Feature Request: A Temporary GPT-5.5 Legacy Migration Bridge for Long-Running ChatGPT Projects
Hello OpenAI team,
I’m a ChatGPT Plus user who has been using GPT-5.5 Thinking across multiple long-running Projects and long-term conversations.
On September 15, 2026, I saw a notice in my ChatGPT model picker stating that GPT-5.5 Thinking is scheduled to retire on October 14, 2026.
I support the development of newer models, and I also use newer GPT-5.6 models. This request is not about preventing progress or asking OpenAI to maintain GPT-5.5 permanently.
My concern is migration continuity for long-running Projects.
My current migration scope is roughly 200 chats across multiple Projects and long-running conversations.
I am already using the available continuity and preservation methods available to me, including Projects, Project instructions, custom instructions, Data Export, and external backups.
Those methods can preserve conversations, files, instructions, and important outputs.
However, preserving the data is not the same thing as preserving the ability to continue an established workflow with the same model.
Over long-term use, a long-running Project can become dependent not only on its stored information, but also on a model’s response tendencies, writing structure, interaction patterns, and the way ongoing work has developed around that model.
For that reason, I would like to ask OpenAI to consider a temporary Legacy Migration Bridge for GPT-5.5 Thinking.
Preferred option
Please consider extending GPT-5.5 Thinking long enough to provide existing users with a more substantial migration period.
If a general extension is not feasible
A much more limited form of legacy access would still be extremely useful.
For example, OpenAI could consider some combination of:
- access only for users who were already using GPT-5.5 Thinking before its scheduled retirement;
- access only inside existing Projects in which GPT-5.5 Thinking was already being used, or existing conversations;
- no creation of new GPT-5.5 conversations;
- opt-in legacy access rather than default access;
- low-frequency, message-limited, or total-usage-limited access;
- and a fixed expiration date.
This would not require permanent or unlimited support.
It would function as a migration bridge: enough access to let long-term users finish, document, test, and safely transfer active work to newer models.
OpenAI already uses the concept of temporary legacy-model access for some Enterprise and Edu workflows that still depend on older models during a transition period, with applicable credits and limits.
I am not suggesting that the Enterprise/Edu implementation can simply be transferred to Plus, or that individual users are entitled to the same system.
I am suggesting that the same underlying principle — limited continuity during a model transition — could be valuable for long-term individual subscribers as well.
A broader model-retirement policy
Beyond GPT-5.5 specifically, I would also like to suggest a reusable Model Retirement Transition Policy for future model retirements.
For paid users who actively rely on a retiring model in long-running Projects, OpenAI could provide either:
- a meaningful user-visible transition window after a concrete retirement date is shown — for example, 60–90 days as a proposed target; or
- a shorter standard availability period combined with a limited Legacy Migration Bridge.
The exact duration is less important than having a predictable mechanism that recognizes the migration cost of long-running workflows.
Conversation history surviving a model retirement is valuable.
But history preservation and workflow continuity are not the same thing.
A limited migration bridge would allow users to embrace newer models without having to abandon an established working environment abruptly.
Thank you for considering this.
If other users are experiencing a similar issue, it may also be helpful to share only high-level, non-sensitive details such as your plan, how you use GPT-5.5, whether you rely on long-running Projects, and what kind of transition period would help you migrate safely.