Pets

Pets are optional animated companions for following work. Where a pet appears and what it shows depend on the interface you use. Choosing a pet changes its appearance, not how ChatGPT completes tasks.

Use a floating pet

In the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS and Windows, a pet can float above other app windows. Use the controls below it to start a chat by typing or speaking, and follow activity while you work in other apps.

Choose and wake a pet

1. Open the profile menu at the bottom of the app and select Pets. You can also open Settings and go to Pets.
2. Choose a built-in or custom pet, or select Mini to show the chat controls without a pet. If you haven't created a custom pet yet, select Create pet first.
3. Enter /pet, or open the command menu and select Show pet. You can also right-click the pet and select Hide to hide it.

To change your pet's size, select Customize in Settings > Pets and adjust Pet size. Select Reset to restore the default size.

When you select a custom pet, it also appears in your Profile view.

Show or hide the floating controls

With the desktop app running, use the global shortcut to show the controls and focus Quick Chat:

You can change Show pet in Settings > Keyboard shortcuts. Pressing the shortcut again keeps the controls open and focuses Quick Chat.

To hide the controls, right-click the pet and select Hide, select Hide pet in the command menu or Settings > Pets, or enter /pet again. Your pet selection and position persist when you reopen the app. If the controls aren't available, update the app and check whether your workspace allows pets.

Start a chat

1. Move the pointer over the controls below your pet and select the pencil icon.
2. Enter your request and press Enter to send it. Use @ to add context and $ to choose a skill.
3. Select the bell icon to follow progress in your threads. Select a thread to open the full conversation in ChatGPT, or select the chevron to collapse your threads.

A chat started from these controls is outside a project. To use a project's context, start the chat from that project in the main app.

To speak instead, select the voice icon. See ChatGPT Voice for voice availability and controls.

Understand pet status

When more than one chat has activity, the pet prioritizes chats that need input, followed by blocked, ready, and running chats. Select the bell icon to show your threads, then choose a thread to open its conversation. Select the chevron to collapse your threads.

The activity tray is separate from system notifications.

Send Appshots to your pet

On macOS, press both Command keys at the same time while using an app to take an Appshot. If your pet is visible and the main ChatGPT window is in the background, the appshot goes to your pet and starts a new chat. This also works when Mini is selected.

Set Appshot destination to Automatic in settings and authorize Appshots permissions in the main app before using this shortcut.

On Windows, Appshots open in the main ChatGPT app.

Follow Computer Use

On macOS, the Computer Use picture-in-picture window can attach to your pet. Move the pet, and the window follows. If your pet is hidden, sending the picture-in-picture window to it shows the pet automatically.

Create a custom pet

1. Open Settings > Pets and select Create pet.
2. The app installs the bundled hatch-pet skill, reloads skills, and opens a new chat.
3. Describe the pet you want and send the prompt.
4. When the task finishes, return to Settings > Pets, select Refresh, and choose your new pet.

Custom pets created in the desktop app are stored locally on your computer. They don't automatically sync to ChatGPT web.

Reduce animation

Pets respect your operating system's reduced motion setting. When reduced motion is enabled, the pet uses a still frame instead of sprite animation.

Choose a pet on the web

If Pets are available for your account and workspace, open Settings > Personalization > Pet > Select pet. Choose a built-in pet, or choose Default to use ChatGPT without a pet.

A web pet appears inside supported ChatGPT Work chats. It doesn't provide the desktop app's floating overlay, activity tray, or /pet command.

Upload a custom pet

Select Upload pet to add a custom sprite sheet. The file must be a transparent PNG or WebP, exactly 1536 × 1872 pixels, and no larger than 20 MiB. You can edit, download, refresh, or delete uploaded pets from the same setting.

Choose a terminal pet

In an interactive Codex CLI session:

• Enter /pets or /pet to open the pet picker.
• Enter /pets <name> to choose a pet directly.
• Enter /pets off to disable terminal pets.

The picker includes built-in pets and compatible custom pets installed on your computer. A terminal pet reports activity for the current CLI session. It uses Running, Needs input, Ready, and Blocked states, but it doesn't provide the desktop app's multiple-chat activity tray.

Terminal pets require iTerm2 3.6 or later, or a terminal with Kitty graphics or Sixel support. They are unavailable inside tmux and Zellij.

Pets in the IDE extension

The Codex IDE extension doesn't provide a pet picker or floating pet overlay. Use the ChatGPT desktop app or Codex CLI when you want to use your own pet.

Related docs

• Notifications
• Long-running work
• ChatGPT desktop app settings