ChatGPT

Tool class: AI agent workspace

In ChatGPT, the AI assistant made by OpenAI, a topic’s AI agent workspace is one project. A ChatGPT project groups conversations, files, and instructions that apply to every conversation in the project.

Set up the surface for one topic

These steps use the example topic Example Co Operations (topic code EXOP).

1. Confirm the topic in the registry. Use the exact topic code and name.
2. Search the projects in your organization’s ChatGPT workspace for EXOP and for the topic name. If a project for the topic already exists, use it. If two exist, record a provisioning gap.
3. Create the project in the organization’s ChatGPT workspace, not in a personal account. Name it EXOP Example Co Operations.
4. Choose the memory setting for the project before you create it, if the product offers one (see Settings).
5. Write the project instructions (see Settings).
6. Add files to the project only if they are stable, they improve the agent’s work, and they are allowed inside the topic’s access boundary.
7. Share the project with the topic’s participants (see Permissions).
8. Add the project link to the topic profile and to the Topic Surfaces table of the purpose page.

Settings

• Name. The topic code and the canonical name: EXOP Example Co Operations.
• Project instructions. Short and specific to the topic. They state the topic, its purpose, the terms it uses, the limits on what ChatGPT may do, and where the topic’s records are. They link to the records instead of copying them. A starting point:

This project is the AI agent workspace for the topic EXOP Example Co Operations
(venture Example Co, unit Operations, topic code EXOP).

Purpose of the topic: [one or two sentences from the Space Purpose and Usage page]

Records of the topic (the source of truth):
- Accountable work and the Focus System: [link to the EXOP project]
- Durable knowledge: [link to the Space Purpose and Usage page]
- Files: [link to the shared drive EXOP Example Co Operations]
- Topic profile: [link]

Method: Topic Focused Workflow. Read https://tfw.how/llms.txt for the terms.

Rules:
- Your output is a draft. Propose changes; do not present a proposal as a decision.
- Look up topic codes in the registry: [link]. Do not rely on a list in these instructions.
- Change other tools only for these approved actions: [list, or "none"].
- Do not store credentials or material outside the EXOP access boundary here.

• Files. Stable material only, for example a glossary of the topic’s terms or a style guide. Do not upload a copy of a task list, a page, or a spreadsheet that changes; link to it instead, or read it through a connection to the topic’s own surface.
• Memory. ChatGPT can remember information across conversations. Where the product offers a memory setting that keeps a project’s memory inside the project, use it for topic projects, so that context from other topics is not used. Check whether the setting can be changed after the project is created. Memory is not a record of the topic. A fact that must last is written to its source of truth.
• Apps and connectors. Connections to other tools are set up for the user or the workspace, not for one project. Before you use one for the topic, confirm that it reaches only what the topic’s access boundary allows, and that it has only the permissions the approved actions need.
• Custom GPTs. A custom GPT is a separate container with its own instructions and files. Use the project as the topic’s workspace. Create a GPT for the topic only when its purpose or its audience is different, name it with the topic code, and record the reason in the topic profile.
• Codex. When Codex works in a repository, it reads the repository’s AGENTS.md file. That file belongs to the code repository surface, not to the ChatGPT project. Keep it short and link to the topic’s records, as described on the GitHub page.

Permissions

• A new project is private to the person who created it. On plans that allow shared projects, share the project with the topic’s participants, and give edit access to the maintainer and one backup.
• Where the product supports groups, share the project with the topic’s access groups. Otherwise, share it with each participant and check the list against the access groups during maintenance.
• Everyone who can use the project can read its files through ChatGPT. Add only material that every one of them may read.
• Workspace administrators control which apps and connectors members can use. Ask for a connection for the topic’s work only when the topic needs it. A connection to a tool does not authorize ChatGPT to change records there.
• Check the workspace’s data controls and retention settings, and follow the organization’s rules for what may be entered into the product.

Maintenance

The maintainer checks the project on a regular schedule:

• The name still matches the topic code and the canonical name.
• The project instructions still describe the topic, the links still work, and they point to the current surfaces.
• Project files have no copies that went out of date, no credentials, and no material outside the access boundary.
• Sharing still matches the topic’s participants and access groups.
• Custom GPTs for the topic, if any, are listed in the topic profile with their reason.
• Results from recent conversations were written to the source of truth.

When the topic becomes inactive:

1. Add a first line to the project instructions that states that the topic is inactive and links to any topic that took over the work.
2. Remove sharing for most participants, and unpublish any custom GPT for the topic.
3. Remove files that should not be kept, according to the retention rule.
4. Update the topic profile and the purpose page.

Agent notes

• Read the project instructions before you start. If the conversation is about another topic, say so, and suggest that the person use that topic’s project.
• Treat your output as a draft. Write a result that must last to its source of truth only when a person asks you to, and post the link back in the conversation.
• Do not use remembered context from another topic as a fact about this topic.
• Use the links in the instructions to read current records. Do not rely on an uploaded copy when the record is available.
• Use apps and connectors only for the actions that the instructions allow. Confirm before every write to another tool.
• Mark statements that you have not checked against a record as unverified.