Dots

0:40 A dot is "an always-on agent in ChatGPT" with its own cloud computer, which works across the apps you connect and keeps making progress between conversations, then brings results back for review (OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026). Dots arrived on Sep 29, 2026, "Powered by GPT-6 Astra" (GPT-6 Astra). On personal plans a dot is a ChatGPT Pro feature only: the pricing page lists "Dot, your always-on agent" under Pro (ChatGPT pricing, read Nov 6, 2026). Each person gets one personal dot, and US Pro users can text theirs.

Quick facts

What does a dot do?

1:17 A dot starts from what ChatGPT already knows from Memory, can research and create things, and works through the Plugins connected to it (OpenAI Help Center). It can research in the background, suggest help on its own, review connected information and run scheduled tasks. It creates memories of its own too, including from connected apps. OpenAI's pitch is taking "a project from an idea to work you can use".

0:00 The difference from ChatGPT Work or Agent Mode is that a dot persists: it has its own cloud computer and its own conversation, and it carries on between the times you talk to it, where a Work task runs once for one request.

How do you set up a dot?

1. Open ChatGPT in the iOS or Android app, the desktop app, or a desktop browser (mobile web is not supported) (OpenAI Help Center).
2. Follow the onboarding and give the dot a name, which changes the handle from @yourname-dot to @yourname-agentname. Pick a character or pet as its avatar, or let it make one.
3. On mobile, open Customize to connect Plugins, check Memory, and set Custom rules.

0:23 In OpenAI's video on setting up a dot in the mobile app, the presenter taps Meet dot in the top left corner, which opens a thread with the dot; it may ask for calendar and email access, and he names it and makes a custom avatar instead of using his Codex pet.

Custom rules choose, case by case, whether the dot acts without asking, acts only when pre-approved (you asked for that action in the prompt), asks first, or hands the job back to you. On the desktop, its profile groups work under In progress, Scheduled and Completed, with Recent activity and Computers beside them (OpenAI Help Center).

Local computer access

1:27 A dot works in the cloud. Access to your own computer is optional and off by default: connect it from the ChatGPT desktop app on that computer and confirm Allow access, and remove it with Revoke access (OpenAI Help Center). With access, the dot can start Work or Codex tasks there, use local skills, and use your browser when its cloud browser is blocked; the computer must stay online with the app open.

Can you text or call your dot?

Texting is a beta for a limited number of US Pro users, launched on Oct 28, 2026 (OpenAI Help Center):

1. Open the dot's profile and select Texting.
2. Enter your phone number, send the confirmation text, and enter the code.

It needs iMessage or RCS; plain SMS does not work, and carrier rates may apply. The messages pass through Linq, a third-party provider, so they are "not end-to-end encrypted" between you and the dot, even over iMessage. Linq keeps delivery details but not the text after delivery; OpenAI keeps the texts as part of the dot's conversations. Texting is one-to-one: a dot cannot join group texts or read your other messages. Reply STOP, or turn texting off in the profile, to end it. Business and Enterprise workspaces do not get texting.

0:26 Calls go one way: in the mobile app, the phone button in the dot's conversation calls it, but it cannot call you at launch, and its number cannot be dialed (OpenAI Help Center). A dot cannot have an email address of its own at launch either.

Who can get a dot?

Source: Getting started with your dot, read Nov 6, 2026; ChatGPT pricing.

OpenAI notes that access for personal and Business Premium accounts "may take several days to arrive".

Limits and cost

On launch day OpenAI said that "For the next month, dots usage won't count toward eligible Pro, Business, and Enterprise users' plan allowances" (release notes, Sep 29, 2026). That month ended around Oct 29, 2026. The dots help article read on Nov 6, 2026 gives no usage numbers, and no OpenAI page read says how a dot's work counts now: there is no published limit to quote.

Pausing and deleting a dot

••• > Pause stops it; "Paused • Tap to resume" starts it again. Pausing deletes nothing, and separate Work, Codex or scheduled tasks may keep running. ••• > Delete removes it after a confirmation: its own saved memories go, its main conversation is archived and cannot be continued, and it cannot be undone (OpenAI Help Center).

Frequently asked questions

What is a dot in ChatGPT? An always-on agent with its own cloud computer that works through your connected apps between conversations, launched Sep 29, 2026 and powered by GPT-6 Astra.

Is the ChatGPT dot only for Pro? On personal plans, yes: Pro users 18 and over outside the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, as of Nov 6, 2026. Business Premium seats and Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare workspaces also get dots.

How do I text my ChatGPT dot? Open the dot's profile, select Texting, enter your number and confirm the code. It is a beta for some US Pro users and needs iMessage or RCS, not SMS.

Are texts with my dot encrypted? Not end to end. They pass through the provider Linq, and OpenAI stores them with the dot's conversations.

Can I have more than one dot? No. Each member can create one personal dot.

Sources

• Getting started with your dot, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• ChatGPT release notes, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• ChatGPT pricing, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• Introducing dots, always-on agents built to handle everything., OpenAI, Sep 29, 2026 (video)
• Set up your dot in the ChatGPT mobile app, OpenAI, Oct 9, 2026 (video)
• Hunt bugs with your dot, OpenAI, Oct 23, 2026 (video)
• Put your dot on call, OpenAI, Oct 16, 2026 (video)
• The dots demo, take two / OpenAI DevDay 2026, OpenAI, Oct 1, 2026 (video)