The Work Operating System You Can Talk To
ChatGPT now separates work by intent: Chat for questions and conversation, Work for longer tasks and finished deliverables, and Codex for software development. The shift is from an assistant that answers to a work environment that can research, create, steer, schedule and execute.
Three modes for three different kinds of work
Chat handles questions and conversation. Work carries longer jobs into finished deliverables. Codex owns software development. They share context and tools, but each mode sets a different expectation for autonomy and output. On July 16, 2026 the desktop app was reorganized around that split: the top-left menu is now a global switcher between ChatGPT and Codex, and a toggle inside ChatGPT moves between Chat and Work.
Fast, adaptive and willing to start
ChatGPT is unusually good at turning an incomplete request into momentum. It can ask questions, propose a structure and make a first version quickly.
- Broad multimodal capability
- Strong iterative conversation
- Useful from blank page to final artifact
Cross-functional knowledge work
Research, planning, writing, image creation, file analysis, data explanation and coding can remain connected inside one working thread.
- Executive briefs and decisions
- Research with current sources
- From prototype to production code
The work may change shape
Start in Chat to clarify, move into Work for the finished artifact, or hand the software outcome to Codex without rebuilding the whole brief.
- The brief is still ambiguous
- Several output types may be needed
- The work benefits from shared context
Work turns a conversation into an accountable production run
Launched July 9, 2026 and powered by GPT-5.6, Work is the mode for longer tasks that should end in something usable. It can research and analyze, use connected apps and files, build finished artifacts, show progress, accept redirection and pause for important approvals. OpenAI describes it as staying with a project for hours.
Research and analysis
Give Work the decision or finished state, not just a question. It can gather current evidence, inspect files and keep a longer analytical process moving.
- Use connected apps and uploaded files
- Track progress instead of waiting blindly
- Require source and uncertainty reporting
Finished deliverables
Work can create the actual business object: a document, spreadsheet, presentation, report or other reusable output.
- Specify audience and acceptance criteria
- Review the artifact, not only the summary
- Keep important calculations visible
Sites public beta
Sites extends the output from a static answer into dashboards, trackers, launch calendars, prototypes, internal portals and reports. The help article now describes the public beta as covering all plans except Free and Go, which brings Plus and Business into scope alongside the original four.
- Not available in the EEA, Switzerland or the United Kingdom
- The help article carries no date, so read the wider eligibility as current state rather than a dated change
- Treat live information and access as product requirements
Scheduled Tasks
A task can run once, repeat on a schedule, respond to a trigger or monitor something over time.
- Define the trigger precisely
- Name the notification and escalation path
- Recheck permissions for recurring work
Progress and steering
You can follow the work, answer questions and change direction without restarting the task or losing the developing context.
- Set review points early
- Redirect when assumptions change
- Do not mistake visible activity for quality
Approval moments
Work can ask for approval before important actions, making authority boundaries a designed part of the workflow.
- State which actions always require approval
- Use least-privilege access
- Inspect the resulting external state
Local files, apps and browser
On desktop, Work can use local files and applications alongside a built-in browser. Computer Use lets it click, type and move files across your apps in the background. Since July 16 a unified Recents list merges Chat and Work, and Projects are available on desktop.
- Cloud Work conversations sync across web, mobile and desktop
- Local conversations stay local, so plan for where the record lives
- Grant only the context the task needs and review external transmissions
Unified plugin directory
Plugins connect ChatGPT to Slack, Teams, Drive, SharePoint, email, calendars, CRMs and internal tools. Type “@” to direct ChatGPT at a specific app; the new directory brings plugins into one place.
- Standardize repeatable workflows
- Review plugin authority and data access
- Prefer governed organizational plugins
Auto-review of important actions
Auto-review uses OpenAI’s most advanced models to review consequential actions involving connected tools and APIs before they happen. OpenAI reports that in its own adversarial red teaming the feature blocked 100% of attempts to extract protected data.
- Vendor red-team result — not an independent audit
- A control, not a guarantee
- Compliance API gives oversight at scale
- Admins set spend and access limits
Who has Work today
The July 9 release note names the first wave as Pro, Pro Lite, Enterprise and Edu, with Plus and Business following within days. Enterprise and Edu received a two-week preview, off by default, with an admin opt-out before automatic enablement. No dated article yet confirms that the Plus and Business rollout completed; the July 21 small business article says Work is available to small businesses today, which is indirect evidence that Business landed. Treat the first wave as dated fact and the rest as in progress, and check your own plan picker.
