Never run the Codex inside Codex.app or ChatGPT.app

gui/packages/process-utils/src/cli-locations.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
-import { accessSync, constants, existsSync, lstatSync, statSync } from "node:fs";
+import {
+  accessSync,
+  constants,
+  existsSync,
+  lstatSync,
+  realpathSync,
+  statSync,
+} from "node:fs";
 import { homedir } from "node:os";
 import { delimiter, isAbsolute, join } from "node:path";
 import { windowsExecutableExtensions } from "./windows.js";
@@ -55,17 +62,15 @@ function windowsFallbackCandidates(
   ];
 }
 
-function codexAppBundlePaths(home: string): string[] {
-  if (process.platform !== "darwin") return [];
-  return ["/Applications", join(home, "Applications")].flatMap((apps) =>
-    ["ChatGPT.app", "Codex.app"].flatMap((app) => {
-      const resources = join(apps, app, "Contents", "Resources");
-      return [
-        join(resources, "codex-cli", "bin", "codex"),
-        join(resources, "codex"),
-      ];
-    }),
-  );
+// Codex.app and ChatGPT.app ship a codex. Running a binary inside a bundle macOS
+// flags makes it move the whole app to the Bin (#96), so Cloudroom never runs one,
+// even through a PATH symlink. Those users install the standalone CLI instead.
+function insideAppBundle(candidate: string): boolean {
+  try {
+    return realpathSync(candidate).includes(".app/");
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
 }
 
 function homeDir(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): string {
@@ -99,15 +104,13 @@ function fallbackCandidates(cli: string, env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): string[] {
     join(home, ".volta", "bin"),
   ];
   const providerPaths =
-    cli === "codex"
-      ? codexAppBundlePaths(home)
-      : cli === "opencode"
-        ? [join(home, ".opencode", "bin", "opencode")]
-        : cli === "claude"
-          ? [join(home, ".claude", "local", "claude")]
-          : cli === "grok"
-            ? [join(home, ".grok", "bin", "grok")]
-            : [];
+    cli === "opencode"
+      ? [join(home, ".opencode", "bin", "opencode")]
+      : cli === "claude"
+        ? [join(home, ".claude", "local", "claude")]
+        : cli === "grok"
+          ? [join(home, ".grok", "bin", "grok")]
+          : [];
   return [...binDirs.map((dir) => join(dir, cli)), ...providerPaths];
 }
 
@@ -127,7 +130,11 @@ export function findCliExecutable(
         ...fallbackCandidates(cli, env),
       ],
       env,
-    ).find(isExecutableFile) ?? null
+    ).find(
+      (candidate) =>
+        isExecutableFile(candidate) &&
+        !(cli === "codex" && insideAppBundle(candidate)),
+    ) ?? null
   );
 }
 

gui/packages/process-utils/test/index.test.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import {
   mkdirSync,
   mkdtempSync,
   readFileSync,
+  rmSync,
+  symlinkSync,
   writeFileSync,
 } from "node:fs";
 import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
@@ -374,4 +376,55 @@ describe("process utils", () => {
     writeFileSync(official, "", { mode: 0o755 });
     expect(findCliExecutable("codex", env)).toBe(official);
   });
+
+  // #96: running a binary inside a flagged Codex.app gets the whole app moved to the Bin.
+  it.skipIf(process.platform === "win32")(
+    "never resolves the Codex inside Codex.app or ChatGPT.app, even through PATH",
+    () => {
+      const platform = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, "platform")!;
+      Object.defineProperty(process, "platform", {
+        ...platform,
+        value: "darwin",
+      });
+      try {
+        const home = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "codex-app-"));
+        const bin = join(home, "bin");
+        mkdirSync(bin);
+        const env = { HOME: home, PATH: bin };
+        // A codex this machine keeps in /usr/local/bin or Homebrew; null on a clean Mac.
+        const elsewhere = findCliExecutable("codex", env);
+        const bundled = ["ChatGPT.app", "Codex.app"].flatMap((app) => {
+          const resources = join(
+            home,
+            "Applications",
+            app,
+            "Contents",
+            "Resources",
+          );
+          return [
+            join(resources, "codex-cli", "bin", "codex"),
+            join(resources, "codex"),
+          ];
+        });
+        for (const file of bundled) {
+          mkdirSync(join(file, ".."), { recursive: true });
+          writeFileSync(file, "", { mode: 0o755 });
+        }
+        expect(findCliExecutable("codex", env)).toBe(elsewhere);
+        symlinkSync(bundled[0]!, join(bin, "codex"));
+        expect(findCliExecutable("codex", env)).toBe(elsewhere);
+
+        // A real PATH install, then OpenAI's official one, still win as before.
+        rmSync(join(bin, "codex"));
+        writeFileSync(join(bin, "codex"), "", { mode: 0o755 });
+        expect(findCliExecutable("codex", env)).toBe(join(bin, "codex"));
+        const official = officialCodexPath(env);
+        mkdirSync(join(official, ".."), { recursive: true });
+        writeFileSync(official, "", { mode: 0o755 });
+        expect(findCliExecutable("codex", env)).toBe(official);
+      } finally {
+        Object.defineProperty(process, "platform", platform);
+      }
+    },
+  );
 });

