ChatGPT, custom GPTs and Actions

What it is

ChatGPT is OpenAI's assistant, on the web, on desktop and on mobile. Plans run from Free up to Pro, plus Business and Enterprise for teams; OpenAI's pricing page has the current list.

When to pick it

When your team already works in ChatGPT, or you want one place for chat, files and projects with OpenAI's models. For coding inside a repository, see the Codex guide.

Setup

1. Sign in at chatgpt.com, or install the desktop app.
2. Create a project for one piece of ongoing work. A project keeps chats, files, instructions and sources together.
3. Write project instructions; they apply across all of the project's chats.
4. Add the files the work depends on to the project's Sources. In the desktop app, a local project can attach a folder on your computer.

A first real task

In your new project, add your site's About page and pricing page to Sources, then ask: "Using only these sources, write the three questions a new visitor is most likely to ask, and answer each in two sentences." Check every answer against the pages.

Connect it to your site or data

• MCP servers: OpenAI's developer docs add one at chatgpt.com/plugins: the plus button, "Add custom MCP server", paste an HTTPS URL ending in /mcp, then "Create as a plugin". In a chat, type @ and pick it. Try it with the academy's own server, https://academy.memberpress.ai/mcp. What you can add depends on your plan and workspace settings.
• Custom GPTs and Actions: an Action lets a custom GPT call your own REST API. It needs an OpenAPI schema, and its auth is none, an API key, or OAuth. But OpenAI is moving custom GPTs to plugins: a GPT's instructions become a skill and its files become a skill's reference files, while Actions don't transfer and have to be rebuilt, for example as a custom MCP server. For new work, start with an MCP server.

Checked against OpenAI's docs on 2026-10-14: pricing, projects, plugins quickstart, Actions getting started, moving custom GPTs to plugins.