OpenAI will let developers build full app-like experiences directly inside ChatGPT, the company announced Tuesday at its Dev Day presentation. The move expands the company's plugin system beyond simple tool connections into something closer to an app store built into the chatbot.
Plugins already link ChatGPT to services like Slack, SharePoint, Airtable and Google Drive. Under the new system, those integrations get a dedicated home in ChatGPT's sidebar instead of living only inside a conversation.
Developers can also build interactive panels that let users work with their tools while they chat. Those panels support file viewers for whatever formats a developer's product uses, according to OpenAI.
The company said it is simplifying how plugins are built and making them easier for users to find. OpenAI did not say when the new capabilities will reach all users or whether developers will pay to publish.
The announcement fits a pattern. OpenAI used the same event to unveil Pages, Slides and Space, a set of features that compete directly with productivity software. The plugin expansion pushes that ambition further, turning ChatGPT into a platform that hosts other companies' products rather than just a tool that connects to them.
For developers, the pitch is reach. ChatGPT has hundreds of millions of weekly users, and a plugin inside its sidebar sits in front of that audience without requiring a separate download. For OpenAI, the bet is that third-party apps make ChatGPT stickier and harder to leave.
The strategy carries risk. Apple and Google built similar ecosystems on their app stores, and both have spent years fighting developers over fees, discovery and control. OpenAI has not detailed how it will handle those questions, including how it plans to rank or recommend plugins once the catalog grows.
Competitors are moving in the same direction. Anthropic has pushed tool use and integrations for Claude, and Google has woven Gemini into its own apps and search. Microsoft, OpenAI's largest backer, has spent years positioning Teams and Office as the place where work happens.
OpenAI's message Tuesday was blunt: it wants ChatGPT to be that place instead. Developers who want a spot in the sidebar now have a way to claim one.
