Computer Use: drag silently fails to move Instagram Story link sticker in iPhone Mirroring; manual mouse drag works

Codex computer use: drag does not move Instagram Story stickers in iPhone Mirroring, but manual mouse drag works

Summary

During a Codex desktop computer-use session, dragging a link sticker in Instagram's Story editor through Apple's iPhone Mirroring app returned without an error but did not move the sticker. The user then moved the same sticker successfully with a physical mouse in the same mirroring app.

Scope: one observed example, broader applicability unknown

This report documents one concrete example: moving a text-bearing link sticker labeled “Icon Gallery” on Instagram's Story composition screen. The observed failure concerned repositioning that object by dragging. Other applications, other editing screens, and ordinary text objects were not tested. We do not know whether this is an Instagram-specific issue or a broader issue with automated dragging through iPhone Mirroring; please treat this example as evidence for investigation, not a claim that dragging fails universally.

Environment

• Date: September 13, 2026, approximately 17:10–17:12 JST
• Mac: macOS 26.0.1 (25A362)
• Application controlled: Apple iPhone Mirroring
• Target device: iPhone 13 Pro
• Target UI: Instagram iOS app, Story editor, link sticker
• Automation: Codex desktop, mcp__cua_repl.js, native app drag(from, to)
• Codex, iOS, and Instagram versions: not captured

Steps to reproduce

1. Connect to an iPhone using Apple's iPhone Mirroring app on a Mac.
2. Open Instagram and create a Story using an image.
3. Add a link sticker; it initially appears near the center of the image.
4. Ask Codex to drag the sticker into the empty space below the image content.
5. Inspect the screen after the drag and compare the sticker position.
6. Try moving the same sticker manually with the Mac's mouse.

Expected behavior

The automated drag should move the sticker from the source to the destination, matching a manual mouse drag in the same app.

Actual behavior and evidence

Two consecutive drag calls on the revised Story image returned without an error:

await phoneStory.drag([207, 456], [207, 704]);
await phoneStory.getAXState();
// Follow-up screenshot: sticker remained near the center.

await phoneStory.drag([169, 459], [172, 700]);
await phoneStory.getAXStateAndScreenshot();
// Sticker still remained near the center.

The screenshots showed a roughly 418 × 920 app capture. The link sticker remained around y=456 instead of moving to the blank area around y=700. Similar unsuccessful drag attempts also occurred earlier in the session.

The native accessibility tree exposed only the iPhone Mirroring window and Mac menu bar, not the iOS controls, so targets were chosen from screenshots. Clicking controls and entering the URL and sticker text did work.

The user reported that a manual mouse drag worked. A subsequent screenshot confirmed that the same sticker had moved into the lower empty area, around y=710. This was not a general inability to drag in iPhone Mirroring.

Impact

Codex could prepare the Story image and link but required the user to position the sticker manually. Silent success from the drag call made it necessary to detect the failure through screenshots.

Unknowns / investigation suggestions

The cause is not established. Please compare the automated drag's mouse-down, hold duration, move events, and mouse-up sequence with a successful manual drag. It is not yet known whether the issue is specific to Instagram stickers, iPhone Mirroring, or the computer-use drag implementation.

No claim is made that drag-and-drop is generally unsupported. No private account identifiers or unrelated screenshots are included in this draft.

Codex App report fields

• Codex App version: not captured during this session.
• Subscription: not captured for this report.

Related reports

• https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/33663 discusses iPhone Mirroring scrolling compatibility. This report concerns moving an editing object, not scrolling.
• https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/38508 describes input failures with explicit errors or timeouts. Here, drag calls returned without errors but the object did not move.

Start with the drag implementation exposed through mcp__cua_repl.js and reproduce the two coordinate drags in Apple iPhone Mirroring. Compare the automated mouse-down, hold, move, and mouse-up sequence with a successful manual drag, using screenshots to verify whether the sticker moves. Done means the automated drag moves the sticker reliably or reports the failure instead of returning silently.