Bug: Active desktop chat not ranked as Recent and task/result can disappear

ChatGPT Bugs
1

Environment

  • Surface: ChatGPT Web / Desktop
  • OS: Windows 10
  • Browser: Microsoft Edge / Chromium-based browser
  • Exact browser version at the time: not recorded
  • Affected feature: Recent chat indexing / task persistence / result persistence
  • Representative occurrence: 15 Sep 2026

Bug

The most recently active desktop conversation was not shown at the top of the Recent chat list.

At the same time, the latest task associated with that conversation and its corresponding result/edit were no longer visible, while older content from the same workflow was still present.

Observed example:

  • Conversation: “BILDBEARBEITUNG II”
  • It had been the most recently active conversation.
  • It was not ranked at the top of the desktop Recent list.
  • The latest task disappeared.
  • The corresponding latest edit/result also disappeared.
  • Older images/results in the same conversation remained available.

This suggests that conversation activity indexing and task/result persistence may temporarily diverge.

Expected behavior

A recently active conversation should:

  • be reflected correctly in the Recent list
  • retain its latest submitted task
  • retain the corresponding generated result
  • reconcile automatically after reload or reconnect

Recent ordering should reflect the authoritative server state rather than a stale local index.

Reproduction

  1. Work actively in an existing desktop conversation.
  2. Submit a new task and receive or await the corresponding result.
  3. Return to the sidebar / Recent list.
  4. The active conversation may not appear at the top as expected.
  5. Reopen the conversation.
  6. The latest task and/or associated result may be missing while older content remains.

Impact

This creates uncertainty about whether:

  • the latest user request was persisted
  • the generated result was persisted
  • the conversation activity index updated correctly
  • the user is seeing stale local state

It can also cause users to repeat work unnecessarily or assume that a result was lost.

Diagnostics

Screenshot evidence from 15 Sep 2026 is available.

The important point is that two states appeared inconsistent at the same time:

conversation activity / Recent ordering

and

latest task / result persistence

Potential failure chain:

new task submitted
→ conversation activity state
→ task persistence
→ result persistence
→ Recent/sidebar index refresh

These layers should reconcile against one authoritative server-confirmed state.

Acceptance criteria

  1. The most recently active chat is correctly reflected in Recent.
  2. A persisted task never disappears while older messages remain.
  3. A completed/generated result remains attached to the correct task.
  4. Recent ordering and conversation content automatically reconcile after reconnect/reload.
  5. The UI must not present a stale sidebar state while the conversation itself has newer server state.