Codex Cloud image outputs invisible in both web and macOS desktop, including minimal PNG test

Problem

Image outputs from a Codex Cloud task are not visible to the user in either Codex web or the macOS desktop app. The cloud agent repeatedly reports that an image has been displayed, but the conversation contains only text and code.

This affects application screenshots and a small, newly created diagnostic PNG independent of the application.

Environment

• macOS 26.5.2
• ChatGPT desktop app in Codex mode; installed app metadata: version 26.908.70816
• Codex web in Chrome
• ChatGPT Plus
• Cloud runtime Node.js 22.22.2

Reproduction

1. Start a fresh Codex Cloud task.
2. Create a temporary diagnostic PNG using an available image library.
3. Ask the agent to actually execute the available image output mechanism, rather than print code:

const result = await tools.view_image({
  path: "/tmp/tailortune-image-transmission-diagnostic-sharp.png"
});
image(result.image_url);

This is executed through functions.exec according to the agent's report.

4. Inspect the conversation in Codex web and the macOS desktop app.

Expected

An inline image that the user can see.

Actual

No image appears in either interface. The agent states that the native transmission succeeded and that an image appears above its response, but only the response text/code is visible.

The agent's report is not proof that the backend emitted an image payload; please investigate whether the output is lost in tool execution, cloud result transport, or rendering.

Additional context

• An earlier cloud task successfully launched the website and used a browser automation CLI to create four screenshots. Those screenshots were also never visible to the user.
• A later task verified successful application startup and HTTP 200, but reported no native local-browser/port-forwarding/artifact tools in its available tool inventory.
• The minimal PNG test was intended to isolate image delivery from browser capture and application setup.
• Retesting on the web did not resolve it, so this is not solely a desktop rendering symptom.
• Proposed sandbox links and a container HTTP server did not provide usable integrated image access.
• Environment preparation was rerun and the cache reset during troubleshooting.

Related reports:

• #11081: cloud screenshots visible on web but missing in the desktop app.
• #16721: screenshots/native screenshot tooling no longer available in Codex web.
• #17172: screenshot tool unavailable in the environment.

Please confirm the supported mechanism for returning user-visible images from Codex Cloud tasks and investigate this combined web/desktop failure. The intended workflow is integrated visual review of a running cloud application, without publishing screenshots to an external service.

No private repository files, credentials, customer data, or screenshots containing personal information are included in this report.

Start by reproducing the minimal PNG flow through functions.exec, tools.view_image, and image(result.image_url) in Codex Cloud, then compare the Codex web and macOS desktop conversations. The issue names no repository files or tests, so trace whether the image payload is emitted by tool execution, transported from the cloud result, or rendered by either client. Done means a supported mechanism reliably produces an inline image in both interfaces.