Windows Computer Use cannot access native applications
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Description
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
ChatGPT Go
What subscription do you have?
26.903.61454
What platform is your computer?
Windows 11 x64
What issue are you seeing?
"${([Environment]::OSVersion.Version)} $([Environment]::Is64BitOperatingSystem)"
True
What steps can reproduce the bug?
Feedback ID: no-active-thread-01a08ab3-2198-74b3-bbb6-7e30f4667517
What is the expected behavior?
Computer Use cannot reliably access or control native Windows applications.
I am using Codex Desktop on Windows with the Computer Use functionality enabled.
I was testing Computer Use with Autodesk Inventor 2026. The goal was to perform a very simple test: open Autodesk Inventor, access the already-open Inventor window, and open a DWG drawing.
Instead, Codex repeatedly reported that native Windows applications were unavailable and returned:
"Trusted RPC service is not configured: sky"
The native application/window inventory was empty, so Codex could not see or control the already-open Inventor window.
Codex was able to perform some shell-level actions. For example, it found the requested DWG file and was able to launch Inventor.exe with the file. However, it still could not access or control the Inventor window through Computer Use.
An attempt to use the Inventor API also failed because the application did not expose an active Inventor session for connection.
The problem is not limited to Autodesk Inventor. The main issue appears to be that native Windows applications are not properly exposed to Computer Use.
This makes Computer Use effectively unusable for desktop applications on my Windows system.
An additional concern is that these repeated troubleshooting attempts consumed my Codex/Work usage quota even though the requested Computer Use operations did not actually succeed. I eventually received:
"You're out of Codex and Work usage"
The tests were performed specifically to determine whether Computer Use could control Windows applications, but the functionality failed during the tests.
Please investigate whether this is a known Windows Computer Use issue and whether native application access is currently working as intended.
Additional information
Feedback ID: no-active-thread-01a08ab3-2198-74b3-bbb6-7e30f4667517
Environment:
- Windows 11 x64
- Codex Desktop 26.903.61454
- ChatGPT Go
- Computer Use enabled
- Autodesk Inventor 2026
Steps to reproduce:
- Start Codex Desktop on Windows.
- Enable/use Computer Use.
- Open a native Windows application such as Autodesk Inventor 2026.
- Leave the application open with an active window.
- Ask Codex to interact with the application, for example:
"Open Autodesk Inventor"
"Open the last Inventor drawing"
"Open the following DWG in the already-open Inventor window." - Codex reports that it cannot see or control the native application window.
- The native application inventory is empty or unavailable.
- Codex may report:
"Trusted RPC service is not configured: sky" - Codex can sometimes launch an application through shell commands, but cannot subsequently interact with its GUI window through Computer Use.
- An attempt to connect to the running Inventor instance through the Inventor API also failed because no active Inventor session was available.
Expected behavior:
Computer Use should be able to enumerate the open native Windows application, obtain its window, and perform basic GUI operations such as activating the window, clicking, typing, and opening a file.
Actual behavior:
Native Windows application access is unavailable or non-functional. The application cannot be controlled through Computer Use even though it is visibly open and running.
The issue also caused repeated failed test attempts to consume my Codex/Work usage quota.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
No repository files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by reproducing the Windows 11 scenario with Computer Use and the reported “Trusted RPC service is not configured: sky” message, then trace the native application inventory and RPC setup. Done means an open native application can be enumerated and controlled through basic GUI operations.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Domain
- desktop-dev, operating-systems
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100