ChatGPT’s web sidebar already has most of the behavior needed for this. It can collapse into a narrow strip containing only icons, or expand to full width with icons and text labels.
I’d like the collapsed sidebar to behave like Chrome’s vertical-tabs sidebar:
• Hover: Moving the mouse over the collapsed sidebar temporarily expands it to full width. Moving the mouse away collapses it again.
• Click: Clicking anywhere on the empty area of the collapsed sidebar expands it and pins it open.
• Click again: Clicking that area again collapses it.
• Icons remain functional: Clicking an actual icon performs that icon’s normal action rather than toggling the sidebar.
The important distinction is between temporary expansion on hover and persistent expansion on click.
This would make it possible to keep the sidebar collapsed most of the time to maximize horizontal space, while still making conversation history and other sidebar items immediately accessible without repeatedly clicking a small expand/collapse control.
Chrome’s current vertical-tabs sidebar is essentially the interaction model I’m suggesting.