Openai Apps and how they will work (has it been disclosed)

Coding with ChatGPT
1

I am looking into the AppsSDK and the more I am looking into it the more I have this nagging feeling of how effective it could be.

From the demo I was quite excited, I walked away thinking that it will work along the lines of; you create an App and it gets approved.

Then when someone is chatting with ChatGPT, if certain keywords are picked up then it would surface the App to the user - if it does this, then I can see the benefit of a company wanting to make an App for booking flows or ordering etc. As it gets engagement to a company that the user may not have known about and it can minimise friction for users to book with companies that they do know about etc .

However, after thinking more on this, I am now wondering if it is going to be more like a traditional App Store, where you select and install the app in your own ChatGPT (like a connector), then when you chat it just uses Apps you have “installed”.

I am starting to get the feeling that this will be how its implemented, and if so, this really limits use cases for the majority of companies (especially SMEs). This would mean there is no “quick action / discovery” path and it would be about someone knowing of that company and installing their app. So the potential of organic booking flows for chats are lost for example.

Did I just go off in my own head thinking of the possible with the initial show and tell from openai, and my assumptions were just well off.

How do you think it will work/how did you think it come across for how it will work?

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HI!

It seems to be both:

The Apps SDK uses the Model Context Protocol as the base for tool definitions, structured inputs/outputs and UI components.

Discovery

  1. Named mention: when the user explicitly mentions the app by name at the start of a message, ChatGPT will surface the app.
  2. In-conversation discovery: the model considers conversation context, your tool metadata (names/descriptions/schema), brand mentions, prior linking state/permissions. If the context suggests your app is relevant, it may surface it.
  3. App directory / listing: Users can browse a directory of apps (once the full publish flow launches) to find and link your app.

The launch announcement stated:

“You can discover them when ChatGPT suggests one at the right time” … “when you’re chatting with ChatGPT, … if certain keywords are picked up then it would surface the App to the user.”

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ok, so my initial thoughts and hopes for it still seem reasonable. Lets hope it stays that way :slight_smile: . Would be a shame if not.

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