OpenAI has announced it will combine the Chat and Work tabs within the ChatGPT desktop application. According to an email sent to users, the new unified experience will first be made available to a limited set of users to gather feedback before a broader rollout.
The company says the consolidation is intended to streamline workflows by enabling users to move from exploring an idea to executing it without switching contexts. As the email put it: “This will enable you to move from exploring an idea to having ChatGPT carry it through, all in one place. You can bring in your files and plugins and ask ChatGPT to build a website, create a presentation, or do things for you on the web, while reviewing and guiding its work. Codex will remain a separate experience in the ChatGPT desktop app.”
Key details
- Codex will remain a separate experience in the desktop app and will not be merged with the Chat/Work interface.
- OpenAI said both ChatGPT and Codex will draw tokens from the same allowance pool.
- The company noted this change should not affect most users, but depending on usage patterns and the chosen models, some users may experience more frequent waits for resets.
Why this matters
The ChatGPT desktop app currently separates ChatGPT and Codex sections, and within ChatGPT it exposes distinct Chat and Work tabs. That abundance of sections can make it unclear where a user is working and where projects are stored. The unified interface aims to provide a single place for importing files and plugins and for asking ChatGPT to build websites, create presentations or perform web tasks while allowing users to review and guide the model’s work.
Wider context
Rival Anthropic implemented a similar consolidation in September, merging the chat and Cowork functions of its Claude models into a single screen.
OpenAI has not published a detailed timeline for the full rollout or disclosed how many users will participate in the initial testing cohort.