- Do not confuse the Work rollout with the Sites rollout
- The desktop app exposes the Chat, Work and Codex surfaces on every plan, including Free; which plans are entitled to use Work is the separate question above
- The old desktop app is renamed ChatGPT Classic
Use Work to produce the finished leadership briefing, not just an outline. Research current primary sources, build the supporting analysis and charts, create the presentation, and pause for approval before any publication or sharing.
After completing one verified manual run, schedule this monitor for every weekday. Notify me only when the threshold is crossed, include the evidence and timestamp, and never take an external action without approval.
Create an internal launch Site with the live plan, owners, milestones, decisions, risks and source documents. Use our brand system and make every status field auditable.
Pick the working mode first, then the tier, then the effort
GPT-5.6 reached general availability on July 9, 2026 across ChatGPT, Codex and the API, following a limited preview that began June 26. The generation number is 5.6; Sol, Terra and Luna are durable capability tiers that advance on their own cadence. Effort runs on a standard low-to-xhigh ladder, with max and ultra sitting above it: max buys more reasoning time, and ultra runs parallel agents. On July 30, 2026 OpenAI cut Luna by 80% and Terra by 20%, left Sol untouched and gave Sol a Fast mode.
GPT-5.6 Sol Flagship
OpenAI describes it as its most capable model and reports state-of-the-art results across coding, knowledge work, cybersecurity and science. Stronger computer use and design judgment let it inspect and refine a rendered result, not just generate it. It is the one tier the July 30, 2026 price cuts did not touch: OpenAI states that Sol pricing remains unchanged.
- $5 input / $30 output per 1M tokens — unchanged on July 30, 2026
- Sol Pro available to Pro and Enterprise in Chat
- Gains a Fast mode: OpenAI claims up to 2.5x faster speeds than Standard processing at twice the price, with no change in intelligence
- OpenAI reports fewer tokens than competing frontier models — verify on your own tasks
GPT-5.6 Terra Balanced
A lower-cost tier that OpenAI positions as competitive with GPT-5.5. This is the model Free and Go users receive inside Work and Codex. Its price fell 20% on July 30, 2026.
- $2 input / $12 output per 1M tokens, down from $2.50 / $15
- Default tier for Free and Go in Work
- Strong everyday cost-to-quality ratio
GPT-5.6 Luna Most efficient
The fastest and most affordable tier, and the biggest mover on July 30, 2026: OpenAI cut it by 80%, a 5x reduction on input. OpenAI reports it outperforms Claude Opus 4.8 on the Artificial Analysis Coding Agent Index at roughly a quarter of the estimated cost — that comparison was published on July 9, before the cut, so the cost side of it is now stronger still.
- $0.20 input / $1.20 output per 1M tokens, down from $1 / $6
- Best for high-volume, low-stakes work
- Vendor benchmark — verify on your own tasks
Programmatic Tool Calling
In the Responses API, GPT-5.6 can write and run lightweight in-memory programs that coordinate tools and filter intermediate results, cutting round trips. It is Zero Data Retention compatible.
- Fewer tokens on tool-heavy tasks
- Less step-by-step scripting
- Multi-agent available in beta
Prompt caching changes
GPT-5.6 introduces explicit cache breakpoints and a 30-minute minimum cache life. Note the billing change: cache writes now cost 1.25x the uncached input rate.
- Cache reads keep the 90% discount
- Writes are no longer free
- Model your caching before you scale
Where Codex lives now
The Codex app became the new ChatGPT desktop app, with inline diff editing, pull-request review in a side panel and multi-repository projects. Since the July 16 reorganization, Codex sits behind the global top-left switcher opposite ChatGPT. The previous desktop app becomes ChatGPT Classic.
- Still unavailable on web and mobile; view desktop Codex chats from the mobile Remote tab
- Atlas browser is being sunset
- Chrome extension moves to the sidebar
| Tier | Price per 1M tokens from July 30, 2026 | Price before July 30 | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.6 Sol | $5 input / $30 output | $5 input / $30 output | Nothing. OpenAI states that Sol pricing remains unchanged |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | $2 input / $12 output | $2.50 input / $15 output | Down 20% |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | $0.20 input / $1.20 output | $1 input / $6 output | Down 80%, which is a 5x cut on the input rate |
| GPT Transcribe | $0.0045 per minute | New on July 28, 2026 | File transcription and final transcripts |
| GPT Live Transcribe | $0.017 per minute | New on July 28, 2026 | Low-latency streaming transcription |
| Surface | Who gets which tier | Effort controls |
|---|---|---|
| Chat | Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise reach Sol at medium effort and above | The consumer picker is documented as Instant, Medium, High, Extra High and Pro |
| Work and Codex | Free and Go receive Terra; Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise choose Sol, Terra or Luna | max for anyone with GPT-5.6 access, toggled in settings |
| ultra | In Work: Pro and Enterprise. In Codex: Plus and above | Coordinates four agents in parallel by default |
| API | Sol, Terra and Luna to all developers | Programmatic Tool Calling; multi-agent in beta |
Chat, Work and Codex share a wider work platform
The model is one layer. The working advantage comes from combining reasoning with memory, web access, local and connected context, creation surfaces, plugins, scheduling and governed execution.
