Active ChatGPT Project vanished after "gizmo" permission error → 404s across the entire project

ChatGPT Bugs
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1

Running into a critical issue where an actively used ChatGPT Project just disappeared without a trace. No manual deletion, no ownership transfer, no access modifications on my end.

The failure happened abruptly. The first symptom was a permission-related UI error referencing a “gizmo” (roughly: user does not have [permission] to gizmo). Shortly after, the project was completely scrubbed from my Projects list.

Direct URLs to the project throw a generic “Project not found” state. I pulled up the network tab to rule out a frontend glitch. The authenticated API calls confirm this goes beyond the frontend: the backend itself is flatly returning 404s:

  • GET /backend-api/gizmos/[project-id] → 404 Not Found
  • GET /backend-api/gizmos/[project-id]/conversations?cursor=0 → 404 Not Found

Direct links to previously active conversations within that project also fail. The frontend eventually defaults to a “conversation deleted” state.

Standard chat endpoints work fine, other projects are intact, and the issue persists across different browsers and sessions. This is not a stale token or local cache issue.

Furthermore, I have historical logs from using this same project via Codex Desktop. Those local traces explicitly map to the missing project and its conversation IDs, verifying the project was fully active before the backend started throwing 404s. One substantial workflow can be reconstructed entirely from these local logs, providing independent evidence of the data’s prior state.

TL;DR of the current state:

  • Project was active, never manually deleted.
  • Failure preceded by a “gizmo” access error.
  • Project missing from UI.
  • Authenticated gizmos project and conversation endpoints return 404.
  • Dead conversation URLs.
  • Local desktop logs prove prior existence and association.

This is highly concerning for anyone relying on Projects for persistent workspaces. If an internal permission mapping or ownership flag breaks and cascades into a generic 404/deleted state, it’s impossible for users to know whether the underlying context data is permanently nuked or just soft-deleted behind a busted auth check.

Has anyone encountered this specific failure loop?

  1. Gizmo permission error
  2. Project drops from UI
  3. 404s on Project and Conversation API endpoints
  4. Dead conversation URLs

Crucially: Did the project ever reappear? Did it auto-resolve, or did you have to escalate to OpenAI Support to restore access?

I’ve preserved network logs and local artifacts for a technical deep dive (keeping IDs, auth data, and actual work content out of this public thread). I mainly want to understand if this is a known state-mapping bug and if recovery is viable for those affected.

2

Thanks for flagging this @biskello. Since the project has disappeared and the backend is returning 404 errors, this will need to be checked at the account level.

Please open a support ticket through help.openai.com and share the project ID, affected conversation IDs, approximate time the issue started, and any network logs you have. The Support team can then investigate further.

~ Smith

3

@OpenAI_Support I am experiencing the same issue. My entire ChatGPT Project disappeared without any user deletion. The affected conversations are still searchable, but opening them shows “conversation deleted”, and I have also seen 404 errors.

I already opened a support ticket, but have not received a response yet. I have the Project ID, affected Conversation IDs, timestamps and screenshots available.

Could you please help escalate this for an account-level investigation?

4

@heiko-a.schmidt Given your name, may I ask whether you are also based in Germany?

I am in Germany, and if you are too, that would be an interesting common factor. This does not seem to be a widely reported global Projects failure, yet you have arrived in this thread with an unusually similar case: an entire Project disappearing without deletion, affected conversations still being discoverable but opening as “conversation deleted”, and 404 responses.

Two cases would obviously be far too little to establish a Germany-specific backend problem, but if we are both German users, it may be worth flagging that shared detail to Support. It could point to a regional or account-cluster issue rather than two completely unrelated project failures.

I have already provided Support with the full HAR, Project ID, affected conversation IDs and screenshots, and have been waiting for more than a week without any further response.

6

Disregard my previous post. I’m just realizing that the ability to access shared projects from the desktop app has been quietly removed.

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