OpenAI’s ChatGPT is starting to work with other apps on your computer.
On Thursday, the startup announced the ChatGPT desktop app for MacOS can now read code in a handful of developer-focused coding apps, such as VS Code, Xcode, TextEdit, Terminal, and iTerm2.
That means developers will no longer have to copy and paste their code into ChatGPT, which has become a common way to use the chatbot. Now, when the feature is enabled, OpenAI will automatically send the section of code you’re working on through its chatbot as context, alongside your prompt.
However, unlike popular AI coding tools such as Cursor or GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT is currently unable to write code directly into developer apps on your behalf.
The feature, called Work with Apps, is far from an AI agent, but OpenAI says getting ChatGPT to understand other apps is a “key building block” towards building agentic systems. One of the biggest challenges facing AI agents today is getting them to understand the rest of your computer screen, as opposed to prompts or their own responses.
OpenAI says it’s focusing this feature on coding apps to start; this is likely because AI coding assistants have taken off as one of the most popular use cases for LLMs. The feature is available to Plus and Teams users today, and will roll out to Enterprise and Edu in the next few weeks. OpenAI says ChatGPT will be able to work with other types of apps moving forward, specifically, text-based apps that could be used for writing tasks.
In a demo with TechCrunch, an OpenAI employee opened the ChatGPT app and an Xcode environment containing a simple project modeling the solar system – although it was mi …