Go from idea to useful result
ChatGPT is an AI agent that you communicate with in natural language:
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Start with a question, an idea, rough notes, a file, or a task you need to complete.
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Ask ChatGPT to explain information, develop ideas, draft content, research a topic, analyze materials, or create something new.
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Add the context and tools it needs, such as files, web search, projects, or plugins.
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Review the result, correct the direction, and ask for changes. You don’t need a perfect first prompt or special commands.
Choose how you want to work
Use Chat for a question or back-and-forth. Turn on Work in the switcher when you want ChatGPT to carry a larger task through to a reviewable result. Select Codex when you want developer views or more technical detail, especially for software development.
| Choose | When you want to | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Chat | Work through something with ChatGPT | Ask a question, search the web, brainstorm, draft a message, compare options |
| ChatGPT Work | Define an outcome and get a reviewable result | Create a deck, analyze files, draft a report, build a project plan |
| Codex | Use developer tools and see technical details | Debug code, run tests, review a PR, implement a feature |
In Codex, point to New chat, then select the Quick chat icon on its right when you want to:
- Ask a question, search the web, or learn about a topic.
- Get an unfamiliar idea explained in simpler language.
- Brainstorm possibilities.
- Draft a message, outline, or piece of content.
- Rewrite something for a different tone or audience.
- Summarize notes, text, or a file.
- Compare options or think through a decision.
- Clarify what you need before starting a larger task.
When you need a substantial, reviewable result, turn on Work in the switcher and describe the outcome you need. See Get started with ChatGPT Work for example tasks, prompts, and best practices.
Compare ChatGPT Work and Codex on desktop
ChatGPT Work and Codex have overlapping capabilities. If you prefer Codex, you can keep using it for research, documents, presentations, and other knowledge work. When both are available to you, the desktop app changes the interface and how the agent presents its work.
Detailed comparison
| Difference | ChatGPT in Desktop app | Codex in Desktop app |
|---|---|---|
| Where to start | Select ChatGPT, then switch to Work | Select Codex in the product selector |
| Chats you see | See chats started with Chat on web and mobile, plus ChatGPT Work chats | Focus on Codex chats and development projects |
| Quick chat | Not available | When available, access ChatGPT chats from web and mobile in Codex |
| Technical detail | Hide technical details like Git or shell commands | See developer details, including diff and review views |
| Agent communication | Prefers nontechnical language and finished outputs | Can include technical and implementation details |
| Pull requests pane | Not available when using ChatGPT Work | Available when enabled |
Talk to ChatGPT naturally
Write as if you were explaining the request to a helpful colleague. State what you want to accomplish, add the details that change the answer, and describe the format you need. Your first prompt is only a starting point—you can add context or refine the result with follow-up messages.
You can continue with simple directions such as:
- “Make this shorter.”
- “Give me three different approaches.”
- “What assumptions are you making?”
- “Ask me questions before you continue.”
Learn more about prompting, or take the AI Foundations course for guided practice.
Bring the right context into ChatGPT
Give ChatGPT the information, tools, and instructions that matter to the task. You don’t need to provide everything—include the context that changes what a good result looks like.
Keep related work in a project
Projects help you organize ChatGPT around a topic, goal, or ongoing body of work. Keep related chats, files, and instructions in one project when the work will continue over time or depend on the same context. Learn more about projects.
Attach files
You can upload or attach documents, presentations, spreadsheets, PDF files, images, and data exports. Use them when you want ChatGPT to:
- Summarize or compare them.
- Find patterns or inconsistencies.
- Extract, clean, or reorganize information.
- Use them as source material for a new file.
When ChatGPT creates a file, open the preview and check its contents. You can then ask for changes without starting over. Learn more about working with files.
Connect tools with plugins
Plugins can connect ChatGPT to the tools and information you use for work, such as Google Drive, SharePoint, Salesforce, or Gong. Use them when a task depends on information outside the chat, actions in another system, or a repeatable workflow.
Plugin availability depends on your plan, workspace settings, and the plugin itself. Learn more about skills and plugins.
Make the result ready to use
Treat the first result as a draft you can inspect, challenge, and improve. A polished response can still be incomplete or wrong, so review the details that matter before you use or share it.
Check the work:
- Verify important numbers, names, dates, quotes, and claims.
- Open generated files and inspect every section, tab, slide, or page.
- Confirm that ChatGPT used the correct and most current source material.
- Look for missing information and unsupported assumptions.
- Ask for focused revisions when the result misses the goal.
Then ask ChatGPT to pressure-test the result:
- “What sources did you use for this?”
- “Cite the source for each major claim.”
- “What assumptions did you make?”
- “What information were you unable to access?”
- “What would change your recommendation?”
- “Check this result against the original files.”
If ChatGPT couldn’t access a source or complete part of the task, ask it to say so plainly. An explicit gap is easier to address than a confident guess.
Legal, financial, medical, security, and other high-stakes decisions require appropriate expert review. Use ChatGPT to support informed judgment, not replace it.