Work with Apps is currently available for ChatGPT Plus and Team users. ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu users will obtain access in a few weeks.
ChatGPT can now read content from your coding apps, bringing you smarter, more accurate answers tailored to your work.
How to work with apps
To work with a compatible app, first make sure it’s running. Then, in the ChatGPT chat bar, click the Work With Apps button and select a compatible application.
You’ll see a banner over the chat bar indicating which apps ChatGPT is working with. When you send a message, ChatGPT will include content from those apps with your message. If you don’t see this banner, ChatGPT is not working with any of your apps and will not include any additional content with your message.
You can mouse over the banner to see what content ChatGPT will include with your message:
Once you hit send, ChatGPT will reply using any additional content and selection included from Work with Apps. You can see what ChatGPT looked at in your chat:
This content becomes part of your chat history and is saved in your account until you delete it. Once you delete a chat or delete your account, chats are deleted from our systems within 30 days, unless they have previously been de-identified and disassociated from your account, or we have to keep them for security or legal reasons. To learn more about data controls, see the Data Controls FAQ.
What content is included along with messages?
When working with code editors: Xcode, VS Code (including Code, Code Insiders, VSCodium, Cursor, Windsurf), JetBrains (including Android Studio, IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, PHPStorm, CLion, Rider, RubyMine, AppCode, GoLand, DataGrip), TextEdit, Nova
ChatGPT includes the full content of open editor panes in the foremost window, up to a truncation limit.
If you select text in an editor, ChatGPT focuses on your selection. (The full content of that pane is still included as context.)
When working with terminals: Terminal, iTerm, Prompt
ChatGPT includes the last 200 lines of open panes.
If you select text in a pane, ChatGPT focuses on the selection and includes neighboring text up to a truncation limit.
You can see which of your apps on your computer are compatible by going to Settings > Work with Apps > Manage Apps.
How does it work?
Enabling ChatGPT to work with most compatible apps requires the macOS Accessibility API to query content. This also means you can disable the feature for those apps by disabling Accessibility permissions for ChatGPT in settings.
Enabling ChatGPT to work with VS Code requires installing a VS Code extension to query content. You can install the extension using these steps.
You can see which of your apps on your computer are compatible, and what is required to work with each, by going to Settings > Work with Apps > Manage Apps.
Can I disable ChatGPT from working with apps?
Yes, just flip the “Enable Work with Apps” switch in ChatGPT settings on macOS. This will fully disable the functionality and remove the icon from the prompt window.
Will OpenAI use content included from working with apps to train its models?
Content included from working with apps is part of your account’s chat history and works in the background to provide more helpful answers. As explained in this article, we may use the content included to improve our model performance. You have control over how your data is stored and used:
You can easily choose whether your conversations with ChatGPT can be used to improve and train our models by toggling the “Improve the model for everyone” setting.
If you enable Temporary Chat, your conversations with ChatGPT will not be saved in your ChatGPT account or used for improving OpenAI’s models.
You can access other settings and data controls, such as to export your chats from ChatGPT, or delete your ChatGPT account entirely.
Please note that we do not use content sent by customers to our business offerings such as our API and ChatGPT Enterprise to improve model performance. Please see our Enterprise Privacy page for information on how we use business data.