Codex — manifest entry is missing required path

The nodePath and resourcesPath variants are a known open bug on Windows. What the error means, the workarounds that have worked, and the issues tracking it.

Last reviewed 2026-08-04 · verified against the pingdotgg/t3code repo

Unable to start ChatGPT. Codex app-server manifest entry is missing required path nodePath
Unable to start ChatGPT. Codex app-server manifest entry is missing required path resourcesPath

Two variants of the same failure, both reported on Windows.

What the error actually means#

The Codex desktop app registers a native messaging host manifest so the browser extension can talk to it. That manifest is a JSON file listing paths the launcher needs — where Node lives (nodePath), where the app's resources live (resourcesPath).

When an update replaces the app or the plugin but doesn't rewrite that manifest cleanly, the required path keys end up missing or pointing at a directory that no longer exists. The extension reads the manifest, can't find what it needs, and refuses to start.

So this is an update-consistency bug, not a broken install in the usual sense.

The root cause, in detail#

Issue #32706 documents the mechanism precisely, on Windows 10 with Edge:

The browser holds a lock on the old plugin cache through extension-host.exe. The plugin update can't cleanly replace the locked files, and because the update isn't atomic, the system ends up in four inconsistent states at once:

The reported cache was incomplete too — 342 of 375 files, missing docs/ and .codex-plugin/plugin.json. Partial function follows: the extension could enumerate 273 browser tabs but tab control timed out, and uninstalling through the UI failed.

That combination — four version references disagreeing — is why restarting the browser alone rarely helps.

Recovery steps#

These are the steps reported to work in #32706. Run them in order; each one removes a different piece of the inconsistent state.

1. Stop the process holding the lock#

Nothing can be repaired while the browser holds the old cache open.

# close Edge/Chrome entirely first, then confirm nothing survived
Get-Process extension-host -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force
Get-Process msedge, chrome -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force

Closing the window is not enough — browsers keep background processes alive.

2. Reinstall the plugin from its bundled source#

This restores the complete cache rather than the partial one:

codex plugin install

Check codex plugin --help on your build for the exact subcommand; the plugin CLI surface has changed between releases.

3. Restart Codex so it rebuilds the registration#

A restart is what regenerates the app-server and native-host manifest entries. Newer builds are supposed to detect a stale or missing resourcesPath and regenerate it automatically, so being on the current version matters:

winget upgrade --id OpenAI.Codex
# or, for the CLI
npm i -g @openai/codex@latest

4. If you installed from the Microsoft Store, move off it#

The Store/MSIX package is over-represented across this whole family of failures. Files under C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\ carry restrictive ACLs, and several reports trace back to that.

Uninstall the Store version and install via the official installer or npm instead:

npm i -g @openai/codex@latest
codex login
codex --version

This eliminates an entire category of path and permission problems in one move. If you only need the CLI, it is the more reliable install path on Windows generally.

What doesn't help#

Worth knowing so you don't burn an afternoon — these were tried and reported as ineffective in #20048, a closely related failure:

• Restarting Windows
• Closing and reopening Codex
• Repairing the app through Windows Settings
• Resetting the app
• A full uninstall and reinstall of the same package
• Installing the standalone npm CLI alongside the Store app without removing it

The pattern: anything that leaves the Store package and its ACLs in place tends not to fix it.

Related errors#

These are neighbours in the same failure family. If your message differs slightly, check:

• failed to start codex app-server (os error 3) — path resolution and Store ACL problems
• Codex process is not available — app-server crashes after starting
• Timed out waiting for initialize — version skew between a client and the Codex CLI

If you're here because of T3 Code#

T3 Code launches codex app-server as a subprocess, so a broken Codex install surfaces inside T3 Code as a session that won't start. The fix belongs at the Codex layer — get codex --version and a plain codex session working on their own first. Nothing in T3 Code can work around a manifest the Codex launcher can't read.

FAQ#

What does "manifest entry is missing required path nodePath" mean?#

Codex registers a native messaging host manifest so the browser extension can launch it. That manifest must list a path to Node. When an update leaves the manifest stale or incomplete, the key is missing and startup fails. It is a known open bug on Windows, tracked as issue #35705.

Is the Codex manifest error my fault?#

No. Both the nodePath and resourcesPath variants are open bugs caused by non-atomic plugin updates that leave several version references disagreeing with each other. No configuration on your side triggers it.

How do I fix "manifest entry is missing required path resourcesPath"?#

Fully stop the browser and its extension-host processes, reinstall the plugin so the complete cache is restored, then restart Codex so it rebuilds the manifest. If you installed from the Microsoft Store, moving to the npm or official-installer version removes a whole category of these failures.

Does reinstalling Codex fix this?#

Usually not, if you reinstall the same Microsoft Store package — that has been reported as ineffective. Switching install method, from Store to npm or the official installer, is the step that tends to help.

Where is this bug tracked?#

On the openai/codex GitHub tracker: issue #35705 for the nodePath variant and issue #32706 for the resourcesPath variant, which contains the fullest root-cause analysis.