[Windows][Desktop] Chrome extension discovered but tab RPC fails with nodeRepl.fetch request failed

Summary

On Windows, Codex can discover the ChatGPT Chrome extension instance, but every tab-level operation times out with nodeRepl.fetch request failed.

Environment

• Codex desktop: 26.903.9818.0
• Chrome: 153.0.8010.37
• ChatGPT Chrome extension: 1.26.901.11451
• Chrome profile: User 1
• Test URL: https://wendfort.com/robots.txt

Reproduction and observed result

1. Start Chrome and open the ChatGPT side panel.
2. Codex successfully discovers the Chrome extension browser provider.
3. Calling listTabs waits about 21 seconds and fails with nodeRepl.fetch request failed.
4. Calling createBrowserTab for the test URL fails with the same error.

Troubleshooting already completed

• Updated and fully restarted Chrome and Codex.
• Verified the native messaging registration and signed OpenAI extension-host.exe.
• Restarted the extension host.
• Tested from a separate new Codex task.
• Removed and reinstalled the Chrome extension.
• Reopened the side panel and verified a genuinely new extension instance.
• No additional traditional ChatGPT/Codex installation was found.

Diagnostics

• Feedback/session ID: 01a08bb2-f81f-7f92-8e45-916529fadbc2
• Extension instance before reinstall: 2b7ce4a7-00b3-4751-8f6e-ffa045a7428e
• Extension instance after reinstall: 6c9156b3-c5e8-487f-9d14-79a5037185f6

The browser registration/discovery layer works, but the tab RPC path between Codex/node_repl and the extension host continues to time out.

Start with the node_repl tab RPC path and the Windows extension-host communication described in the report. Reproduce listTabs and createBrowserTab with the supplied test URL, then trace the timeout; done means both tab operations complete without nodeRepl.fetch request failed.