Allow first-time desktop-to-desktop Remote pairing without physical access to both computers

What variant of Codex are you using?

Codex App (desktop-to-desktop Remote Control on macOS/Windows)

What feature would you like to see?

Problem

A single user may have two desktop computers in permanently different locations, for example:

• a Codex host running on a computer at home
• a controller computer at the office

The current desktop-to-desktop Remote pairing flow requires a short-lived PIN to be generated on one computer and entered on the other. A single person cannot complete this flow when the computers are physically separated, even when both computers are online and signed in to the same ChatGPT account and workspace.

This is a bootstrap problem: Remote Control requires an existing remote-control channel before Remote Control itself can be configured.

SSH access to a WSL/Linux Codex CLI instance does not solve this. It creates a separate CLI/app-server environment and does not grant access to the Codex Desktop app, its existing chats, or its local Desktop host state.

Requested behavior

Please provide a secure account-mediated enrollment and recovery flow for desktop-to-desktop Remote Control. For example:

1. The host opts in to Remote Control once and becomes discoverable to the same authenticated account/workspace.
2. A second desktop requests access to that host.
3. The user approves the request using ChatGPT mobile, MFA, or a passkey, without needing interactive access to the host at that moment.
4. The host provides clear device status and lets the user revoke individual controllers.
5. A lost or reinstalled controller can be re-authorized remotely without requiring physical access to the host.

A persistent invitation or recovery code generated in advance would also address the bootstrap problem, provided it has appropriate expiration, revocation, and MFA protections.

Why this matters

Desktop-to-desktop Remote is specifically intended for computers in different locations. Requiring simultaneous interactive access to both computers makes first-time setup impossible for a common single-user scenario.

Additional information

This is distinct from an intermittent connection failure: the documented pairing model has no workable bootstrap path for one person whose two desktops are already in different locations.

Related reports:

• #40580 — pairing loss requires physical access to the host
• #31973 — Remote can become unrecoverable without physical access
• #31039 — Windows desktop-to-desktop pairing UI problems
• #33750 — SSH and Remote Control cannot share the same app-server

The current Remote connections documentation says every supported controller must be paired with every host. Signing in to the same account/workspace does not provide an account-level approval or recovery path.

Start with the current Remote connections documentation and the desktop-to-desktop pairing flow described in the issue. Investigate how host enrollment, controller approval, device status, revocation, and recovery work across macOS and Windows. Done means a secure account-mediated bootstrap and recovery path is defined without requiring simultaneous physical access to both computers.