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Codex Issues / #33716

Separate ChatGPT Work and Codex organization models in the unified desktop app

Open 💬 3 comments Opened Jul 17, 2026 by sunnylxycode
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

Summary

The unified desktop app currently mixes two fundamentally different organization models:

  • ChatGPT Work includes a large number of conversations from ChatGPT on the web.
  • Codex organizes work around local folders, local projects, and task threads.

Showing both kinds of content within the same organizational structure makes the interface feel cluttered and conceptually inconsistent. It is difficult to tell whether I am navigating cloud ChatGPT conversations, ChatGPT Projects, local Codex tasks, or local folders.

Proposed experience

Please separate the two modes clearly and make each mode use the organizational model that naturally belongs to it.

ChatGPT Work mode

  • Show the same conversations and ChatGPT Projects available on chatgpt.com.
  • Use an organization and navigation model consistent with the ChatGPT web experience.
  • Do not show local Codex folders or local-folder project groups in this mode.

Codex mode

  • Show local folders, local projects, and Codex task threads.
  • Keep the existing folder-oriented Codex workflow here.
  • Do not mix in the full history of unrelated ChatGPT web conversations.

Switching modes should also switch the sidebar and project organization model, rather than only changing the assistant or task type inside one mixed interface.

Why this would help

ChatGPT Work and Codex represent different mental models:

  • ChatGPT Work is cloud- and conversation-oriented.
  • Codex is local-workspace- and task-oriented.

Keeping them visually and organizationally separate would:

  • reduce sidebar clutter;
  • make the active context obvious;
  • preserve the familiar ChatGPT Projects experience for Work;
  • preserve the focused local-folder workflow for Codex;
  • make switching modes feel intentional and predictable.

Current experience

At present, Work mode brings in a large amount of web conversation history while the app still retains Codex-style local project organization. The result feels overloaded and confusing rather than unified.

Related issues

This proposal is related to, but more specific than:

  • #31862 — Desktop UX regressions in the unified ChatGPT/Codex app
  • #31878 — ChatGPT Projects visible on chatgpt.com but missing from desktop sidebar after ChatGPT/Codex merge

Those reports describe symptoms of the merged experience. This request proposes a clearer product-level solution: separate navigation and organization by mode.

View original on GitHub ↗

3 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 1 month ago

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

  • #33475
  • #33112
  • #32570

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sunnylxycode · 1 month ago

I have used the Codex desktop app regularly since March 2026. This feedback is based on comparing the previous folder-focused Codex workflow with the new unified desktop experience.

mictub · 12 days ago

Adding another macOS Desktop data point.

The current Codex / ChatGPT mode switcher feels like an exposed internal product boundary rather than a useful user-facing control. In my workflow I do not intentionally use this switcher, and it mostly creates confusion around where conversations live and what sidebar state I am looking at.

The most confusing behavior is that the sidebar model changes depending on the selected mode, but not in a way that maps cleanly to either ChatGPT web or the old focused Codex app:

  • In the ChatGPT mode, new chats created from the desktop app appear in the sidebar mixed with Codex-related chats/tasks.
  • Existing ChatGPT web conversations are not consistently pulled into that same sidebar, so it is not a complete ChatGPT history view.
  • When switching back to Codex mode, those ChatGPT-mode chats disappear from the sidebar again.
  • The result is that the same window appears to contain multiple overlapping histories with unclear ownership, persistence, and navigation rules.

This makes the UI feel unpredictable. A user should not need to reason about whether a chat belongs to cloud ChatGPT history, local Codex task history, a local folder project, or a transient Desktop-only mode view.

I would strongly prefer one of these product directions:

  1. Keep ChatGPT and Codex as clearly separate surfaces, with separate sidebars and organization rules.
  2. Or make the unified app genuinely unified: the ChatGPT mode should show the real ChatGPT web history/projects, Codex mode should show local Codex tasks/projects, and the switcher should make those boundaries explicit.
  3. Or allow users to disable/hide the ChatGPT/Codex mode switcher and use Desktop as a focused Codex app.

Right now the switcher adds cognitive load without providing a reliable navigation model.