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Desktop app makes normal Chat inside cloud Projects impossible and conflates cloud, local, and SSH workspaces #33723
Description
Summary
The new ChatGPT desktop app has a major Project workflow gap:
- Selecting an existing cloud ChatGPT Project and then switching to Chat silently drops the user into a global, non-project chat.
- The selected cloud Project is effectively retained only for Work/Codex.
- Cloud ChatGPT Projects, local folders, and SSH workspaces are presented together with insufficient visual and semantic distinction.
This is broader than simply hiding existing ChatGPT Projects. Even when a cloud Project is visible or selectable, there is no first-class way to start a normal Chat inside it.
Related: #32593
Environment
- Platform: macOS desktop app
- Subscription: ChatGPT Pro Lite
- App version: current production build; exact build can be provided if required
Steps to reproduce
- Open the new ChatGPT desktop app.
- Select an existing cloud ChatGPT Project that was created on chatgpt.com.
- Choose or switch to Chat rather than Work/Codex.
- Send a message.
Actual behavior
The app exits the selected Project context and starts a global standalone chat.
As a result, the new chat does not clearly inherit the Project's:
- files
- project instructions
- project memory/context
- existing project organization
The only direct path that preserves the selected Project appears to be Work/Codex.
Expected behavior
The desktop app should support a first-class Chat in this Project flow. Switching from Work/Codex to Chat should preserve the selected cloud Project and its context.
Work is not a substitute for Chat. Many Project interactions are lightweight discussions, questions, comparisons, or iterative learning conversations that need Project context but do not need an agentic workflow.
Moving a standalone chat into a Project later is also not equivalent, because the initial response was generated without the Project's files, instructions, and context.
Second issue: ambiguous workspace types
The same picker mixes together:
- cloud ChatGPT Projects
- local folders
- SSH/remote workspaces
These objects have materially different storage, synchronization, permissions, persistence, context, and execution semantics, yet they are difficult to distinguish at a glance.
Users cannot reliably tell:
- whether an item is cloud, local, or remote
- where the conversation will live
- whether it will sync across devices
- which files, instructions, and memory it will inherit
- which machine the work will run on
Suggested changes
- Add a first-class Chat in this Project action.
- Preserve the selected cloud Project when switching to Chat.
- Separate cloud Projects, local folders, and SSH workspaces into distinct sections, or provide strong Cloud / Local / SSH badges.
- Show host, path, sync status, and execution location where relevant.
- Make the current context boundary explicit before the user sends a message.
For users who use ChatGPT Projects as long-term knowledge spaces rather than merely agent workspaces, the current desktop design breaks a core workflow.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Jul 17, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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jadesumu87 commentedon Jul 17, 2026
I can reproduce the same issue in the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS.
When I start a new conversation from an existing cloud ChatGPT Project in the sidebar, the composer opens in Work mode with that Project selected. However, the moment I switch from Work to Chat using the toggle at the top, the selected Project association disappears.
If I continue, the conversation becomes a standalone global Chat and no longer clearly inherits the original Project’s files, instructions, memory, or context.
To start a normal Chat inside the original Project, I have to click the + button, select Projects, and manually choose the same Project again.
Expected behavior:
Switching from Work to Chat should preserve the currently selected Project and its context. The interface presents Chat and Work as two modes within the same conversation, so changing the mode should not silently change where the conversation belongs.
This behavior is confusing and also creates a risk of sending a message without realizing that the intended Project context has been removed.
Platform: macOS
Subscription: ChatGPT Pro
App version: 26.715.21425 (build 5488)
strawberryJAMM commentedon Jul 30, 2026
I logged feedback directly from the app on this same issue
(Feedback ID: no-active-thread-019fb074-855e-7552-a69c-fc221c9e24b5)
Since then, I've done some additional testing and have determined that regular chats CAN be created in an existing project in one specific way:
After doing that, the input area for the chat shows the selected project and the chat is successfully created there.
HOWEVER, sometimes the "Work in a project" item disappears from the menu, and you have to switch between different chat or project contexts a few times before it comes back. (I haven't nailed down exactly what causes it to disappear or reappear)
Platform: Windows 11
Subscription: ChatGPT Plus
App version: 26.715.72359
keen-romoya commentedon Sep 11, 2026
Adding a Windows user perspective: the current UI strongly suggests that the items in the Projects list are one coherent kind of object, but they are not. I only really understood the distinction after trying to reorganize a long-lived ChatGPT Work project.
In practice, project/chat history, the local filesystem root, linked local files, and the execution environment have different lifecycles. A cloud project, a local folder-backed project, and a remote/SSH workspace may appear side-by-side as peers even though moving, syncing, permissions, and persistence behave very differently.
The mental model I expected was: “Romoya is my project; now choose whether this task runs locally, in the cloud, or remotely.” Instead, project identity and execution/storage location feel partially conflated.
I’d strongly support separating persistent project/context identity from execution environment in the UI, or at minimum showing very explicit Cloud / Local / Remote badges plus where chat history and project files actually live.