Web research
Search, compare and cite current information instead of relying on model memory.
- Ask for primary sources
- Open material citations
- Distinguish event date from publish date
Files and data
Read, compare and transform documents, spreadsheets, images and structured inputs.
- Keep the full source pack together
- Ask for coverage
- Verify calculations
Writing and code blocks
Move finished prose and code into focused, reusable editing surfaces.
- Long-form documents
- Copy-ready communications
- Executable code with review
Images and charts
Generate or edit images and produce interactive charts inside the same working context.
- Iterate from references
- Use charts for explanation
- Review visual truth
Memory and Library
Preserve useful preferences and save artifacts for continued work across sessions.
- Review stored memory
- Separate personal and managed context
- Delete what should not persist
Apps and plugins
Bring authorized services and organizational data into ChatGPT, then package repeatable skills, apps and templates as plugins.
- Respect source permissions
- Review plugin authority
- Know which workspace is active
Codex
Move from coding advice into real repository work, commands, tests and iterative implementation.
- Inspect before changing
- Run verification
- Review diffs and actions
Voice and multimodality
Use text, audio, images and camera context to interact where typing is not the best input. As of July 23, 2026, Voice is available in Work and Codex on the desktop app.
- Capture at the point of work
- Confirm sensitive details
- Use the best modality for the evidence
Health in ChatGPT
Connect Apple Health and supported US hospital-system medical records, plus One Medical and Function Health, for a health dashboard and personalized answers.
- United States only, web and iOS, ages 18 and over
- Free, Go, Plus and Pro; Free uses GPT-5.5 Instant, paid uses GPT-5.6 Sol — a documented exception to the general plan matrix, which otherwise keeps Sol off Go
- Explicitly not available in Codex
OpenAI Presence
An enterprise platform for deploying production voice and chat agents with policies, guardrails and escalation rules. Design partners include BBVA, SoftBank and IAG.
- Limited general availability for eligible enterprise customers only
- Explicitly not yet available as a self-serve product
- No pricing disclosed; treat it as a sales conversation, not a purchase
ChatGPT for small business
An enablement program rather than a new plan: virtual training, in-person Small Business AI Academies in the US, guides, and curated partner integrations.
- Partners named: Dropbox, Shopify, Intuit, Slack, Atlassian and Wix
- No dollar figures disclosed
- The same article says Work is available to small businesses today
| Date | Change | Why it matters to a buyer |
|---|---|---|
| July 30 | GPT-5.6 Luna cut 80% to $0.20 / $1.20 and Terra cut 20% to $2 / $12; Sol unchanged; Sol gains Fast mode | Rerun any build-versus-buy or tier-selection model that used the July 9 prices — the Luna input rate is now one-fifth of what it was |
| July 28 | GPT Transcribe at $0.0045 per minute and GPT Live Transcribe at $0.017 per minute | Transcription now has a published per-minute rate to compare against incumbent vendors; announced via the changelog only |
| July 22 | API adds organization- and project-level monthly spend limits, plus spend alerts | Requests return 429 at the cap, and alerts fire before traffic is interrupted, so budget control no longer depends on watching a dashboard |
| July 16 | Desktop app reorganized around a ChatGPT and Codex switcher | Retrain users on navigation: unified Recents, Projects on desktop, and cloud Work conversations syncing across web, mobile and desktop |
| July 15 | Custom instructions raised from 1,500 to 5,000 characters | Enough room for a real house style on Plus, Pro, Enterprise, Business and Edu |
| July 14 | Rebuilt search across chats, projects, images and documents from the sidebar | Content-type filters make past work retrievable; all plans, globally |
| July 13 | ChatGPT returns to WhatsApp in the EEA; also live on Kakao and Viber | Kakao covers South Korea and Viber covers select markets, which matters for consumer-facing reach |
Work and Codex make delegation a first-class product behavior
Work is the general business agent; Codex is the software agent. Both are useful when they can plan, use tools, observe results and keep going—making outcome definition, approval points and authority boundaries more important than prompt cleverness.
Produce a decision-ready market brief using current primary sources. Compare publication date and event date, link every material claim, and mark all inference explicitly.
Implement the feature in this repository. Inspect the architecture first, update every affected test and document, run the relevant checks, and stop only when they pass or a blocker is proven.
