Is driving ChatGPT from a desktop app allowed?
This is the most terms-sensitive thing CodexUse does, so here is the mechanism in full, with nothing softened.
What it mechanically does
- The bundled CodexUse Chrome Companion runs in your regular signed-in Chrome profile and creates a background ChatGPT tab for the task.
- For each Codex turn, reads the ChatGPT page, types the turn into the composer, and sends it, in a Temporary Chat bound to that Codex task.
- Routes the tool calls ChatGPT makes back to CodexUse through a connector you create yourself in ChatGPT Developer Mode, over an OpenAI Tunnel you own.
- Reads the answer back out of the page and hands it to Codex as the turn result.
There is no mode in which CodexUse only watches. Adding a ChatGPT Web account means enabling this behavior, which is why the acknowledgement is a hard gate rather than a checkbox you can skip.
What it does not do
- It does not create ChatGPT accounts, forge an identity, or share one subscription between people. You sign in to an account you already hold.
- It does not bypass a paywall or a rate limit. Turns spend the Chat allowance of that subscription, and when it is spent, the account stops working like any other.
- It does not modify, patch, or repackage ChatGPT or the Codex app.
- It does not export or copy Chrome cookies, read Chrome’s profile directory, enable remote debugging, or send AppleEvents to Chrome. The companion is limited to ChatGPT and CodexUse’s authenticated loopback bridge.
- It does not send your prompts or answers anywhere but ChatGPT and your own machine. Nothing enters Cloud Sync, an export, analytics, or a log.
- It does not claim OpenAI permits, endorses, or supports any of this. CodexUse is independent and not affiliated with OpenAI.
What is yours to check
- Your ChatGPT plan terms and OpenAI’s usage policies. Automated interaction with the ChatGPT web product is the specific question, and it is one only you can answer for your account.
- Your employer’s policy, if the work is theirs. A tool that types into a chat product on your behalf is exactly the kind of thing an acceptable-use policy speaks to.
- Data handling. Browser turns run in Temporary Chat. OpenAI says Temporary Chats do not normally appear in history unless saved, and that it may retain a copy for up to 30 days for safety purposes. Workspace and account controls still apply. See the Temporary Chat FAQ.
- Your own risk tolerance. An account can be actioned for behavior a provider considers automated, and no statement from us changes that.
Where we would tell you not to
- If your account matters more than the convenience. Use an OpenAI account or a custom-model account instead; both are ordinary configurations.
- If the work belongs to an employer or a client whose policy you have not read.
- If you are trying to get more than your subscription gives you. This does not do that. It spends an allowance you already pay for, in a different place.
- If you want to see how much is left. This route reports no remaining percentage, so you find out by running out.
Why it exists anyway
Because the Codex allowance and the Chat allowance empty at different rates, and a plan with one side exhausted and the other untouched is a real, common, and irritating situation. We built the option, stated the mechanism, and put the decision in front of the person who owns the account. We did not build a version that hides what it does.
Related
Does OpenAI approve of this?
We have no statement from OpenAI about it and we do not speak for them. What we can state factually is the mechanism above: your own session, your own tunnel, a connector you create, Temporary Chats, and your Chat allowance. Read your own agreement and decide for yourself.
Can I use CodexUse without ever touching this?
Yes. It is one account type among three and nothing else depends on it. OpenAI accounts and custom-model accounts work exactly as before whether or not you ever add one.
Will this affect my other accounts?
Removing a ChatGPT Web account leaves every OpenAI and custom-model account untouched. The Web account has its own Codex home, runtime credentials, and task tabs. It uses the one ChatGPT identity currently signed in to your regular Chrome instance.