Simon Willison documents ChatGPT Work’s cloud features, model options, and agentic tools

OpenAI’s ChatGPT Work is actually two products: Work Cloud (cloud-hosted) and Work Local (desktop app tied to Codex). Simon Willison’s analysis focuses on Work Cloud, which is accessible via chatgpt.com or mobile apps and is currently restricted to paid subscribers at $20/month and above.

Work Cloud exposes features absent from standard Chat, including a code execution environment with internet access, a headless Chrome browser, a persistent shared filesystem, the ability to publish ChatGPT Sites via Cloudflare Workers, and support for running sub-agents with models Sol, Luna, and Terra.

Model selection in Work Cloud includes GPT-5.6 Sol, Luna, or Terra at reasoning levels Light, Medium, High, Extra High, Max, or Ultra, as well as GPT-5.5 at Light, Medium, High, or Extra High. Work Cloud sessions are billed against the user’s Codex allowance, which may explain differences in model availability compared to standard Chat.

The code execution environment in Work Cloud can interact with the broader internet, install software packages, clone repositories, and access APIs—capabilities not available in standard Chat’s containerized environment. This makes Work Cloud notably more flexible for software-related tasks and web interactions.

Work Cloud includes a full headless Chrome browser that can load websites, fill forms, take screenshots, and run JavaScript against the DOM. Users can also provide credentials for sites requiring sign-in without exposing them to the model, reducing credential leakage risks.

Work Cloud maintains a persistent, shared filesystem across sessions, allowing users to access files from previous chats and see edits from other active sessions. This shared volume is mounted to all running Work sessions, enabling continuity but not shared process space.

Users can deploy full websites via Cloudflare Workers directly from Work sessions, including HTML, JavaScript, and serverless features using Cloudflare D1 and R2. Sites default to private but can be made public or shared with specific individuals on team plans.

Work Cloud supports scheduled prompt automations (e.g., daily searches) and sub-agent sessions with Sol, Luna, and Terra, enabling parallel agentic workflows for complex projects.

Willison notes that OpenAI’s documentation frames Work in terms of intended use cases rather than concrete features, which complicates understanding. He argues that clearer documentation of system prompts and tool descriptions would improve usability.