to pair an iPhone.
Pairing fails before a QR code is generated.

What is the expected behavior?

A pairing code / QR code should be displayed so the iPhone can be authorized.

Additional information

Throughout today, I was repeatedly disconnected from my Mac, even though I have the setting enabled that is supposed to prevent the Mac from going to sleep while ChatGPT is connected.
Despite that, the remote connection kept dropping multiple times during the day.

Reproduce the failure through Settings → Connections → Control this Mac → Add on the reported macOS setup, then trace the remote-control pairing flow from the point where the connection fails. Done means the flow consistently generates a pairing code or QR code and supports authorizing an iPhone without repeated disconnections.