If you need a tab to remember where your project lives, the interface has failed. That is the problem OpenAI is now trying to fix in the ChatGPT desktop app, and it took longer than it should have.
According to an email sent to users and reported by TechCrunch, OpenAI is merging the Chat and Work tabs into one experience. Right now the app has a ChatGPT section and a Codex section, and inside ChatGPT you pick between Chat and Work. Four places, and it’s easy to lose track of which one holds your files or your half-finished task.
The email describes the goal as moving from exploring an idea to having ChatGPT carry it through, all in one place. You bring in files and plugins, ask it to build a website, make a presentation, or handle something on the web, and you review and steer the work as it goes. Codex stays separate. The rollout starts with select users who will give feedback, then widens.
The more interesting detail is billing. ChatGPT and Codex will now draw from the same token allowance pool. OpenAI says most users won’t notice. But depending on your usage and which model you pick, some people will hit limits and wait for resets more often. If you run long Codex sessions and also lean on agent-style tasks in ChatGPT, that shared pool is where you could feel it. Heavy users should watch their consumption in the first few weeks.
This also isn’t a new idea. Anthropic merged Claude’s chat and Cowork functions into a single screen back in September, so OpenAI is following, not leading. The direction is clear across the industry. Chat is no longer the product. The product is an assistant that takes a vague request, uses your files and tools, and finishes the job. Splitting conversation from execution into separate tabs cuts against that.
Does it matter? For casual users, barely. For developers and small teams using ChatGPT as a daily work surface, a unified view removes real friction and makes the agent features easier to discover. Keeping Codex separate is a reasonable call, since coding workflows have different needs than slide decks and web tasks. Still, a shared allowance quietly links the two, so the separation is more visual than financial.
The real test is whether the merged tab feels simpler in practice, or whether it just hides the same complexity behind one label. Early feedback from the limited rollout should say a lot.
