Browser plugin file:// support is blocked by URL policy on Linux desktop build

[kj49]

Summary

In codex-desktop-linux, the bundled OpenAI Browser plugin advertises support for file:// URLs, but Browser Use rejects file:// before origin allowlisting or user approval can happen.

I am not sure yet whether this is specific to the Linux wrapper/metadata path or an upstream OpenAI Browser plugin mismatch, but I wanted to report it here first because this install is using the Linux community desktop build.

Environment

• App: ilysenko/codex-desktop-linux
• Codex Desktop shown in logs: 26.513.31313
• Browser plugin: browser@openai-bundled 0.1.0-alpha2
• OS: Fedora Linux 44
• Browser backend: in-app browser (iab)
• Installed app path includes: /opt/codex-desktop

Observed behavior

Using the Browser plugin, localhost HTTP works correctly after approval/allowlisting:

http://127.0.0.1:8766/

However, navigating to a local file://... URL fails with:

Browser Use cannot visit the requested page because its URL is blocked by the Browser Use URL policy.

data: URLs are blocked the same way.

Expected behavior

Either:

1. file:// should work, because the Browser plugin description says it supports local file:// targets, or
2. the plugin manifest/docs should not advertise file:// support.

Local evidence

The Browser plugin manifest/skill description says Browser can verify local targets including file://.

But the bundled browser-client.mjs appears to gate URLs with logic equivalent to:

var Z6 = new Set(["about:blank"])

function Qv(url) {
  if (Z6.has(url)) return true
  const parsed = new URL(url)
  return parsed.protocol === "http:" || parsed.protocol === "https:"
}

So file: and data: are rejected before any origin allowlist/user approval can apply.

I also observed an internal override key in the bundled client:

x-codex-browser-use-security-mode = disabled-for-local-testing

but normal Browser plugin request metadata did not include it in my session, and it does not appear user-configurable.

Workaround

Serving the same local files over localhost HTTP works:

python3 -m http.server 8766 --bind 127.0.0.1

Then Browser can use:

http://127.0.0.1:8766/

Question

Is this expected for the Linux desktop build, or is the Linux wrapper missing a metadata/security-mode path that upstream Codex Desktop uses for local file browsing? If this is purely upstream, I can also report it to openai/codex with a link back here.

[ilysenko]

Fixed in #306.

The Browser plugin staging now patches the current upstream URL-policy helper shape so local file:///... and file://localhost/... targets can reach the existing Browser Use approval flow. The fix keeps remote file://host/..., data:, javascript:, ftp:, and invalid URLs blocked, and adds behavior coverage for those true/false decisions.

Validated with the full smoke suite and a fresh build against upstream DMG 26.519.41501 / Electron 42.1.0.