OpenAI Codex App 26.609 Ships Developer Mode with Chrome DevTools Protocol Access
OpenAI
Codex app 26.609 (released June 11) introduced Developer mode for Browser Use, giving users direct Chrome DevTools Protocol access to inspect and script browser sessions — moving from a black-box browser driver to a transparent, scriptable layer. The release also added rate-limit reset banking for Plus and Pro subscribers, a /init command for project-level instructions in the composer, and expanded Computer Use availability to additional Enterprise regions. CLI 0.139.0 (same cycle) added standalone web search in code mode and improved MCP tool schema preservation across provider roundtrips.
Why it matters
CDP access in Browser Use lets developers automate, inspect, and debug web sessions the way Chrome DevTools does — unblocking web testing and scraping workflows that previously required brittle automation scripts. The /init command addresses a long-standing request for persistent project instructions without context stuffing.
Importance: 2/5
CDP access is a meaningful developer unlock in Codex Browser Use; /init addresses a recurring practitioner need.