Tutorials

How to create a ChatGPT app with Apps SDK

Step-by-step guide to run the examples repo and start building apps.

Overview

A comprehensive tutorial for getting started with ChatGPT app development using OpenAI's Apps SDK. The guide covers setting up the examples repository, running development servers, and understanding the basic lifecycle of apps. It explains how apps are essentially plugins for ChatGPT that can render custom user interfaces and are built on top of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) specification.

Key Points

Apps are plugins for ChatGPT that can be invoked with natural language

Apps can render custom user interfaces for richer interactions

Built on top of Model Context Protocol (MCP) specification

Currently only certain developers can distribute apps

Anyone can start developing apps for future distribution

Apps consist of MCP server and frontend code

Prerequisites

Git installed for cloning repositories

Node.js and pnpm for package management

Basic understanding of web development

Access to ChatGPT for testing (when available)

Step-by-Step Guide

1Clone the openai-apps-sdk-examples repository

2Navigate to the repo directory and install dependencies with pnpm install

3Start the frontend development server with pnpm run dev

4Start the backend MCP server in a separate terminal

5Configure the app for ChatGPT integration

6Test the app functionality (when ChatGPT integration is available)