I’ve been a paid ChatGPT user for quite a while, and one of the biggest reasons I use it for development is the direct file editing workflow.
Previously, I could share a file from PhpStorm with ChatGPT, ask it to make changes, and it would edit the file directly while showing me a Review / Apply interface (like the screenshot below). I could inspect every change before applying it, which made it an excellent way to both work quickly and learn from the suggested edits.
Now that feature appears to be completely gone.
I initially thought it was just the new interface, so I switched back to ChatGPT Classic, but it’s gone there as well. I also checked Codex, but I couldn’t find an equivalent workflow.
This isn’t just about convenience. For developers like me, especially those who want to understand the code rather than blindly copy and paste, this feature was invaluable. I could:
- Ask ChatGPT to edit an existing file.
- Review every change in a proper diff view.
- Apply only the changes I wanted.
- Learn from the modifications as I went.
Now the experience has gone backwards. Instead of reviewing a clean patch, I’m often left copying code manually or asking ChatGPT to regenerate entire sections. It interrupts the development flow and makes working with larger files much less efficient.
To be honest, I’ve been contemplating whether continuing to pay for ChatGPT is worthwhile if this workflow has been permanently removed. It was one of the standout features that genuinely differentiated ChatGPT from other AI coding assistants.
If this feature has simply moved somewhere else, I’d genuinely appreciate someone pointing me to it. But if it has been removed entirely, I’d really like to know why—and I’d strongly encourage the team to bring it back.
Screenshot of the previous Review / Apply workflow attached.