OpenAI Turns ChatGPT Plugins Into Sidebar Apps With MCP Automations
OpenAI expands ChatGPT plugins with sidebar apps, interactive panels, file viewers, simpler discovery, granular permissions and MCP event automations.
Summary
At Dev Day on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, OpenAI expanded ChatGPT beyond its new Pages, Slides and Space productivity features, allowing developers to create app experiences through plugin extensions. Extensions receive dedicated homes in the ChatGPT sidebar, interactive panels that users can operate during conversations, and file viewers supporting each product’s formats. Existing plugins already connect ChatGPT with Slack, SharePoint, Airtable and Google Drive.
A new Plugin Creator simplifies development, while a redesigned directory submission process provides clearer feedback. OpenAI is improving plugin rankings, recommendations and conversational discovery, and users can approve access requirements individually. ChatGPT Sites can host plugins so colleagues can use shared apps with their own connected data and permissions. Support for the proposed MCP Events specification will allow connected app events to trigger plugin automations, which OpenAI is also making easier to add and manage. Rollout timing, pricing and eligibility remain undisclosed.
Positives
- Dedicated sidebar homes and interactive panels let users operate developer tools without leaving a ChatGPT conversation.
- File viewers can support whatever formats a developer’s product uses.
- Plugin Creator and redesigned submissions simplify development while providing clearer directory feedback.
- Improved rankings, recommendations and conversational surfacing make plugins easier to discover.
- Individual access approvals give users granular control over plugin permissions.
- ChatGPT Sites can share plugin powered apps while preserving each colleague’s connected data and permissions.
Risks & concerns
- OpenAI disclosed no rollout date, pricing or eligibility for the new plugin extension features.
- MCP Events remains a proposed specification, leaving the event automation standard unfinished.
- Plugin extensions may require access to connected apps and data, requiring users to evaluate each permission request.