gui/plugins/provider-codex/src/bridge/bridge.ts

@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ function missingCodexCliGuidance(): string {
     brokenLink === null
       ? ""
       : ` \`${brokenLink}\` points to a file that no longer exists.`;
-  return `Cloudroom could not find the Codex CLI on this machine.${cause} Install Codex (https://developers.openai.com/codex/cli) or put \`codex\` on PATH, then retry.`;
+  return `Cloudroom could not find the Codex CLI on this machine.${cause} Install Codex (https://developers.openai.com/codex/cli) or put \`codex\` on PATH, then retry. Cloudroom never runs the copy inside Codex.app or ChatGPT.app.`;
 }
 
 export function resolveAppServerLaunch(

gui/plugins/provider-codex/src/bridge/provider-maintenance.test.ts

@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@ import fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { experimental_findCliExecutable as findCliExecutable } from "@get-bb/plugin-sdk/provider-bridge";
 import { resetChatGptCloudflareCookiesForTests } from "../ai/chatgpt-fetch.js";
 import {
   __testing,
+  codexExecutable,
   getCodexProviderHealth,
+  getCodexProviderInstallationStatus,
   getCodexProviderUsage,
 } from "./provider-maintenance.js";
 
@@ -267,6 +270,59 @@ describe("Codex credential health and usage", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  // #96: running a binary inside a flagged Codex.app gets the whole app moved to the Bin.
+  it.skipIf(process.platform === "win32")(
+    "never runs the Codex inside Codex.app, even through a PATH symlink, and offers Install",
+    async () => {
+      const platform = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, "platform")!;
+      Object.defineProperty(process, "platform", {
+        ...platform,
+        value: "darwin",
+      });
+      try {
+        const binDir = path.join(homeDir, "bin");
+        await fs.rm(path.join(binDir, "codex"));
+        // Only the fake bin, so no npm runs either.
+        vi.stubEnv("PATH", binDir);
+        // A codex this machine keeps in /usr/local/bin or Homebrew; null on a clean Mac.
+        const elsewhere = findCliExecutable("codex");
+        const bundled = path.join(
+          homeDir,
+          "Applications/Codex.app/Contents/Resources/codex",
+        );
+        const ran = path.join(homeDir, "bundled-codex-ran");
+        await fs.mkdir(path.dirname(bundled), { recursive: true });
+        const script = `#!/bin/sh\n: > '${ran}'\necho "codex-cli 0.150.0"\n`;
+        await fs.writeFile(bundled, script, { mode: 0o755 });
+        await fs.symlink(bundled, path.join(binDir, "codex"));
+
+        const status = await getCodexProviderInstallationStatus();
+        await getCodexProviderHealth();
+        await getCodexProviderUsage();
+        const bundledRan = await fs.access(ran).then(
+          () => true,
+          () => false,
+        );
+        expect(bundledRan).toBe(false);
+        expect(codexExecutable()).toBe(
+          elsewhere ??
+            path.join(homeDir, ".codex/packages/standalone/current/codex"),
+        );
+        expect(status).toMatchObject(
+          elsewhere === null
+            ? {
+                installed: false,
+                executablePath: null,
+                installAction: { kind: "install" },
+              }
+            : { executablePath: elsewhere },
+        );
+      } finally {
+        Object.defineProperty(process, "platform", platform);
+      }
+    },
+  );
+
   it("fetches usage with the ChatGPT token and retries once through a Cloudflare challenge", async () => {
     const accessToken = createAccessToken({
       accountId: "account-123",

gui/plugins/provider-codex/src/bridge/provider-maintenance.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { realpath } from "node:fs/promises";
-import { sep } from "node:path";
+import { homedir } from "node:os";
+import { join, sep } from "node:path";
 import {
   type ProviderHealthResult,
   type ProviderInstallationRunResult,
@@ -81,8 +82,19 @@ function minimumSupportedVersionForRequirement(
     : CODEX_MINIMUM_SUPPORTED_VERSION;
 }
 
+// With no Codex Cloudroom may run, name where OpenAI's installer would put it, so a run fails as
+// "not installed". A bare `codex` would let PATH reach a symlink into Codex.app (#96).
 export function codexExecutable(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): string {
-  return findCliExecutable("codex", env) ?? "codex";
+  return (
+    findCliExecutable("codex", env) ??
+    join(
+      env.CODEX_HOME?.trim() || join(env.HOME?.trim() || homedir(), ".codex"),
+      "packages",
+      "standalone",
+      "current",
+      "codex",
+    )
+  );
 }
 
 function codexUpdateCommand(
@@ -127,14 +139,7 @@ export async function getCodexProviderInstallationStatus(
     ]);
   const installed = resolvedExecutable !== null || versionOutput !== null;
   const currentVersion = versionFrom(versionOutput);
-  // The ChatGPT app ships its own Codex, which only updates with the app.
-  const appBundled =
-    resolvedExecutable !== null &&
-    (
-      await realpath(resolvedExecutable).catch(() => resolvedExecutable)
-    ).includes(".app/");
   const needsUpdate =
-    !appBundled &&
     installed &&
     currentVersion !== null &&
     latestVersion !== null &&
@@ -146,7 +151,7 @@ export async function getCodexProviderInstallationStatus(
       : compareVersions(currentVersion, minimumSupportedVersion) < 0);
   const actionKind = !installed
     ? "install"
-    : (needsUpdate || versionUnsupported) && !appBundled
+    : needsUpdate || versionUnsupported
       ? "update"
       : null;