ChatGPT Chrome side panel creates new Codex tasks without Chrome browser-control capabilities

What issue are you seeing?

New Codex tasks launched directly from the official ChatGPT Chrome extension side panel do not receive the capabilities needed to inspect or control Chrome.

The extension is installed, enabled, and granted access on all sites. Chrome lists permissions including access to the page debugger backend, permission to read and change data on all websites, browsing-history access, downloads, bookmarks, native-app communication, and tab-group management.

The failure appears specific to how the task is provisioned:

• A Work or Codex task started inside the ChatGPT desktop app can use the official Chrome extension to access and control Chrome.
• A new Codex task started directly from the Chrome side panel opens successfully as a conversation, but it has no callable Chrome browser-control capability and cannot operate the current tab.
• Starting additional new tasks from the side panel reproduces the same result.

Exact reproduction:

Prompt:

open apple.com in a new tab

Response:

I can’t open new tabs in this session. Please enable or update the Codex Chrome plugin in the desktop app, then reopen the side panel.

This suggests a task-origin or capability-attachment problem rather than a missing Chrome permission, disabled extension, unsupported machine, or generally broken desktop-to-Chrome bridge. The same account, machine, Chrome profile, and extension work when the task originates in the desktop app.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. On macOS, sign into a personal ChatGPT Plus account in the current ChatGPT desktop app.
2. Install and enable the official ChatGPT Chrome extension.
3. In Chrome extension settings, set site access to On all sites.
4. Open a normal webpage in Chrome.
5. Open the ChatGPT extension side panel.
6. Create a new Codex task directly from the side panel.
7. Enter: open apple.com in a new tab
8. Observe: I can’t open new tabs in this session. Please enable or update the Codex Chrome plugin in the desktop app, then reopen the side panel.
9. In the ChatGPT desktop app, create a new Work or Codex task on the same account and mention/select Chrome.
10. Ask it to perform the equivalent browser action.
11. Observe that Chrome control is available from the desktop-originated task.

What is the expected behavior?

A new Codex task created from the ChatGPT Chrome side panel should be provisioned with the extension-backed browser capability for the Chrome profile and tab from which it was created. It should be able to inspect the current page and, after any required approval, navigate, open tabs, click, and type.

If side-panel-created tasks intentionally do not support browser control, the UI should say so before creating the task. That behavior would conflict with the extension description, “Control your browser with ChatGPT,” and makes the side panel substantially less useful than a desktop-originated task connected to the same extension.

Additional information

Environment:

• Account: personal ChatGPT Plus
• ChatGPT desktop: 26.908.70816 (build 9275)
• ChatGPT Chrome extension: 1.26.901.11451
• Google Chrome: 152.0.7977.83
• OS: macOS 27.0 (build 26A428)
• Architecture: Apple silicon (arm64)
• Extension state: enabled
• Site access: On all sites

Related issue: #37309 concerns a desktop-originated conversation resumed in the Chrome side panel. This report concerns fresh tasks created directly in the side panel. Notably, a comment on #37309 reports that fresh side-panel chats did receive browser-control tools in that reporter’s setup, which makes the consistently missing tools here a useful contrasting reproduction. Other related reports include #29389, #37307, and #41228.

Please compare the capability manifest/tool provisioning for (1) a new Codex task created in the Chrome side panel and (2) a new Work/Codex task created in the desktop app and connected to Chrome.

I can provide private feedback/session IDs through OpenAI Support. I have intentionally omitted conversation IDs, account identifiers, local paths, and other private details from this public report.

No repository files or tests are identified in the report. Start by tracing capability manifest and tool provisioning for a new Chrome side-panel Codex task versus a desktop-originated Work/Codex task; done means the side-panel task can use the extension-backed browser capability, or the UI clearly explains that it is unsupported.