I am using the ChatGPT desktop app on Windows and created two separate projects for the same workstream:
- CHAT_plasticbox for planning, writing, and discussion
- CODEX_plasticbox for local files and technical work
The distinction is useful, but the navigation is confusing:
- In ChatGPT view, both projects can appear together under Pinned.
- In Codex view, only the Codex/local project appears; the ChatGPT project disappears.
- The UI uses the same project and pin concepts in both areas, but their behavior is not symmetric or explained.
- When starting a new conversation from a ChatGPT project, it is not sufficiently clear whether the conversation will remain in that ChatGPT project or be created in the currently prominent Codex workspace.
This makes it easy to lose track of where a conversation belongs, especially for users who intentionally separate creative/strategic work from technical/local-file work.
Suggested improvements:
- Use clear visual labels or icons for ChatGPT projects vs. Codex local projects everywhere.
- Make the pinned-project behavior consistent across both views, or clearly state why a pinned project is unavailable in the other view.
- Add an explicit “New chat in CHAT_plasticbox” action inside a ChatGPT project, with the destination shown before creating it.
- Show a persistent workspace badge in every conversation header.
The functionality may be intentional, but the current mental model is difficult to infer from the UI.