[Web][Projects] New Chat lacks general project selector while Work and Desktop Chat provide project selection #39884

Summary

There is currently a Project-selection parity gap between ChatGPT Web and the desktop app.

On the same ChatGPT account with the same existing ChatGPT Projects:

• macOS desktop → Chat: there is a project-selection path from the new-chat composer. From the + menu I can choose Work in a project / Start a chat in a project and select the Project for the ordinary Chat.
• chatgpt.com → Work: the composer exposes an explicit Choose project control and lets me select among my Projects.
• chatgpt.com → Chat: there is no equivalent general Choose project control. The page may show a single system-suggested Add to Project: <project name> option below the composer, but that is not a picker for choosing among my Projects.

So the capability exists in the product and is already exposed from both desktop Chat and web Work, but the blank web Chat composer does not expose the same general Project-selection workflow.

Environment

• Subscription: ChatGPT Pro
• Date reproduced: 2026-08-21
• Web: chatgpt.com in Google Chrome on macOS
• Desktop: current unified ChatGPT desktop app on macOS (client reports Codex Desktop/26.818.31338)
• Same OpenAI account and same ChatGPT Projects on both surfaces

Steps to reproduce

A. Web — Chat

1. Open chatgpt.com.
2. Start a new conversation.
3. Select Chat in the Chat / Work toggle.
4. Inspect the composer and the controls below it.
5. Observe that there is no general Choose project control for selecting among existing ChatGPT Projects.
6. A single contextual suggestion such as Add to Project: <one project> may appear, but it does not provide the full Project picker.

B. Web — Work

1. On the same new-conversation page, switch from Chat to Work.
2. Observe that Choose project appears directly below the composer.
3. Open it and select among existing ChatGPT Projects.

C. Desktop — Chat

1. Open the unified ChatGPT desktop app on the same account.
2. Select Chat.
3. Start a new Chat and open the + menu.
4. Observe the project-selection path (Work in a project / Start a chat in a project) and select the desired Project.

Actual behavior

Project selection depends on the surface/mode:

On web Chat, the UI can still surface one suggested Add to Project: ... destination, which shows that Project association exists, but the user cannot directly choose another Project from the same new-Chat composer.

Expected behavior

The web Chat composer should expose the same ability to choose a ChatGPT Project before sending the first message.

A reasonable implementation would be to expose Choose project consistently in both modes:

• Chat → Choose project
• Work → Choose project

The Chat / Work selector should determine the conversation experience or execution mode, while the Project selector independently determines the persistent Project/context container.

The user should not need to:

• enter a Project from the sidebar first;
• accept whichever single Project the UI happens to suggest;
• switch to Work solely to obtain the Project picker; or
• create the Chat outside the intended Project and reorganize it afterward.

Why this matters

For users who organize most conversations through ChatGPT Projects, this creates avoidable friction and increases the chance that an ordinary Chat is started outside the intended Project context.

It is also confusing because the same new-conversation surface exposes a full Project selector immediately after switching to Work, making Projects appear Work-specific even though ordinary Chat conversations can also belong to ChatGPT Projects.

The desktop app already demonstrates that ordinary Chat can have a project-selection entry point.

Related GitHub issues / duplicate distinction

I searched the current openai/codex tracker before filing.

Related reports include:

• Accessibility: “Choose project” is not announced by NVDA in New chat on Windows #38398 — the desktop New chat screen has a visible Choose project control; that issue is specifically about screen-reader accessibility.
• Chats can't be started in Projects (only as Work), or moved to Projects (only Work can) #34300 — ordinary Chats could not be started/moved into Projects in the desktop app while web/iOS worked.
• Desktop app makes normal Chat inside cloud Projects impossible and conflates cloud, local, and SSH workspaces #33723 — desktop switching to Chat could drop the selected cloud Project and start a global Chat.
• [Docs][Projects] Add a side-by-side comparison of ChatGPT Web/Cloud Projects, Local Projects, and Codex projects #38042 — requests clearer documentation of ChatGPT Project/container behavior across web, desktop, Work, Codex, CLI, and IDE.

This report is not the same symptom as #34300/#33723. Those reports documented the earlier/inverse desktop-side limitation. The current A/B reproduction on 2026-08-21 is:

Desktop Chat -> project-selection path available
Web Work     -> Choose project available
Web Chat     -> equivalent general project picker unavailable

That makes this a current web Chat / cross-surface parity issue.

Privacy-cropped web screenshots

Only the relevant web controls are retained. Browser tabs, sidebar and Project lists, recent chats, account identity, macOS menu bar and Dock, prompt text, and the specific Project name are excluded or redacted.

Web Chat — only one suggested destination, no general picker

The Chat view does not expose Choose project. It offers only one contextual Add to Project: [project name redacted] suggestion, which is not a general Project picker.

Web Work — general Project picker is available

Switching the same web page to Work exposes the explicit Choose project control.

Requested resolution

Please expose a full Project picker for new ordinary Chats on chatgpt.com, consistent with the Project-selection capability already available in web Work and desktop Chat, and keep the selected Project stable when switching between Chat and Work unless the user explicitly changes or removes it.