Plugins can now hook into more of ChatGPT’s own interface, including the sidebar and file viewers. At DevDay on September 29, 2026, OpenAI opened “the platform we use to build ChatGPT features” to plugin developers. The new plugin extensions give an app a place in the sidebar, a panel beside your conversation, and its own viewer for file types it supports. A second change, MCP events, lets plugins start automations when something happens in a connected app.
The short version
- Plugin extensions let apps open in ChatGPT’s sidebar, in a side panel next to a chat, and as viewers for files.
- MCP events let a plugin trigger ChatGPT when something changes in a connected app, even while you’re away.
- Plugin Creator helps developers build plugins, and improved ranking helps people find them in the directory and in conversations.
- OpenAI lists all of this for every plan, but extensions on the web are still coming to Free and Go.
What plugin extensions add to ChatGPT
OpenAI’s developer docs say extensions hook plugins into key parts of ChatGPT, including the sidebar, the composer and file viewers. Existing plugin features keep working as before. OpenAI’s DevDay recap shows Canva as a sidebar app.
Where extensions can appear in ChatGPT
| Extension | What you can do with it |
|---|---|
| Sidebar apps | Open an app from ChatGPT’s sidebar and use it full screen |
| Conversation panels | Open an app beside a chat, keeping the work and the conversation together |
| File viewers and editors | Open a supported file type in the app’s own interface and save changes there |
| Plugin settings | Change the plugin’s own settings without leaving ChatGPT |
| Composer mentions | Pick content from the plugin while typing a message (desktop app only) |
| Rich forms | Answer a plugin’s questions with richer inputs, such as choosing from images |
Extensions also let a plugin link straight to a page inside its sidebar app and share context both ways with ChatGPT. OpenAI’s Thibault Sottiaux (Tibo) wrote that developers “can now build full native apps with plugin extensions”, and that with “over 1.2B weekly users”, OpenAI “will surface relevant plugins right in the conversations”.
OpenAI’s recap says extensions are “available to all plans”. OpenAI’s developer documentation adds that extensions on the web are “coming soon to ChatGPT Free and Go users”, so Free and Go users don’t get them in a browser yet.
How MCP events start automations
MCP events let ChatGPT subscribe to updates from a plugin, such as a new message, an edited document or a status change. You tell ChatGPT what to watch and what to do when it happens. The plugin then sends the event, and ChatGPT follows your instructions in the same chat.
OpenAI’s example: ask ChatGPT to watch a project board for new tasks, and when one arrives it reads the linked documents and drafts a plan. The developer docs add others, such as watching a feedback channel for bug reports and opening draft pull requests with fixes, or applying review comments left on a document. OpenAI is building this on a proposed MCP Events specification, and plugins need to support MCP 2.0 for it to work.
Finding and building plugins
For developers, Plugin Creator helps build a plugin, and a redesigned submission flow gives clearer feedback. For everyone else, OpenAI says improved ranking and recommendations will surface relevant plugins in the directory and inside conversations. You still choose which plugins to use and approve the access each one gets.
Plugin permissions are shared across ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work, Codex and dots, and you manage plugin access in ChatGPT’s Plugins tab. OpenAI says its plugin ecosystem connects to over 4,000 apps.
FAQs
Do I need to install anything to get extensions?
No. Extensions come through the plugins you use, once their developers add support. Composer mentions work only in the ChatGPT desktop app, and extensions on the web are coming soon to Free and Go.
Can a plugin act without me asking?
With MCP events, ChatGPT acts on a plugin’s updates only after you ask it to watch for them, and you choose what it monitors and what it does. A dot can also read from your connected apps in the background, but those research tools are read-only and can’t send messages or change app content.
Can Sites use plugins too?
Yes, on Business, Enterprise, Healthcare and Edu plans. You can add supported plugins to a Site that’s private to your workspace, if the feature is enabled, and each teammate uses it with their own connected data and permissions.
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