I’m on ChatGPT Pro and can’t find the Developer Mode setting. This is blocking me from moving forward with a custom plugin submission.
Environment: ChatGPT in a browser and the ChatGPT Mac app.
Steps: Open Settings → Security & Login and look for Developer Mode.
Expected: The official Developer mode guide lists Pro accounts as eligible on the web and says the toggle should be under Settings → Security and login.
Actual: There’s no Developer Mode toggle in that section on my account. I also can’t find it in the Mac app.
I’ve contacted OpenAI Support, and the issue has been escalated for human review.
Is this a known issue, or is there an account eligibility requirement beyond the Pro plan? Is there a supported workaround when the toggle itself is missing?
That's indeed frustrating. Just to rule this out, could you confirm that you're viewing your Personal Pro workspace? If your account belongs to multiple workspaces, please use the workspace switcher and make sure your Personal workspace is selected.
Since you've already contacted Support, could you share just the support case number so I can review the troubleshooting already completed? Please keep any account-specific details in your private support thread.
Hi Hiren, yes, I’m in my Personal Pro workspace in the ChatGPT web app. I just checked again, and there’s still no Developer Mode toggle under Settings → Security and login.
Support confirmed that this was escalated for human review, but the chat didn’t display or provide a case number. Where can I find the reference you need?
@OpenAI_Support any update on what’s causing this? I’m still missing Developer Mode in my Personal Pro workspace on ChatGPT web, and several others here are reporting the same issue. Is this a known issue, and is there a fix or workaround?
I run the Plugins developer platform team at OpenAI. Apologies for the confusion here, I’m pushing an update to the docs that clarifies the situation as we speak.
TL;DR:
We have removed the need to enter an explicit “developer mode” to connect custom MCP servers in ChatGPT
Instead, all eligible users can now connect custom MCP servers to ChatGPT!
You can connect custom MCP servers by going to chatgpt.com/plugins → Clicking “Add” → Clicking “Create MCP App”
We will rename “Create MCP App” to “Create custom MCP server” today so that this is clearer.
The “Enforce CSP for custom apps” setting also still exists and has moved to Settings → Security and login chatgpt.com/settings/security
For workspace admins: we have renamed the “Developer mode” RBAC setting to “Create custom MCP servers” and persisted your existing configuration.
That means nothing changes for you other than the label on the setting being different.
Again, I apologize for the confusion here. I hope this clears everything up, let me know if you have any other questions about this.
Thanks for clarifying, @mstoiber! Could you also update the instructions for submitting a plugin to OpenAI to reflect this change? Thanks again for the help!
The RBAC mentioned seems to be missing from Business Plus and Pro accounts in the Workspace Admin.
As a result, when adding a plugin through the Plugins page in the Workspace Admin with OAuth, it redirects you to ChatGPT, and then creating the app there gives you the error “You need workspace admin permission to create a draft app”
Same problem here. I am the workspace owner and still getting “You need workspace admin permission to create a draft app” when trying to create a custom MCP plugin.
Developer mode still has to be enable (for free account at least) in the Developer Mode section under Settings → Security and Login. Then in the Plugins the option to “Add custom MCP server” will appear when you hit the + button top right.
