Giving your dot access to your computer

Every dot comes with a computer of its own in the cloud. Local computer access is the separate, opt-in step that lets it work on your machine as well. That is a bigger grant than connecting an app, so this page sets out what OpenAI documents, what it leaves open, and what to check before you switch it on.

What OpenAI says

The announcement frames it the same way: you “can also give your dot permission to connect and use your laptop.” The help center names the two controls Allow access and Revoke access.

How to connect a computer

OpenAI documents the outline, not a full click path. Based on the help center:

1. Install the ChatGPT desktop app on the computer you want to connect. Access is granted from that machine, not from your phone or a browser tab elsewhere.
2. Choose Allow access. Until you do, your dot only works on its cloud computer.
3. Watch the sidebar. Work on your local computer runs in separate tasks that appear there, so you can tell local work apart from cloud work.
4. Use Revoke access when you are done. OpenAI lists it as the way to turn access off.

OpenAI has not said whether you can connect more than one computer, or what your dot can see on the machine once connected. We will update this page when those details are published.

What local access adds

According to the help center, “with local computer access enabled, your dot can create Work or Codex tasks, use local skills, and use your local browser when its cloud browser is blocked.”

• Work and Codex tasks. Your dot can start tasks in ChatGPT Work or Codex. For Codex cloud work, OpenAI says to “create the environment in Codex before asking your dot to use it.” Ask for Codex cloud work only after that environment exists.
• Local skills. Your dot can use local skills. OpenAI doesn’t define the term further on this page.
• Your local browser as a fallback. If a site blocks your dot’s cloud browser, it can use the browser on your computer instead.
• Camera, microphone and screen. The privacy FAQ says these need your computer connected and operating-system permission for the ChatGPT app. Granting one without the other is not enough.

Cloud computer vs your computer

	Your dot’s cloud computer	Your computer (local access)
Available by default	Yes, every dot has one	No, starts turned off
How it’s turned on	Nothing to set up	ChatGPT desktop app on that computer, then Allow access
How it’s turned off	Not documented	Revoke access
Where the work shows up	Your dot’s profile, including In progress, Scheduled and Completed	Separate tasks in the sidebar
Browser	Cloud browser	Your local browser, used when the cloud browser is blocked
Work or Codex tasks	Not documented	Yes, per the help center
Local skills	Not documented	Yes
Camera, microphone, screen	Not documented	Needs local access plus OS permission for the ChatGPT app
Which files your dot can see	Not documented	Not documented
Usage limits	Conversations don’t count	Codex and Work tasks count as usual

Usage limits

The announcement is specific: “Conversations with your dot don’t count toward your ChatGPT usage limits. When you ask your dot to start or manage tasks in Codex or ChatGPT Work, those tasks count toward your usage limits as usual.” Local access is what lets your dot start those tasks, so it can draw on your plan in a way plain chat does not. See pricing for what OpenAI has said about plan allowances.

Safeguards that still apply

Local access does not switch off the protections OpenAI describes for dots generally:

• Custom rules and built-in guardrails. Changing a password or transferring money still comes back to you, and actions such as installing software or permanently deleting data may need approval each time. See custom rules.
• Proactive research stays read-only. When your dot researches in the background, its research tools cannot “control a browser or computer.”
• Prompt injection is reduced, not solved. OpenAI says content your dot comes across does not grant permission on its own, and that its protections “do not eliminate” the risk.

A checklist before you allow access

1. Pick the machine on purpose. A work laptop with client files, saved logins and SSH keys is a different decision from a spare personal machine.
2. Close what you don’t want seen. OpenAI hasn’t documented which files your dot can see, so treat anything open or synced on that computer as in scope.
3. Check your browser sessions. Your dot may use your local browser when its cloud browser is blocked, and that browser may be signed in to accounts you have not connected as plugins.
4. Tighten your custom rules first. Set sending, sharing and deleting to ask first or hand off before you widen access.
5. Grant OS permissions narrowly. Only give the ChatGPT app camera, microphone or screen permission if a task actually needs it.
6. Watch your usage. Codex and Work tasks your dot starts count toward your limits.
7. Revoke when idle. If you only need local access for one project, turn it off afterwards.

Related setup

Local access sits alongside connected apps, which control what your dot can reach through plugins, and custom rules, which control how it acts. If you are new to dots, start with what ChatGPT dots are.