Let a ChatGPT Pet Keep Watch Over Your Work
The ChatGPT Pets feature adds an animated companion that can show when work is running, waiting for input, ready, or blocked. Here is how to choose a pet, wake it, create a custom character, and understand what works in the desktop app, on the web, and in Codex CLI.
By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor
August 16, 2026
When ChatGPT is handling several tasks, the hard part is not always starting the work.
It is noticing which chat finished, which one needs a decision, and which one ran into trouble.
Here’s a Cool Tip: Wake a ChatGPT Pet to keep an eye on active work.
The Pets feature turns routine status checking into a playful visual shortcut.
In the desktop app, an animated companion can float above other windows and reflect activity across your chats.
Select the pet to return to ChatGPT, or select an item in its activity tray to open the chat that needs attention.
On the web, the pet stays inside supported ChatGPT Work chats and serves mainly as a visual companion.
The feature is optional, and changing the pet does not change ChatGPT's intelligence, personality, answers, or task performance.
It changes the presentation of activity, not the underlying work.
A ChatGPT Pet is an animated companion available on supported ChatGPT interfaces.
In the desktop app, the pet can sit above other app windows and communicate four task states:
- Running,
- Needs input,
- Ready, and
- Blocked.
Running means a chat is actively working.
Needs input means a chat is waiting for an approval, answer, or decision.
Ready means a chat has finished and contains unread activity.
Blocked means a chat failed or encountered a system error.
If several chats have activity, ChatGPT prioritizes items needing input, followed by blocked, ready, and running work.
That ordering is the feature's practical value.
A user running research, document editing, and image work in separate chats can glance at the pet instead of repeatedly opening the app.
Selecting the pet returns the user to ChatGPT, while its activity tray can open a specific chat.
The web version is more limited.
It appears inside supported ChatGPT Work chats and does not include the desktop app's floating overlay, multiple-chat activity tray, or /pet command.
Codex CLI has a separate terminal implementation for supported terminal software.
What You’ll Gain
- Notice when a ChatGPT task needs your answer or approval.
- Return to completed or blocked work with fewer status checks.
- Add personality without changing how ChatGPT completes tasks.
- Create or upload a custom pet when the supplied characters do not fit your style.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here's how to do it.
ChatGPT Desktop App:
- Open the profile menu at the bottom of the ChatGPT desktop app and select Settings > Pet.
- Choose a built-in pet or a compatible custom pet.
- Type /pet in a chat, or open the command menu and select Wake Pet.
- Move the pet to a convenient place on the screen. The app preserves the selected pet and its position when you reopen it.
- To hide it, open Settings > Pets and select Tuck Away Pet, choose the same command from the command menu, or type /pet again.
ChatGPT on the Web:
- Navigate to and log in to www.chatgpt.com.
- Open Settings > Personalization.
- Find Pet, then choose Select pet.
- Pick a built-in pet. Choose Default if you want to remove the pet.
- If available, select Upload pet to add a compatible custom sprite sheet.
- The web pet appears only inside supported ChatGPT Work chats. It does not float over other windows, provide an activity tray, or respond to /pet.
 |
| fig. 1 - Choose Your ChatGPT Pet |
Codex CLI:
- Start an interactive Codex CLI session in a supported terminal.
- Enter /pets or /pet to open the picker.
- Choose a built-in or compatible locally installed custom pet.
- Enter /pets <name> to select one directly, or /pets off to disable pets.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Useful status signaling: The pet distinguishes active, waiting, finished, and failed work at a glance.
- Less app switching: Desktop users can monitor work while using another application.
- Optional personality: Built-in and custom designs make a work utility feel more personal.
- Accessible motion behavior: The pet respects the operating system's reduced-motion setting and uses a still frame when reduced motion is enabled.
- Easy to reverse: Users can tuck away the desktop pet, select Default on the web, or turn terminal pets off.
Cons:
- Interface differences: Desktop, web, and terminal pets have different controls and capabilities, which can cause confusion when switching between them.
- Limited mobile guidance: OpenAI does not document native iPhone, iPad, or Android support on the Pets page.
- Potential distraction: Constant animation may not suit a focused or shared workspace.
- Custom pets do not automatically sync: A pet created in the desktop app is stored locally and does not automatically appear on ChatGPT web.
Feature Access
- Pets are available for the ChatGPT desktop app, supported ChatGPT Work chats on the web, and interactive Codex CLI sessions. Web access depends on the account and workspace.
- Desktop pets provide the fullest experience, including the floating overlay, activity tray, persistent position, and /pet command. Web pets remain inside supported Work chats. Terminal pets require compatible terminal graphics. The Codex IDE extension has no pet picker or floating pet overlay.
- Availability may vary by account, workspace, interface, device, and app version.
Score
Criterion | Score (0–10) | Justification
The status states provide a practical way to follow longer tasks, although ordinary notifications already cover some of the same need.
Choosing and waking a desktop pet is simple. Different controls across desktop, web, and CLI create some avoidable confusion.
A movable animated companion that reflects live task status is clever, memorable, and more useful than a purely decorative mascot.
ChatGPT Pets earns a Good rating by turning ordinary task status into a friendly, glanceable desktop signal.
Compared with standard system notifications, the pet stays visually present and offers more personality, but it can also be more distracting.
Key Takeaways
ChatGPT Pets is most useful in the desktop app, where the character can float above other windows and signal which work needs attention.
The web and terminal versions are more limited, so choose the interface based on whether you want decoration, status monitoring, or command-line feedback.
Cool Tip Snapshot
- Feature Name: ChatGPT Pets
- Platform(s): ChatGPT desktop app, supported ChatGPT Work chats on the web, and compatible Codex CLI terminals
- Quick Benefit: Follow task status through an animated visual companion
- Best For: Users who run longer or multiple ChatGPT tasks
- Access Type: Account and workspace dependent
- Difficulty: Easy
Try It Yourself
Open ChatGPT's Pets setting, choose a companion, and see whether it makes your active work easier to follow.
Tell us which pet you picked, subscribe to the One Cool Tip newsletter, and share this article with family, friends, and coworkers.
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Rodger Mansfield, a seasoned technology expert and editor of OneCoolTip.com, transforms complex tech into practical advice for everyday users. His Cool Tips empower readers to stay productive, secure, and one step ahead in the digital world.
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