Turn these notes, files and data into the finished client report. Use our structure and voice, create the tables needed to support the argument, and run a final source-coverage audit.
Before finishing, report: what you changed, what evidence confirms it worked, what you did not verify, and the single most important human review step.
Eight habits that make ChatGPT a stronger colleague
The biggest gains come from changing how work is delegated and reviewed, not from adding decorative prompt syntax.
Start with the deliverable
Ask for the thing you will use, not a generic answer about the topic.
Give decision criteria
Explain how alternatives should be judged instead of asking for an undefined “best.”
Use current sources deliberately
Request first-party material and open the claims that matter.
Separate making from judging
Run a dedicated review pass after the creative or analytical pass.
Choose mode, then effort
Chat for dialogue, Work for deliverables, Codex for software—then spend deeper reasoning only where consequence warrants it.
Keep the thread alive
Build from research to artifact without throwing away the context established earlier.
Make uncertainty visible
Ask what the evidence cannot support and what would change the conclusion.
Verify the external result
A tool action, file or code change must be checked in the system where it matters.
Create a two-page recommendation for leadership. Show the trade-offs, include the strongest argument against your recommendation, and end with the exact decision required.
Verify this against current first-party sources. Link every material claim and clearly separate vendor fact, third-party observation and your inference.
Assume my preferred answer may be wrong. Find the strongest disconfirming evidence and tell me what a skeptical expert would challenge first.
Map every supplied file to the claims in your output. Identify any document or section you did not use and explain why.
Fluent, connected and agentic still does not mean verified
ChatGPT’s breadth creates a particular risk: one polished conversation can mix solid source work, model inference and tool actions so smoothly that the boundary becomes invisible.
Plausible citations
A link can be real while failing to support the claim placed beside it. Open the material sources.
Sycophancy
The model may inherit your framing and optimize for agreement. Request the strongest contrary case.
Long-thread drift
Instructions and definitions can soften across long work. Restate the acceptance criteria at major transitions.
Tool-action ambiguity
A described action is not proof of a completed action. Inspect the external state or artifact.
Memory boundaries
Review what is stored, which workspace is active and whether personal context belongs in managed work.
Mode and plan variation
Work, Sites, model controls and publishing differ across plans, regions and workspace policy.
Regional and eligibility limits
Sites is unavailable in the EEA, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Health is United States only, web and iOS, 18 and over, and is not available in Codex. Presence is limited to eligible enterprise customers. Confirm availability before you plan a rollout around a feature.
Scheduled authority
Recurring tasks can outlive the assumptions and permissions of the first run. Give every schedule an owner, failure path and review date.
Image truth
Generated visuals may contain inaccurate text, products, interfaces or implied evidence.
Reasoning theater
Longer reasoning is not automatically correct. Judge the evidence and the result, not the apparent effort.
The September 24 shutdowns
The Sora 2 model line and the Videos API both go dark on September 24, 2026 with no stated replacement. If video generation sits anywhere in a workflow, that is a rebuild, not a version bump.
| Shutdown date | What stops working | Stated replacement |
|---|---|---|
| August 10, 2026 | gpt-5.2-chat-latest | gpt-5.6-sol |
| August 10, 2026 | gpt-5.3-chat-latest | gpt-5.6-sol |
| August 26, 2026 | Assistants API | Responses and Conversations APIs |
| September 24, 2026 | Videos API | None stated |
| September 24, 2026 | sora-2, sora-2-pro, sora-2-2025-10-06, sora-2-2025-12-08 and sora-2-pro-2025-10-06 | None stated |
| Task type | Minimum verification | Human responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Current research | Open primary links and compare dates | Approve the interpretation |
| Data analysis | Recalculate key figures and inspect assumptions | Own the decision criteria |
| Generated document | Check claims, names, tone and required structure | Approve publication |
| Image generation | Inspect text, likeness, product truth and rights | Approve external use |
| Code or agent action | Run tests and inspect real system state | Approve permissions and deployment |
First-party evidence behind this guide
OpenAI ships quickly, and its own help center lags its own launches. Every dated claim above is anchored to a dated article rather than to a rolling index. Where OpenAI publishes only an undated support page, as it does for Sites, plugins, scheduled tasks and the consumer effort picker, that is stated inline rather than dressed up as a dated source. One entry below is a living reference table rather than an article: the deprecations page, which is the only authoritative record of shutdown dates, carries the date it was read. The July 28 transcription models were announced through the changelog alone and have no article to cite, which is said inline instead. And note that on August 3, 2026 OpenAI’s own marketing pricing page still showed pre-July 30 rates while its developer documentation showed the new ones — documentation lag is not only a problem between vendors.
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