Following ChatGPT’s Pages, Slides and Space features, OpenAI announced new plugin experiences that will allow apps to integrate with the chatbot. At its DevDay presentation on 29 September 2026, the company explained that developers would be able to create app-like interfaces within ChatGPT.
While existing plugins connect to tools such as Slack, SharePoint, Airtable and Google Drive, the new extensions will offer app-specific spaces in ChatGPT’s sidebar. Users will be able to use the tools through interactive panels while continuing their conversations; developers will also be able to add viewers for the file formats supported by their products.
OpenAI is making the Plugin Creator tool available to make it easier to develop plugins and for users to find them. Submitting plugins to the directory will provide clearer feedback through the renewed process. The company is also improving how plugins are ranked and recommended in the directory and in chats. Users will be able to approve a plugin’s access permissions individually.
Lightweight websites created with ChatGPT Sites will also be able to host these plugins. This will allow users to share their apps with colleagues; colleagues will be able to work with their own connected data and permissions.
OpenAI also said that, by supporting the proposed MCP Events specification, it would enable plugins to trigger automations based on events in connected apps and make the process of adding and managing automations easier.
Why it matters
This change moves ChatGPT beyond being merely a chat space that generates responses and closer to a workspace layer where different workflows can be carried out. For developers, its importance lies in being able to present their applications within the chat context rather than on a separate screen and directly process the file types they support; for users, it lies in being able to define access to connected data in greater detail. Having each employee work with their own data and permissions on shared sites raises the issue of preserving authorization boundaries in collaborative use. Support for event-based automation could also turn plugins from tools that merely respond to requests into components of workflows that react to developments in connected apps. However, how directory rankings, recommendations, and permission approvals will work in practice remains unclear.
Background
OpenAI is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 95 news stories mentioning it in the past 90 days; the latest is dated 2 October 2026.